Duh!

OK folks, I didn't do any reading up on root beer. A couple of months ago I made a 5 gallon batch using extract, 2 lbs. of table sugar and 3 lbs. of honey. Mixed and kegged it it and put it in my keezer. A month later it showed no signs of carbonation, so I did a little reading and found that the 10psi I had my regulator set to was only about 1/3 of what I needed.

I tried to remember to hit it with 40psi a couple of times a week and then reset the regulator to beer pressure for the 3 kegs of beer, but as yet haven't remembered often enough to manage much carbonation. Getting old and forgetful, I guess. Also had an elusive CO2 leak that I finally found after 15# of gas, which didn't help.

I've decided to ferment it and need a bit of guidance from someone with hard root beer experience. It tastes the same as when it was kegged, so should be OK as far as contamination goes. My plan is to dump the keg into my BK and heat it to about 180 for maybe 30 minutes and then chill to pitching temp. Next, I'll rack to a fermenter and pitch Lalven EC-1118 after taking a gravity reading. Ferment at 67*F, tasting samples every day after 2nd day and when it reaches the desired sweetness, hit it with a campden tablet, keg and put in the keezer at 38*F with 12 psi CO2. Would I be better off to just let it ferment out and back sweeten to taste with Splenda once it is carbonated?

Any feedback one way or the other appreciated.

TIA,

Bob

Good luck! I used to keg RB and thought about doing similar (but never did). Kids are out of the house, it's not on my radar, but I'm posting here to see how it turns out for you.

I'll sure post the results. I used to love root beer back in the days of the real soda fountains where, for an extra nickel, they'd give you a second pump of syrup. Even the premium brands of today taste watered down compared to the memories. Just thought I'd make a batch to see how accurate the old memories are

Thanks Andrew

BobBailey said:

I'll sure post the results. I used to love root beer back in the days of the real soda fountains where, for an extra nickel, they'd give you a second pump of syrup. Even the premium brands of today taste watered down compared to the memories. Just thought I'd make a batch to see how accurate the old memories are

Thanks Andrew

Click to expand...

I've made lots with the Rainbow extract to be great. Here's the recipe I used. I always considered going elemental and getting all the roots and ingredients, but never did and I'm beyond that now.

• 1 Bottle Rainbow Flavors Rootbeer Extract
• 4 gals of water
• 2 lb bag of Domino Dark Brown Sugar
• 6 Cups White Cane Sugar
• 2 Teaspoon Vanilla

BobBailey said:

tasting samples every day after 2nd day and when it reaches the desired sweetness, hit it with a campden tablet, keg and put in the keezer at 38*F with 12 psi CO2. Would I be better off to just let it ferment out and back sweeten to taste with Splenda once it is carbonated?

Click to expand...

You'll have a pretty significant difference in alcohol content if you let it ferment out versus check the sweetness after a few days. Which may not be a big deal for you, but just be careful if you serve it to others. Someone who's not accustomed to a hard root beer might think they can drink all they want without consequence.

On the other hand, fermenting it out and back sweetening with splenda would let you get a finished product that likely won't change much over time whereas just fermenting to sweetness level will continue to ferment even at 38°, albeit rather slowly.

I think the bigger question is, if it's not carbonated enough for your liking right now, what would letting it ferment out and then kegging at 12psi really do for you? It's still going to be undercarbed. If you don't mind it being more like beer than root beer, that's fine, but if you're still expecting it to be somewhat like a commercial root beer you're not really solving the problem.

MrFoodScientist said:

You'll have a pretty significant difference in alcohol content if you let it ferment out versus check the sweetness after a few days. Which may not be a big deal for you, but just be careful if you serve it to others. Someone who's not accustomed to a hard root beer might think they can drink all they want without consequence.

On the other hand, fermenting it out and back sweetening with splenda would let you get a finished product that likely won't change much over time whereas just fermenting to sweetness level will continue to ferment even at 38°, albeit rather slowly.

I think the bigger question is, if it's not carbonated enough for your liking right now, what would letting it ferment out and then kegging at 12psi really do for you? It's still going to be undercarbed. If you don't mind it being more like beer than root beer, that's fine, but if you're still expecting it to be somewhat like a commercial root beer you're not really solving the problem.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.
I'm assuming that the carbonation level is related to the gravity. This would explain the need for a higher carbonation level for the unfermented Root Beer. If so, if I let it ferment out, or nearly so, 12 psi should be sufficient. Not at all sure if this is the case, but I can't think of any other reason I get almost no sign of carbonation at 12 psi.

If I do turn this into a hard Root Beer I wouldn't want, or expect billowing foam.