Recommended yeast for root beer and process question

My gnome root beer extract does not specify which yeast to use. Any recommendations?

The directions call for a 2 hour freezing after the 2 day carbonation before placing this in the fridge. Won't my root beer freeze?

I use champagne yeast- the cheapest one I can find at the LHBS.

I haven't seen the directions that tell you to freeze the soda- that's a new one to me. But, yes, the soda would freeze if you did that. Maybe the intention is to freeze and kill the yeast? I don't know- but I always just waited until the bottles were carbonated, and then stuck them in the fridge.

noisy123 said:

My gnome root beer extract does not specify which yeast to use. Any recommendations?

The directions call for a 2 hour freezing after the 2 day carbonation before placing this in the fridge. Won't my root beer freeze?

Click to expand...

Freezing in not really necessary.

The yeast I use is Red Star Premier Cuvee wine yeast I get from my local homebrew vendor.

But if you want to get really specific I'm sure you could use some Wyeast stuff.

Some recipes even call for std. baking yeast. The differences will usually be alcohol and pressure tolerance.

wilbanba said:

Freezing? Hmmm, probably won't freeze because the alcohol level is high meaning that you likely used a yeast strain with a high alcohol tolerance.

Freezing in not really necessary, however.

The yeast I use is Red Star Premier Cuvee wine yeast I get from my local homebrew vendor.

But if you want to get really specific I'm sure you could use some Wyeast stuff.

Some recipes even call for std. baking yeast. The differences will usually be alcohol and pressure tolerance.

Click to expand...

The alcohol content of root beer is negligible- like .05 or .02%. The only miniscule ABV comes from the yeast eating some of the sugar to carbonate, but not ferment. That will not stop it from freezing.

It really doesn't matter all at what kind of yeast you use- just that champange yeast is low foaming, neutral, and temperature tolerant without giving a yeasty flavor. You could use any kind, I think my recipe called for 1/4 tsp anyway- so you don't even need a whole package.

I always ask this whenever I see a bottled root beer post. You are using plastic bottles, not glass, right?

I have a 12 oz plastic soda bottle for a control. I would like to use glass for the rest and refrigerate when that bottle feels tight. I am aware that glass can explode due to the huge amount of available sugar, but the allure of glass-bottled root beer is too strong.

Although freezing is not really good for yeast and will kill most of it, yeast can survive freezing. It certainly will help reduce fermentation, but since you can adequately solve this by using plastic bottles and refrigerating, I think this might be overkill that doesn't yield much for results. Usually the ice crystals break the cell walls of the yeast (yeast frost bite), which is why you need to add glycerin to a frozen yeast bank:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35891&highlight=yeast+bank

But freezing just isn't an effective way to kill yeast because some of it will very likely survive. We all know how a little yeast can multiply and become lots of yeast! I certainly wouldn't use this process alone and not also rely on plastic bottles and refrigeration because things could still blow up, and if you're using plastic and refrigeration, there's no point in doing this.

But hey, try it out if you want and let us know.

Will the yeast become dormant at fridge temps?

YooperBrew said:

The alcohol content of root beer is negligible- like .05 or .02%. The only miniscule ABV comes from the yeast eating some of the sugar to carbonate, but not ferment. That will not stop it from freezing.

It really doesn't matter all at what kind of yeast you use- just that champange yeast is low foaming, neutral, and temperature tolerant without giving a yeasty flavor. You could use any kind, I think my recipe called for 1/4 tsp anyway- so you don't even need a whole package.

Click to expand...

yes what you said
smile and nod smile and nod
thanks

noisy123 said:

I have a 12 oz plastic soda bottle for a control. I would like to use glass for the rest and refrigerate when that bottle feels tight. I am aware that glass can explode due to the huge amount of available sugar, but the allure of glass-bottled root beer is too strong.

Click to expand...

i would advise against glass unless you are just putting in glass and back in fridge (keeping the fermentation slowed)

if you leave them usupervised in glass at room temp definately put them in the bathtub or somewhere thats easy to clean - and certainly dont cap it at room temp

better yet just use PET - much simpler

I doubt carbonation would proceed at all if I put them in the fridge right after bottling. Is that what you are saying?

noisy123 said:

My gnome root beer extract does not specify which yeast to use. Any recommendations?

The directions call for a 2 hour freezing after the 2 day carbonation before placing this in the fridge. Won't my root beer freeze?

Click to expand...

It also says to use 2 liter soda bottles. A few hours in a freezer is not going to freeze it. I think it's just to crash the yeast.

I used quick rise yeast the one time I made root beer. The stuff firmed up the bottles in just hours and not only did it taste awful the tenacious stuff kept fermenting at 40 degrees. I'm going to try again today with champagne yeast.

wilbanba said:

i would advise against glass unless you are just putting in glass and back in fridge (keeping the fermentation slowed)

if you leave them usupervised in glass at room temp definately put them in the bathtub or somewhere thats easy to clean - and certainly dont cap it at room temp

better yet just use PET - much simpler

Click to expand...

Why should you not cap glass root beer bottles at room temperature?

The possibility of exploding glass bottles poses a safety hazard.

I tried using corn sugar to make root beer for my nephews and red star champagne yeast. No carbonation!!

Any ideas?

I used brown sugar before and it was fine, but just wanted a cleaner taste.

Is corn sugar (beer priming sugar) a bad choice or was this just bad luck???

Anybody experienced this before?

How much yeast did you use, and do you have the bottles at room temperature? It should carb up just fine.

Yooper,

I used half a packet - (recommended amount) and started it on the counter in a sanitized dish 1 hr. before with a little table sugar, it started foaming a little there, so I know the yeast was alive. Bottles kept at 72-74 degrees - year round temp in my basement.

FalmouthBrewmeister said:

Yooper,

I used half a packet - (recommended amount) and started it on the counter in a sanitized dish 1 hr. before with a little table sugar, it started foaming a little there, so I know the yeast was alive. Bottles kept at 72-74 degrees - year round temp in my basement.

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Check the extract- maybe one of the ingredients is benzoate. Sometimes extracts are meant for force carbing. I know Sprecher extract (my favorite root beer extract!) is only for force carbing because of the preservatives in it.

Or.................did you use lactose? Corn sugar is fine, but lactose won't ferment!