cream soda

Does anyone have a dececent cream soda recipe I'm having one heck of a time finding one

I have also been looking for a cream soda recipe! Would be great to find one!

There is one, or maybe many in the great books link i posted. I believe it was simply water, sugar, and special handling of actual vanilla beans (i tried real extract in alcohol with poor results). It may be hard to believe, but amazon lets you browse thru large parts of some books offered for sale, and thats where i saw the cream soda and other recipies.

I have made this one several times, http://www.bakingdom.com/homemade-vanilla-cream-soda

and this one, http://www.marthastewart.com/348771/cream-soda-syrup

and this one, http://www.theurbanbaker.com/homemade-vanilla-bean-cream-soda/

and this one is good:
Add to 12 oz carbonated water, 2 teaspoons maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/8 teaspoon lemon juice. I sometimes add a splash of cream, but omit lemon juice when cream is added. Or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream instead of cream.

I brewed a nonalcoholic root beer for a homebrew fest a couple weeks ago with a 60L Caramel Malt as the base flavor. With 3oz of vanilla extract/5gal, it gave it a very nice caramel/vanilla flavor that nearly overpowered the sassafras extract that I used. Many people thought it tasted like cream soda until the root flavor and the wintergreen flavor came through as after notes.

I think I used 4oz of caramel malt/5gal, I'll have to go back and look. I'll dig up the recipe and adapt for you if you're interested in me posting it here.

MrFoodScientist said:

I brewed a nonalcoholic root beer for a homebrew fest a couple weeks ago with a 60L Caramel Malt as the base flavor. With 3oz of vanilla extract/5gal, it gave it a very nice caramel/vanilla flavor that nearly overpowered the sassafras extract that I used. Many people thought it tasted like cream soda until the root flavor and the wintergreen flavor came through as after notes.

I think I used 4oz of caramel malt/5gal, I'll have to go back and look. I'll dig up the recipe and adapt for you if you're interested in me posting it here.

Click to expand...

I know I would LOVE that recipe. Can definitely see what the caramel malt could bring to the soda.

I'll see if I can dig it up later today and get some more specifics for you.

A recipe I found, but haven't tried yet:

1: Pour 1 to 1 1/3 cups of sugar into a 2 liter bottle.

2: Add four tablespoons (or 2 tablespoons for a lighter flavor) of vanilla extract into the bottle.

3: Add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast into the bottle.

4: Fill the bottle with warm (90 to 100 degrees F) water, put the cap on, and shake it until the ingredients have dissolved.

5: Let the bottle sit at room temperature until the bottle feels hard when squeezed, about 24 - 48 hours.

6: Place bottle in refrigerator (below 40F) for 24-48 hours to stop fermentation and let the yeast settle.

7: Pour carefully, leaving the yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

UpstateMike said:

2: Add four tablespoons (or 2 tablespoons for a lighter flavor) of vanilla extract into the bottle.

Click to expand...

I may have to rethink doing this recipe. 2 - 4 tablespoons is 1 - 2 ounces of vanilla. At $4 an ounce, this is going to be an expensive 2 liter bottle of cream soda.

UpstateMike said:

I may have to rethink doing this recipe. 2 - 4 tablespoons is 1 - 2 ounces of vanilla. At $4 an ounce, this is going to be an expensive 2 liter bottle of cream soda.

Click to expand...

I Believe you are mistaken about he cost of vanilla. On amazon it is 12 dollars for 16 ounces. Nowhere bear 4 dollars an oz.

micfiygd said:

I Believe you are mistaken about he cost of vanilla. On amazon it is 12 dollars for 16 ounces. Nowhere bear 4 dollars an oz.

Click to expand...

That's on Amazon. Local purchase is close to $4/oz. No mistake.

I use Pure Vanilla Extract. Much cheaper than beans.

Mine was close to 5 gallons kegged
64oz Light Corn Syrup
3lbs Sugar
4oz Vanilla Extract.

Extreamly creamy, I would recommend less sugar and a little more extract.

I used the Martha Stewart, http://www.marthastewart.com/348771/cream-soda-syrup, one saramc posted and it was good. There are a bunch of places online that sell vanilla for better prices than the store, like http://www.vanillafoodcompany.ca/ or http://www.amadeusvanillabeans.com/. You have to buy a lot though.

