On The Hunt For Root Beer

As you can see this is my first post here. I have been doing some reading on this forum and belong to a root beer forum. In addition to those resources, I have also been doing a bit of research. I am currently on my 3rd batch of root beer and one of them being a failure. I am realy wanting to make a root beer much like A&W, Frosttop and even 1919. These are examples of the flavors that my wife and I love a lot. Granted the recipe I have and have modified (my third batch) is not bad, but isnt quite what we are looking for.

This recipe involves sassafras, sarsaparilla, star anise, very small amount of vanilla, and brown sugar. This is not the enitre recipe but will give you an idea of what is mostly in it. I know, like most things, that A&W, Frostop, etc. are closely garded recipes, but I am looking for a recipe that would be much closer to those styles than what I am making. It would be a much better starting point. Any help on this would be much appreciated.

Because of the title of this post I had a couple other things to address. I know that root beer brewing isnt exactly as big as beer/wine brewing, or even a hobby that people just wake up one morning and decide to do, but am I wrong in seeing that the resources are pretty slim and what is out there also tends to be pretty much repitive info? I guess by that I mean there are few forums and not one that I would consider a "big" forum with constant large amounts of traffic, or fast constant response times to postings on a regular level.

I also notice that there seems to be only one book that gets recommended in the root beer community, which I have purchased and do enjoy very much. Lastly, there doesn't seem to be nearly as many recipes as I had hopped to find when first gaining interest in brewing root beer. Am I just not finding what may actually be out there? Are there hidden communites or resources I maybe just have not stumbled across yet? Is there somewhere that has a great list of different recipes of different varieties of root beer? I guess if there were ever a site I could go to that "had it all", and this may not be the case, I woud want to see what are the different styles of root beer, what are the base ingredients/recipes of those styles, brewing methods, brew setups, etc. I dont want to know anything scientific, just want to know more about this stuff.

I dont know if I am asking anything that cn be answered or if I am asking to much but I figured thats what forums are for. Any help on any of this would be very much appreciated.

Root beer really doesn't have the history or as vast a reach as does beer. That said, there really aren't "styles" of root beer like there are styles of beer, because root beer itself is more a style of soda than anything. It's like looking for a style of sugar cookie. There are different recipes, but probably not necessarily different styles.

I'd say try some different roots like burdock or dandelion. Also, I've always thought A&W was pretty heavy on vanilla, maybe try different varieties of vanilla as well. Also, having a decent recipe after only three batches is pretty good.

Do you ever get to a point in a recipe, cooking food or otherwsie, and think "this is good but its's still missing something." then have no clue what that "something" is thatwill finish it off perefectly? See I have been drinking this recipe and I do like it, but its not compete yet. My wife and I love the A&W, Frostops, vanilla-y root beers. Maybe I should try adding more vanilla, like 1oz of vanilla extract/gal or something? I did find this other recipe that has 3 cups of molasses in it for 1 gallon of water and my wife thinks that could be "the one". So ill have to make a batch of that and see...lol I love this trial and error stuff. But like you said, maybe I also need to experiment with different roots. I just can't wait to find that one recipe that we love like our third child...lol

Heh, my fingers smell like root beer right now. Just kegged a batch. extract, table/brown sugar, vanilla, maltodextrine.

I want to make a batch from roots, but I need to have a quick success and get family buy-in first, so extract it is.

Good luck with your recipe.

Crazy8 said:

This recipe involves sassafras, sarsaparilla, star anise, very small amount of vanilla, and brown sugar. This is not the enitre recipe but will give you an idea of what is mostly in it. I know, like most things, that A&W, Frostop, etc. are closely garded recipes, but I am looking for a recipe that would be much closer to those styles than what I am making. It would be a much better starting point. Any help on this would be much appreciated.

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Well, I wonder- you don't want to share your recipe, but you want OURS? M'kay.

I'm on a soap forum, and they have the same thing where they won't tell you their secret recipes, but want some help troubleshooting them. That's like taking your car to a mechanic, but not letting him look under the hood.

actually, its not like that at all. The only reason I didn't post up the details of the recipe was because I did not have access to it at the time and thought I could just show a general idea of what I was working with. Im also missing were I said I didn't want to share it, but whatever. If you really would like to see it I have no problem posting it, and that may have been the better approach but thats just me. I will be sure to do better from now on.

