Hi all; looking for advice on Root Beer

I've been homebrewing ale for about 2 years now and have moved on to kegging; but I promised my daughter I would do a root beer for her and her brother. I want to do 5 gallons of root beer in akeg and force carbonate.

I've looked at several threads on here already with lots of recipes; but what I am wondering is what extract and additions will allow me to create the "best" authentic root beer that isn't overly involved? I don't want the result to suck, but I would rather not be trying to work 30 different ingredients to get the "right" taste either

I don't mind spending a few dollars for proper ingredients if they are needed to get the right taste; but I can't really afford to go too crazy with it.

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

As an example; I was looking at this in the recipe section and it seems pretty straight-forward:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f171/aa-root-beer-kegged-210057/

I think we can handle something like that; but are there better recipes out there?

Thanks!

I'm not much of a fan of the "recipes" with real roots. I just like the extract ones the best.

I've used McCormick's extract, the cheap extract from the grocery store and I liked it just fine. My favorite was much more expensive- the Sprecher's root beer syrup from Northern Brewer.

I've never seen rootbeer extract in a local grocery store, but even basic needs like salad olives are not available within 2500 miles of here. I did order zaterain rb extract from the occasional amazon deal of 75% off when buying a dozen.

It was a disappointment (note the post suggesting adding roots to it) until I used agave syrup, whose mapley taste is very sympatico with root beer. Sam's club sells Xagave brand at a non-outrageous price, at least when you factor in the cheap extract deal.

daft said:

I've never seen rootbeer extract in a local grocery store, but even basic needs like salad olives are not available within 2500 miles of here. I did order zaterain rb extract from the occasional amazon deal of 75% off when buying a dozen.

It was a disappointment (note the post suggesting adding roots to it) until I used agave syrup, whose mapley taste is very sympatico with root beer. Sam's club sells Xagave brand at a non-outrageous price, at least when you factor in the cheap extract deal.

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They have McCormicks in all of our stores- root beer, vanilla, almond extract, etc, right in the baking aisle. It's pretty good, better than Zataran's in my opinion.

OK thanks guys (and gals) so is it worth it to simply brew the extract recipe alone then? I'd probably go with Gnome or McCormicks if I can get that one here (I know I can get Gnome).

I saw the thread about adding molasses to enhance the foaming; is that recommended too?

FatBaldBeerGuy said:

OK thanks guys (and gals) so is it worth it to simply brew the extract recipe alone then? I'd probably go with Gnome or McCormicks if I can get that one here (I know I can get Gnome).

I saw the thread about adding molasses to enhance the foaming; is that recommended too?

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Well, I hate molasses, so I'd vote no.

One thing that does help (in small amounts) is maltodextrine. A tiny bit helps with "thickness" and mouthfeel. I never had a problem with foaming or anything so I don't think that needs enhancement.

The thing about malto dextrine is that too much is not good. My son made root beer and one time he must have used too much malto dextrine- he had root beer jello in PET bottles.

unlike the Yoop, I'm more of a fan of Zataran's than McCormicks. though, McCormicks is good. I also tried Gnome & like it too. I'm also a big fan of using honey & dark brown sugar.

If you're going to add molasses, keep the amounts low because it can come out really strong really quickly.
Also, some brands of molasses are stronger than others. Some have a very sharp flavor and others have a really smooth flavor even within the same grade.

Thanks for the info; any advice on which molasses to avoid? Yooper, I like your idea but I was unable to find any Malto for the moment. I may try that in the second batch to compare them, thanks!

I only plan on using like 1/2 cup in 5 gallons to aid in head retention; I'm really not looking to add much in the way of flavor (though I do know that even 1/2 cup can change the flavor some).

I'm thinking I'll do like 1.5 lbs of brown sugar, 1/2 cup molasses, and sweeten with white sugar up to where we want it, probably around a pound or so.