Gracious, make your own vanilla extract. Take 6-8 6" split beans, pop them in a fifth of vodka, pure grain, rum (Evan Williams Honey Reserve is killer) and put in pantry at eye level. Shake weekly for a month, then monthly for next 2-3. Ready to use in as little as a month, better at three, awesome in a year. I never have to use full amount requested in recipe, just half. I have not bought vanilla extract in 25+ years and have convinced so many friends to make their own. So very easy.
Madagascar beans are my favorite.
--you will find you add it to so many things and it makes great gifts (along with instruction card)

saramc said:

Gracious, make your own vanilla extract. Take 6-8 6" split beans, pop them in a fifth of vodka, pure grain, rum (Evan Williams Honey Reserve is killer) and put in pantry at eye level. Shake weekly for a month, then monthly for next 2-3. Ready to use in as little as a month, better at three, awesome in a year. I never have to use full amount requested in recipe, just half. I have not bought vanilla extract in 25+ years and have convinced so many friends to make their own. So very easy.
Madagascar beans are my favorite.
--you will find you add it to so many things and it makes great gifts (along with instruction card)

Click to expand...

So instead of spending $4 for pure vanilla extract that is ready to go immediately, I should spend $20 on a fifth of vodka, another $10 on vanilla beans (vodka and beans locally purchased), then wait three months for it to be ready. Let me think about that one, i'll get back you you.

Wait, let me guess, you make your own vodka out of potato peels and you grow your own vanilla beans in a greenhouse, this is how you keep the cost down.

UpstateMike said:

So instead of spending $4 for pure vanilla extract that is ready to go immediately, I should spend $20 on a fifth of vodka, another $10 on vanilla beans (vodka and beans locally purchased), then wait three months for it to be ready. Let me think about that one, i'll get back you you.

Wait, let me guess, you make your own vodka out of potato peels and you grow your own vanilla beans in a greenhouse, this is how you keep the cost down.

Click to expand...

I wasn't going to say anything, but I agree. Only locally to get the amount of beans he called for I need to spend $22. Just beans....

I dont know if this can still be called a cream soda (cant remember ever having one) or not, but i altered the recipe from saramc a bit..
about 5 tbl spoons maple syrup, 10 drops of birch beer extract, 3 drops lemon/lime concentrate (from RIO)..1 tea spoon vanilla (i just have the imitation kind right now) Add to 20oz water and carbonate... very good.. I few weeks ago i tried just carbonating 4 or 5 tablespoons of maple syrup in 20oz water.. that too was surprisingly pretty good

UpstateMike said:

So instead of spending $4 for pure vanilla extract that is ready to go immediately, I should spend $20 on a fifth of vodka, another $10 on vanilla beans (vodka and beans locally purchased), then wait three months for it to be ready. Let me think about that one, i'll get back you you.

Wait, let me guess, you make your own vodka out of potato peels and you grow your own vanilla beans in a greenhouse, this is how you keep the cost down.

Click to expand...

You can't find vodka for less than $20 a fifth? It's less than ten here in Missouri. I would not want to live where you live. But anyway at you cost of $4 per ounce a fifth of vanilla extract would cost you about $100 so I think she was being helpful to you. So maybe you should think before you type

landshark said:

I wasn't going to say anything, but I agree. Only locally to get the amount of beans he called for I need to spend $22. Just beans....

Click to expand...

There are loads of online sources for inexpensive quality vanilla beans. I just bought 4oz of naturally split Madagascar/Bourbon beans for $7 shipped. I have plenty of vanilla beans. Local stores tend to have an outrageous markup and a captive audience...I refuse to spend $5 on one vanilla bean packaged in a glass spice jar. Call me crazy.

UpstateMike said:

So instead of spending $4 for pure vanilla extract that is ready to go immediately, I should spend $20 on a fifth of vodka, another $10 on vanilla beans (vodka and beans locally purchased), then wait three months for it to be ready. Let me think about that one, i'll get back you you.

Wait, let me guess, you make your own vodka out of potato peels and you grow your own vanilla beans in a greenhouse, this is how you keep the cost down.

Click to expand...