Crazy8 said:

actually, its not like that at all. The only reason I didn't post up the details of the recipe was because I did not have access to it at the time and thought I could just show a general idea of what I was working with. Im also missing were I said I didn't want to share it, but whatever. If you really would like to see it I have no problem posting it, and that may have been the better approach but thats just me. I will be sure to do better from now on.

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I must have misunderstood, then, and I apologize.

That's how I read it too, Yoop. I would love to see the recipe in question!

Here is the requested recipe...

Ingredients:
8 Qts. Water
24 oz. Honey
3 Star Anise
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cp. Sarsaparilla
1/4 cp. Sassafras
1 1/2 cp. Brown Sugar
2 Vanilla Bean (Split and scraped)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 cp. Chopped Raisins
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 oz. Juniper Berries (50)
1/4 tsp. Champagne Yeast

Crazy8 said:

Here is the requested recipe...

Ingredients:
8 Qts. Water
24 oz. Honey
3 Star Anise
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cp. Sarsaparilla
1/4 cp. Sassafras
1 1/2 cp. Brown Sugar
2 Vanilla Bean (Split and scraped)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 cp. Chopped Raisins
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 oz. Juniper Berries (50)
1/4 tsp. Champagne Yeast

Click to expand...

That looks pretty good.

What do you think is the difference in the commercial root beers you're trying to get closer to? Is it mouthfeel? If so, you can add some malt-dextrine to make it have a bit of body and a creamy mouthfeel.

Don't add too much though! My son used too much and made root-beer Jello. He loved it, but it was gross to me. I don't remember the exact amount, but it's not much at all- maybe a tablespoon for 2 quarts (but check the "dosage"! as I'm not sure at all).

What happens if you leave out the salt? Does the rootbeer really need it to balance? I'd try leaving out the salt, too, to see if that brings the full sweet rich flavor into it (I assume that's what you're missing).

Are you using "dark brown sugar", or the light? You may want to use the molasses-y dark brown sugar if you've used the lighter one.

Can you share your "process" for making the rootbeer? Some boil water and steep for hours, others caramelize their sugars, some add spices at different stages since the ferment can yield various results depending on when you add ingredients, etc.

Yooper said:

That looks pretty good.

What do you think is the difference in the commercial root beers you're trying to get closer to? Is it mouthfeel? If so, you can add some malt-dextrine to make it have a bit of body and a creamy mouthfeel.

Don't add too much though! My son used too much and made root-beer Jello. He loved it, but it was gross to me. I don't remember the exact amount, but it's not much at all- maybe a tablespoon for 2 quarts (but check the "dosage"! as I'm not sure at all).

What happens if you leave out the salt? Does the rootbeer really need it to balance? I'd try leaving out the salt, too, to see if that brings the full sweet rich flavor into it (I assume that's what you're missing).

Are you using "dark brown sugar", or the light? You may want to use the molasses-y dark brown sugar if you've used the lighter one.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for all this info, there is a lot here to think about.

Now that you mention it, I would like to improve the mouthfeel a litte, so I will be sure to get some malt-dextrine. I can talk to one of the fine guys at Brew and Grow here in MN and see what they recommend as far as how much to put in. Root beer jello huh? That could be something to think about...lol

I also thought about leaving out the salt but when I have mentioned it to my wife she gave me a nice little piece of into. She said that she was watching a show where they made brownies and the recipe required a very very small amount of salt. The interesting thing was they showed that despite the small amount of salt the brownies without the salt not only tasted funny but I believe were also hard. So after hearing this I figured even though the recipe calls for a very small amount of salt maybe there is a chemical reaction going on with it that would want me to not get rid of it. However, you do make a great point that it could bring out the sweetness if I got rid of it. So I may still think about this and maybe make a batch without salt. Since it is calling for 1/4tsp for 2 gallons of water, I'd say that it would be worth trying.

