Vanilla Cream Soda (Looking for IBC clone)

I'm looking for a recipe for vanilla cream soda. Something along the lines of the IBC cream soda. I've read a lot of recipes that add actual cream, but I'm looking for that vanilla flavor, and a clear beverage. I know it will involve sugar, vanilla and soda water, otherwise I don't know yet. Any tried and true recipes out there?

If you want to forego the extract route and want a clear sode, Whilton makes a clear vanilla flavoring for cakes and frostings that you can pick up at any craft store or maybe a large supermarket. I've never used it, and I think I must have picked it up watching the food network. I'm not sure if it's imitation or artificial, but my bet is that it will be expensive, so you may want to opt for an exract for a clear product. I've made some cream soda with real vanilla, and it wasn't clear.

Once you decide what to use, for more mouthfeel you might try light corn syrup instead of sugar. The other option is to make a batch that is not creamy but good on it's own, pour just a splash of half in half over some ice when you're ready to drink it, then add your homemade soda. According to my mother, that's essentially how they did it at the pharmacies, so it would give you an old school style or freshness while keeping in you keg and bottles.

I did find some recipes online:
Recipe with half and half:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Vanilla-Cream-Soda/
Syrup recipe similar to the one above.
http://www.instructables.com/id/E390H7BHMTEQ2W6A0Y/\

A recipe that calls for WAY too muy much vanilla IMHO:
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/scratch/cream-soda.html

Thanks!

I'll look into those and get back about how they turn out.

The reason I'm looking for something clear is that my wife sells baked goods down at a farmers (flea..) market and I'm thinking if I had a keg of soda I could do 50 cents a cup and make a little extra for the brew fund. Probably do homemade cream soda and root beer, may need to just use the extracts but that would be OK as long as it tastes great.

I'm having a really hard time finding any sort of recipe. I'd really like to use real vanilla beans for the flavor and not extract. Guess I'll just have to mix up the sugar to water like a normal soda and add beans to taste.

mysteryberto said:

I'm having a really hard time finding any sort of recipe. I'd really like to use real vanilla beans for the flavor and not extract. Guess I'll just have to mix up the sugar to water like a normal soda and add beans to taste.

Click to expand...

Just create your own extract... extracted flavors are extracted flavors, whether they're bottled separately or extracted inside the beverage you want the flavor in. The real issue is the quality of the extract, and if you make it yourself you can control that.

Alrighty so I've moved on from IBC and have fallen in love with Sprecher cream soda now. I've gotten some hints on the recipe they use and actually have a 1/4 bbl keg of it right now I need to transfer into corny kegs to serve out of my fridge.

My question is about potassium metabisulfite and sorbate. The recipe basically ends up brewing a syrup that is then added (pre-mix) to a keg and mixed 5-1 (just like you'd do if you bought the syrup that some homebrew stores sell from Sprecher). My thought is that I am dumping a lot of sugar(honey) water into a keg that I know is sanitized, but not sterilized. Would it be a good idea to put in potassium metabisulfite and sorbate to kill off any bacteria? I will have the keg in the fridge but I'm sure it will last at least a couple months.

sprecher sells a kit for their rootbeer if you wanna go that route. Dump the gallon container into your keg add 4 gal water, and carb.

I goto it or $19 at my local brew store but heres a link NORTHERN BREWER: Soda Extracts

conpewter, would you mind sharing the Sprecher-cream-soda-like recipe? I'm trying to brew something similar.