And Mike...you can keep shelling out $4 a pop for a minute amount of who-knows-what vanilla, I could care less. Oh, and if I could legally make my own vodka from homegrown potatoes I probably would, but why when it is quite inexpensive already? But I will leave the vanilla growing up to others since I have other things I prefer to grow. Just putting the options out there, no need to attack anyone.

saramc said:

There are loads of online sources for inexpensive quality vanilla beans. I just bought 4oz of naturally split Madagascar/Bourbon beans for $7 shipped. I have plenty of vanilla beans. Local stores tend to have an outrageous markup and a captive audience...I refuse to spend $5 on one vanilla bean packaged in a glass spice jar. Call me crazy.

And Mike...you can keep shelling out $4 a pop for a minute amount of who-knows-what vanilla, I could care less. Oh, and if I could legally make my own vodka from homegrown potatoes I probably would, but why when it is quite inexpensive already? But I will leave the vanilla growing up to others since I have other things I prefer to grow. Just putting the options out there, no need to attack anyone.

Click to expand...

Depending on your state it is legal to make distilled spirits just federally illegal lol. He was certainly coming off as a jerk that's why I commented on what he said

Ok kids, calm down on the vanilla, let's get back to cream soda recipes.

So I finally dug up the root beer recipe that I made and everyone keeps telling me that it tastes like it should be a cream soda:

Root Beer:
Sugar(inverted) : 5lbs
Caramel Malt - 60L : 2oz
Burdock Root : 1 oz
Wintergreen Leaves : 1 TBSP
Molasses : 1 fl oz
Sassafras Extract (Pappy's Sassafras Concentrate Instant Tea) : 5 fl oz
Vanilla Extract : 3 fl oz

I'd say pull the sassafras, burdock, and wintergreen out and it would make a rather tasty cream soda.

Steep the malt at no higher than 170°F, let it cool and add the molasses and extract. Then force carb at 30-35psi at 34-38°F until it reaches equilibrium.

Enjoy!

I never thought of adding malt to it. That would probably make for some interesting creme soda. Has anyone tried that? Is it any good?

MrFoodScientist said:

Caramel Malt - 60L : 2oz

Enjoy!

Click to expand...

Sounds interesting, I'm going to have to give it a try. I'm a little confused on the "carmel malt line though. Is 60L a type of malt and I put in 2oz, or does this mean something else?

Also, is this for a 5 gallon recipe? Or some other quantity of water?

Thanks,

FlyingDutchman said:

I'm a little confused on the "carmel malt line though. Is 60L a type of malt and I put in 2oz, or does this mean something else?

Click to expand...

I would take that to mean 2oz of 60L Crystal(caramel) Malt. As in whole malt, crushed/milled malt that is steeped in your water base. For example: Place crushed grains in straining bag and steep grains in x-amount water volume at 155F for 45 minutes and remove from heat. Rinse grain sack with x-amount water volume. (Method successfully used for caramel apple mead).

Example of product here: http://morebeer.com/products/crystal-60l-malt.html.

Unless there is a ready to use malt extract that someone knows of which would impart that same caramel goodness?

60L is a measure of how dark it is. I've used 20L or 40L before and it's not as strong a flavor.

MrFoodScientist said:

60L is a measure of how dark it is. I've used 20L or 40L before and it's not as strong a flavor.

Click to expand...

MrFoodScientist...are there any malt extracts which would impart the same, or close, taste that the steeping of grains would impart?

Without having much experience in that arena, I would guess that Briess Sparkling Amber DME may work out, but I wouldn't know for sure. I like to use caramel malt because it doesn't pull out fermentables.

winenewb172 said:

You can't find vodka for less than $20 a fifth? It's less than ten here in Missouri. I would not want to live where you live.

Click to expand...

I would not want to drink $10 vodka.

UpstateMike said:

I would not want to drink $10 vodka.

Click to expand...

Never said you had to drink it just use it for extract

I use a commercial cream soda base from my local homebrew shop. I've tried just using vanilla, but it's not potent enough for a batch. I happily pay $9.50 for a base that tastes great and I don't have to set up a food lab to create myself, (again). The base is getting harder to find for some reason but amazon has it currently.
For a 4 gallon batch I use 3 lbs of table sugar and a pound of local creamed honey. I also add a cup of amber malt powder for complexity and extra creaminess. I'm trying a new cider yeast this batch since my last batch of root beer was way overcarbed and geysered when opened. I find that the most important aspect is sanitation and good water. I run all my brewing supplies including bottles and filler through the dishwasher with a sanitizer. I also try to make a batch when I know I have a new water filter in the fridge, it just tastes better and makes for a more consistent brew.