Curtis2010 said:As requested, I am posting this recipe on it's own thread:
Originally Posted by Curtis2010
I just brewed an awesome root beer and thought I would post here for the benefit of those looking for a good recipe. This is for 5 gallons for forced carbonated root beer (you could of course easily adapt this to naturally carbonate).
The end result has a rich creamy head with very long retention, creamy mouth feel, and is not overly sweet as can result if using sugar rather than DME.
Ingredients below:
8oz Cara-Pils
8oz Flaked Oats
1lb Light DME
1 Bottle Root Beer Extract (qty may vary by supplier)
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Brew Steps:
Bring 1 gallon of water to 160 and add grains (I put mine in a grain bag which makes them easy to remove). Steep at 155 for 30 minutes (do not boil). Remove grains.
Add DME and mix well. Bring water back up to 160 and hold for 30 minutes (there is no need to boil this stuff...just need to pasteurize and mix well).
Transfer to keg (our whatever your gear dictates) add extract (again no need to boil an extract you just drive off flavor components). Top up with with cool clean water. Force carbonate at approximately 26PSI at 45F.
Pic attached of the end result -- rich, creamy and yummy!
You could also adapt this to brew a "hard" root beer by upping the gravity with DME. I have a small 1-liter test batch of this approach brewing now. I brought the OG of this test batch up to about 1.060 with DME and pitched a generic dry brewer's yeast by Coopers.
asabassa1120 said:Hi All- This is my first post on the site, although I've kept an eye on these forums for a while. I thought I'd just say hello and post the recipe I've been using.
I've scoured the internet forever, read a ton of books and have asked a ton of people who've made read beer, but I never found a recipe I thought looked that great. One day I stumbled across Swagger Rootbeer. John, a truly fantastic home-brewer has a great site and since his recipe seemed like something I would enjoy I made it.
Even though I made his, I also wanted to tweak it a bit so it would be more my own. Here is what I ended up with (2 Gallon Recipe):
• 10 TBS DRIED SASSAFRAS ROOT BARK
• 4 TBS CHOPPED DRIED BURDOCK ROOT
• 4 TSP CHOPPED DRIED LICORICE ROOT
• 4 TBS DRIED WINTERGREEN LEAF
• 4 TSP CHOPPED DRIED DANDELION ROOT
• 2 CINNAMON STICK
• 2 TSP FRESH GINGER
• 4 CUPS SUGAR
• 2 TBS HONEY (ALL NATURAL, ORGANIC, SHOULDN'T COME IN A JAR SHAPED LIKE A BEAR)
• 4 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1/4 TSP MALTODEXTRIN
• 1/4 TSP ALE YEAST
• 2 GAL WATER (I used bottled)
1. Place first 7 ingredients in 1 gallon of water and simmer for 45 minutes. Within the last 15 minutes I added in Maltodextrin. (Wasn't quite sure at first when to do this, but it seemed to work well)
2. Remote from heat and cool for 30 minutes.
3. Rehydrate yeast in 1/4 cup boiled/cooled water for 15 minutes.
4. Strain Wort. I do this twice, once using a fine mesh strainer and another using unbleached coffee filters
5. Add Sugar, Honey and Vanilla and stir well.
6. Add remaining water, stir well.
7. Mix in yeast, stir well.
8. Bottle- I used PET bottles 500ml size. In a few days (when bottle is as hard as soda you would get in the store, put in the refrigerator).
I really, really liked the way this root beer came out. It still has a similar flavor to Swagger Root Beer, but I was trying to find a way to get that "bite" that makes root beer so good to me. The fresh ginger gives it a slight kick. I think the next time I make it I'll double the ginger, but I don't want to overpower the other flavors.
It took me a long time to find a recipe I was willing to try to make (thanks again to Swagger!). I hope anyone here who wants to make Root Beer from scratch gives both of our recipes a shot.
Have fun brewing!
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