KevinDee

Recipes 

Hey everyone. I would love to try brewing some root beer but have some questions. I understand the process of making the root beer but get confused when it comes to carbonation and storage. I have been reading that when carbonating with yeast you have to quickly cool the root beer in order to stop fermentation and carbonation. If you do not do this then the bottles could potentially explode. And also you have to drink the root beer within a couple of weeks. Why is this not true for beer? From what i have read about brewing beer once its fermented and carbonated you can bottle it and store it for as long as you'd like. And no threat of exploding bottles.

To avoid exploding bottles could I just force carbonate the root beer in a keg and skip the yeast all together? Then bottle it form the keg if I desire to do so? If I do this method how long will the root beer keep in both keg and bottle? Any other tips are greatly appreciated.

KevinM

Recipes 

Soda is sweet. Sugar keeps fermenting until there is no sugar, the yeast die (pressure, heat), or until the environment makes them dormant (High alcohol.)

Beer has no sugar left (kinda). It all ferments unless it hits one of those stops. (Like a 12% beer with residual sugar.)

You can force carb in 2 liter bottles with a carbonator cap, keg it all and fill bottles (but you really gotta clean the rootbeer smell out after), or keg carbonated water and have a rootbeer (and other) syrups to add to each glass.

Theoretically, this would be indefinately. But... You need good sanitation or preservatives. Alcohol preserves beer to an extent. Some chemicals preserve soda(acids, sodium benzoate). Otherwise something small can replicate, even at cold temperatures. (Ever have pasturized cider start fermenting on it's own?)

Many threads cover all these questions.http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f95/corney-bottle-256965/

Keyboard is broken so can't give more right now. (using a mouse to type sucks.)

__________________
Primary: Sake
Secondary: GF Czech Lager
Waiting to be kegged, Italian Primitivo
Kegged&Ready: GF Orange&Coriander, GF Honey Lager, GF chocolate ale, GF English ale, Island mist (zinfandel), Island mist (cbry malbec).
Bottled: Infected Mead, Dry Hard ciders, Accidental Sorghumwine, various unnamed.