I am not using the dark brown sugar. This is also another great suggestion in which I will be sure to try that with this recipe and see how that tastes.

Thanks again for the reply.

saramc said:

Can you share your "process" for making the rootbeer? Some boil water and steep for hours, others caramelize their sugars, some add spices at different stages since the ferment can yield various results depending on when you add ingredients, etc.

Click to expand...

Instructions:
1. In a large deep pot, put in 4 quarts of water.
2. While water is heating up, place all ingredients into pot except brown sugar.
3. Let boil for 30 minutes.
4. Add brown sugar toward end of boiling time
5. Add the remaining 4 quarts of water. Turn off heat and let steep to 60-95 degrees F (70-75 degrees may be optimal). Any hotter and yeast will not survive.

- If bottling
a. Pour liquid through fine mesh funnel into Ale Pale
b. Once target temp has been reached, add yeast and stir thoroughly and fill bottles

- If putting into jug(s)
c. Pour liquid through fine mesh funnel into jug
d. Once jug has been filled add 1/4 tsp. champagne yeast

6. Let sit for 3 days then put into fridge for another 3 days to chill and slow down yeast activity.
7. ENJOY

I just made some of this today and this time the only step that changed in the process is step 2. I put in all ingredients except brown sugar, honey, and vanilla extract. I put those ingredients in at the last 5 minutes. another thing I did was when I had to add the other 4qts of water, half of it was ice and the other 1/2 was in water form. I did this just to speed up the cool down process.

Based on my current method, do you have any suggestions/recommendations on when I should be adding things, or maybe something I should be doing different in my process?

Thanks for your help on this.

Crazy8 said:

...
Now that you mention it, I would like to improve the mouthfeel a litte, so I will be sure to get some malt-dextrine. ...

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I used Cara-Pils and flaked oats in a root beer a while back and I was quite pleased with the result. The recipe is simpler than the one discussed on this thread, but the result is quite nice. See the thread here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f95/root-beer-recipe-297882/

Thank you very much for that info. This could be something else for me to try. I love this experiemntation stuff. Once I fond "the one" recipe that really ends up being everything we want, thats going to be exciting.

Crazy8 said:

Thank you very much for that info. This could be something else for me to try. I love this experiemntation stuff. Once I fond "the one" recipe that really ends up being everything we want, thats going to be exciting.

Click to expand...

Good. Hope it helps further your "experiment". After trying several other approaches the recipe I posted was "the one" for me. But, no doubt it could be made more interesting with some of the ingredients you are planning to use. It might make a good "base" recipe for you that you can then tweak with other flavor ingredients.

Careful with the percentage of flaked oats -- no one wants to eat their Root Beer with a spoon.

saramc said:

Can you share your "process" for making the rootbeer? Some boil water and steep for hours, others caramelize their sugars, some add spices at different stages since the ferment can yield various results depending on when you add ingredients, etc.

Click to expand...

I like going back to old posts and seeing if I can learn anything more from them or see if there are things I had missed and maybe even new questions. Well I came across this and it got me thinking. Im at a place right now with my brewing that I fell like I am really getting the process down and have a solid recipe now which has been tweaked and modified over the year or so that I have been doing this.

So saramc, I do the boiling water/steep method but when I read where you said "caramelize their sugars", what exactly is the process for doing this? Im always up for experimenting which is why I ask. I have never heard of this before.

You can caramelize sugar by simply placing the sugar in a deep, heavy bottomed pan, I start at low-medium heat and drop to low once it has started to melt. I stir often and will use a silicone brush dipped in water to liquify any crystals which form on side of pan. Stir frequently. It starts to change color. Remove from heat when desired color is reached, and definitely before it scorches. Some report they have even used a crock pot, have not tried that.
You can also caramelize sugar water, which I now find to be friendlier. The same works with honey. It is discussed here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/quick-mead-casual-drink-413717/

Caramelization adds a new depth to the soda, have made at least 30 gallons of your rootbeer and 'honey boo boo' now. It does wonders to cream soda too.

