anyone making root beer with herbs/roots?

im considering trying some old recipes. is anyone currently using herbs/roots for their root beer recipes such as sassafras, sarsaparilla, wintergreen, wild cherry, birch, etc.?

I do it all the time, usually with good results. I use all the ingredients you listed above, plus licorice root, anise, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, and whatever else looks tempting. Citrus fruits like lemon and lime usual go well, and even orange peel. Makes some tasty stuff, and goes great with homemade ice cream.

Jeebs said:

I do it all the time, usually with good results. I use all the ingredients you listed above, plus licorice root, anise, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, and whatever else looks tempting. Citrus fruits like lemon and lime usual go well, and even orange peel. Makes some tasty stuff, and goes great with homemade ice cream.

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thats awesome, would you mind sharing your recipe? i can send you mine for swap. i am interested in getting into fresh herbs/roots but need a good tested recipe to start. cheers.

I am just now making a batch of "from scratch" for my kids. I don't mind the extract recipes..they are easy and quick..but I want something with a little more body and flavor.

I am making one using: Wintergreen, ginger root, licorice root, sassafras, and honey. I love a little "feel" of honey in my rootbeer.

Dan

nice work
mind sharing the recipe over PM?
i am interested in going scratch but need an established recipe first.

Sure, I'll share mine if other people do as well. Mine is pretty easy really, and for the most part, is the "base" recipe for just about all "from scratch" brewers.

Makes 2 gallons:

2 oz of Sarsaparilla (optional because of FDA ban)
2 oz. of Sassafrass
1/2 oz. of Licorice root
2 oz. wintergreen leaves
1 pound of sugar (plain old cane sugar)
1 1/2 pounds of honey (clover or wildflower)
2 gallons of water

Bring water to a boil (use spring water if possible). Add all roots and spices in a grain/steeping bag and simmer for 30 minutes. Add sugar and honey and stir in to mix..shut off heat and allow to cool. Then once at room temp..you can either pitch a yeast and bottle, or force carb and keg. I usually just double this recipe and make 4 gallons and force carb in a corny keg.

Dan

flyweed said:

Sure, I'll share mine if other people do as well. Mine is pretty easy really, and for the most part, is the "base" recipe for just about all "from scratch" brewers.

Makes 2 gallons:

2 oz of Sarsaparilla (optional because of FDA ban)
2 oz. of Sassafrass
1/2 oz. of Licorice root
2 oz. wintergreen leaves
1 pound of sugar (plain old cane sugar)
1 1/2 pounds of honey (clover or wildflower)
2 gallons of water

Bring water to a boil (use spring water if possible). Add all roots and spices in a grain/steeping bag and simmer for 30 minutes. Add sugar and honey and stir in to mix..shut off heat and allow to cool. Then once at room temp..you can either pitch a yeast and bottle, or force carb and keg. I usually just double this recipe and make 4 gallons and force carb in a corny keg.

Dan

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nice one i like it. very old school.

where do you get your sasafrass?

I've actually never made the same batch twice, but I can share a few past recipes if you like. My ratios aren't much different from what flyweed posted in terms of herbs to sugar to water, and the whole process is pretty much the same. You can always tweak herb amounts depending on what flavors you want. I think sassafrass gives the best "root beer" flavor, but it's also the most expensive and hard to find. You can always experiment with different sugars too. I use raw cane, honey, and sometimes brown sugar. I typically make about 60 oz total, which gets bottled in one 20 oz plastic bottle and three 12 oz glass bottles. When the plastic bottle is hard it's time to go in the fridge. I've been experimenting with different yeasts, but I like Cooper's Ale yeast the best for root beer. It carbs fast (~24 hours at room temp) and makes a nice head. Sometimes I make a thick syrup and add carbonated water from a siphon, but I prefer the naturally carbed stuff.

penged... I get my sassafrass (and a lot of other stuff) at Leaves & Roots.

Agreed...Sassafrass give the BEST "rootbeer" flavor. I don't not use any yeast, because I keg and force carb all of my sodas. SO I skip the whole "fermentation" process. Much easier in my opinion. I buy most of my herbs for my rootbeers from www.blessedherbs.com

Hope that helps


Dan

Started the mission last night with a simple kit root beer. Gnome brand

Also ordered all manner of herbs and roots from here:

http://www.herbco.com/default.aspx

flyweed said:

Sure, I'll share mine if other people do as well. Mine is pretty easy really, and for the most part, is the "base" recipe for just about all "from scratch" brewers.

Makes 2 gallons:

2 oz of Sarsaparilla (optional because of FDA ban)
2 oz. of Sassafrass
1/2 oz. of Licorice root
2 oz. wintergreen leaves
1 pound of sugar (plain old cane sugar)
1 1/2 pounds of honey (clover or wildflower)
2 gallons of water

Bring water to a boil (use spring water if possible). Add all roots and spices in a grain/steeping bag and simmer for 30 minutes. Add sugar and honey and stir in to mix..shut off heat and allow to cool. Then once at room temp..you can either pitch a yeast and bottle, or force carb and keg. I usually just double this recipe and make 4 gallons and force carb in a corny keg.

Dan

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Flyweed,

Thank you for sharing your recipe. Your recipe calls for 2 oz of each of the following sassafras, sarsaparilla, wintergreen leaves. Does 2 oz refer to fresh or dried of these three things? If it is 2 oz for fresh, do you (or anyone else) know how much of these ingredients dried I would want to use?

Thanks, Doug