Im glad to hear that you are enjoying my "Honey Boo Boo". Sure taste much better then them "go go juice's" shes slamming all the time. Anyway I have made cream soda where you start of with a simple syrup of 1:1 sugar/water. So is this pretty much the same thing? Will the yeast still ferment the soda effectively even once the sugar is caramelized? I don't know if you, or anyone else, would be interested but I have posted up some brewing videos on YouTube. Just search for my name "KD0RVY" (its my ham radio call sign) and there is stuff on brewing, cleaning, sanitizing, even the cram soda stuff. Maybe you can tell me if that's the same method your describing to me that I should use for my root beer.

Thank again for your input. Very informative.

Crazy8 said:

... I am not using the dark brown sugar. This is also another great suggestion in which I will be sure to try that with this recipe and see how that tastes....

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All brown sugars start out as white sugar. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining, is added back in to create light, medium or dark "brown" sugar.

Using molasses and/or brown sugar may work fine in root beer since it is a sugary and sweet drink. The time it is added may make a big difference.

I know that one has to be careful adding molasses (or brown sugar) to beer. The result is not always what one had in mind. The sugars, even those from the molasses syrup, get fermented out and the remaining flavors lie in an astringent "yucky" range. Desulphured molasses suffers from the same problem. I'm not sure whether this exhibits itself so prominently when unaccompanied by its customary sugar sweetness or from molasses flavor compound modifications during fermentation.

Crazy8 said:

...Anyway I have made cream soda where you start of with a simple syrup of 1:1 sugar/water. So is this pretty much the same thing? Will the yeast still ferment the soda effectively even once the sugar is caramelized? Maybe you can tell me if that's the same method your describing to me that I should use for my root beer.

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The cream soda video you feature on YouTube is the same I use for making a basic simply syrup, but to caramelize the sugar BEFORE adding water/extracts I essentially do this... http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=_E623VT_330&desktop_uri=/watch?v=_E623VT_330
though this video does alot of pan shaking instead of stirring. I have to stir due to nerve damage/weakness in my arms. But there has never been an issue with fermentation. I think you would find caramelized sugar/honey quite nice in your soda.

Well thank you once again Saramc, I'm looking forward to doing this and seeing how it changes the root beer and see if it does make it any better. The recipe I use, which I call my "Signature" recipe, is pretty solid it seems. All the people who have tried it like it. Some more than others, but all like it. I have heard its better than A&W or any other store bought root beer and even 1919. I don't know if I can accept those accolades, but very flattering none the less. I have been told by many "don't change a thing, this is perfect."

But I am always one to believe that there is always room, even if just a little, for improvements. I personally think this recipe is great, I don't think its perfect or amazing but I guess we are all our own worst critics...lol Thanks again for your help on this and the addition information. Ill come back to the post once I try this and let everyone know how it turns out.

im in the same boat. my root beer has a bitter after taste. i want to say its the sassafrass, but im not sure my next batch im goin to cut it down or out. il let yall know how it turns out.

I made a batch where I separated the sassafras and sarsaparilla...Bad idea...lol Both of them tasted bad. It would seem on their own, at least the small quantity I use, they are not that great tasting but combined, its just magic. Yes pleas let us know what you find out.

UPDATE:

In regards to the sugar caramelization, I did try this out on 1 gallon of my "Signature" brew and I think I might not have removed the sugar from the heat quite fast enough. I think its just a hair darker than what it should have been. Here is what I did though...
* Used 1cp white sugar w/ 1/4cp of water. I learned the water might be pointless since it eventually gets boiled off.
* I got sugar to caramelize. Probably could remove it off heat sooner than I did.
* Poured crazy hot molten sugar into root beer. This is fun to watch the sugar re-crystallize into a ball of weirdness.
* Because the caramelized sugar recrystallized, I turned the heat back on for the root beer and dissolved it that way. I also added the 1tbs. of molasses since I used white sugar, so I could see the color change to brown, instead of the usual brown sugar.
* I ended up having to go outside for a bit and forgot that I left the stove on. This caused my root beer experiment to boil which I did not want, but not sure if anything I did will hurt this experiment. I feel as though I may have to try the sugar caramelization stuff again now that I know what I know now and what to expect.

I think I may have to see if there is some way at all for me to caramelize the sugar and make it easier/safer/better when it comes to pouring it into a much cooler environment (the root beer). Maybe there is nothing that can be done about that? Maybe I just bring the root beer back up to boil then pour in the hellishly hot caramelized sugar in. I probably should have thought that part of the process through more when I was doing it. This may get a second round. We will see how this round went in a few days.

Oh, on the caramelized sugar...I ladle hot root beer into the caramelized sugar. Kind of like tempering hot liquid and adding eggs into play. With hot to hot transfer it does not seize.

10borderline11brew said:

im in the same boat. my root beer has a bitter after taste. i want to say its the sassafrass, but im not sure my next batch im goin to cut it down or out. il let yall know how it turns out.

Click to expand...

UPDATE: ok im still workin on it. i made 2 batches that work.lol in both no sassafrass were added. in the first i put to much wintergreen i dumped it, it was terrable. the second i had let it sit for a few days to steep, each day was a different flavor. but i put to much sarsapilla and cinimom in. il keep tryin and post results.
i did find this on the internet at rootbrew.blogspot
Ingredient notes
Results from my tea tasting:

Sassafras root is one of the main traditional root beer flavors, and I'd say the sharper component of that familiar taste. I don't think it's actually used anymore due to something in it being mildly carcinogenic in large quantities in small animals.

Sarsaparilla root by itself has a very fragrant, round, fluffy smell, akin to vanilla. It was less intense in the mouth than in the nose. Very root-beery.

Cherry bark made a quite weak tea. Obviously smells like furniture being made out of cherry wood. I think I can use more than in the last batch without risk of bitterness.

Birch bark was stronger than cherry, very nice, should probably use a lot.

Pine bark is nice, but strong. Probably use sparingly. Might be good with wintergreen (which I don't have.)

Licorice root was super sweet after it sat for a couple hours. Less so when it had only steeped for half an hour. Probably good to use to make low-sugar drinks. Some aftertaste, but not unpleasant.

Sliced stem that I thought might be American Ginseng had an even stronger non-sugar sweet than licorice. Definite aftertaste. I don't think ginseng is supposed to be sweet, so who knows what it is. As long as it isn't dried sea cucumber.

Yellow Dock root tastes like digging up green roots. Green, earthy taste. A little bitter.

Barberry root had a very mild, light wood taste.

Burdock root reminds me of a midwestern stream, or some wood used in boat building. Pretty bitter, maybe offensive to some, but probably adds some good complexity.

The flavors were less discernible once cooled. Putting a pinch of sugar in each didn't hurt, but adding ice and club soda wasn't as helpful as I thought it would be. It mostly just watered the flavors of the teas down.

I did Stephen Cresswell's simple Sassafras rootbeer which took 1/4 ounce of Sassafras root, 2 cups sugar, 3-4 qt water, and bread yeast. That one was really good! Great spicy root beer flavor and quite light in color. I tried a grape soda with 100% grape juice, water, a tad more sugar, with Red Star wine yeast ( yellow packet) and it was sulphur city! Absolutely terrible and fermented at the same temp as the root beer.

Fast forward 10 months to today and I tried the Cresswell recipe again but instead with Cuvee since it's advertised as being the most neutral champagne yeast they have. I did one gallon of that. I also tried 2 gallons of that recipe customized with:
.4 oz sassafras
.3 oz juniper berries crushed
1 cinnamon stick
2 oz ginger root
.25 oz licorice root
.4 oz dried sweet orange peel
1 lb Light muscovado sugar

I'll let you all know how they turn out

For grape juice use premier cuvee (the blue packet of red star wine yeast), it's not prone to H2S production like the champagne yeast is.

Duly noted, thank you.

The latter root beer was already carbed by 12 hours later. I popped one grolsch flip top and it started to shoot out so into 38F fridge it went. That was quite fast. The first root beer will need another day or two.

Has anyone kegged that recipe? My concern is with the yeast: is it there only for carbonation or does it contribute to the flavour as well?

Yooper said:

That looks pretty good.

What do you think is the difference in the commercial root beers you're trying to get closer to? Is it mouthfeel? If so, you can add some malt-dextrine to make it have a bit of body and a creamy mouthfeel.

Don't add too much though! My son used too much and made root-beer Jello. He loved it, but it was gross to me. I don't remember the exact amount, but it's not much at all- maybe a tablespoon for 2 quarts (but check the "dosage"! as I'm not sure at all).

What happens if you leave out the salt? Does the rootbeer really need it to balance? I'd try leaving out the salt, too, to see if that brings the full sweet rich flavor into it (I assume that's what you're missing).

Are you using "dark brown sugar", or the light? You may want to use the molasses-y dark brown sugar if you've used the lighter one.

Click to expand...

Sassafras was stopped being used commercially because it increases the risk of cancer when you consumed, use it cautiously.

Theron_Jon said:

Sassafras was stopped being used commercially because it increases the risk of cancer when you consumed, use it cautiously.

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I would say that it is safe to say that this is equally a false statement. I say that because there are seemingly just as many sources saying that it is safe as there are saying its not safe. I would only hold this as being accurate if there was harder evidence and more consistency in evidence. However, it is true that the FDA did make a stink about it (back in the 60's I think?) because the safrole oil it produces is a cancer promoter.

With that said though, my findings have also shown that their are just has much carcinogens in the air we breath. I would also say that for anyone who is a smoker, and assuming the statement is true, they are inhaling far more carcinogens than what Sassafras contains. One of the big things to think about that blows your statement out of the water is that Sassafras itself is not what causes the cancer, its safrole oil produced by the trees that is in question and has shown to promote cancer. Their are Sassafras extracts which have the safrole oil removed.

I would say that since the Sassafras root is not being used to produce an extract and that it is sitting in water (the worst medium for extracting) for only for about 30 minutes or so. When making an extract you need to use a very high proof alcohol, such as Everclear, and even then the sassafras still needs to be submerged for a very long time. Im no doctor nor am I a scientist but I can only speculate that the chances of anyone in here getting cancer from brewing root beer is very very very VERY slim.

I'm pretty sure the cancer/diabetes/heart disease causing effects of white sugar and wheat products have been more effectively proven, yet much of the world consumes them daily, if not with every meal.

djbradle said:

I did Stephen Cresswell's simple Sassafras rootbeer which took 1/4 ounce of Sassafras root, 2 cups sugar, 3-4 qt water, and bread yeast. That one was really good! Great spicy root beer flavor and quite light in color. I tried a grape soda with 100% grape juice, water, a tad more sugar, with Red Star wine yeast ( yellow packet) and it was sulphur city! Absolutely terrible and fermented at the same temp as the root beer.

Fast forward 10 months to today and I tried the Cresswell recipe again but instead with Cuvee since it's advertised as being the most neutral champagne yeast they have. I did one gallon of that. I also tried 2 gallons of that recipe customized with:
.4 oz sassafras
.3 oz juniper berries crushed
1 cinnamon stick
2 oz ginger root
.25 oz licorice root
.4 oz dried sweet orange peel
1 lb Light muscovado sugar

I'll let you all know how they turn out

Click to expand...

Well I never got around to commenting but that recipe was quite nice. The ginger was a good compliment and the beer went too fast! The Cuvee yeast produced zero off flavors so it's now my go to yeast.

Bluespark said:

I'm pretty sure the cancer/diabetes/heart disease causing effects of white sugar and wheat products have been more effectively proven, yet much of the world consumes them daily, if not with every meal.

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+100
Too much talk of abstaining from this food and that food. Moderation and thanksgiving is the key.

Crazy8 said:

Here is the requested recipe...

Ingredients:
8 Qts. Water
24 oz. Honey
3 Star Anise
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cp. Sarsaparilla
1/4 cp. Sassafras
1 1/2 cp. Brown Sugar
2 Vanilla Bean (Split and scraped)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 cp. Chopped Raisins
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 oz. Juniper Berries (50)
1/4 tsp. Champagne Yeast

Click to expand...

Cc