Hard Root Beer recipe

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Bottle and sampled what didn't fit wow im diggin this a lot also harvested my 001 for later use

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Ok got a question, after bottling did your guys root beer extract settle out and need mixed in like a hefe when you pour I'm extremely confused because it seems the beer is clear on top and all the flavor extract is settled on the bottom just trying to see if this is usual. I did rotate a bottle a couple times and it mixes up perfect but settles out again after sitting. Prolly got one more day till fully carbed half way right now
 
Same thing happened to me with one of my batches. If there is a good amount of floating particulates the rootbeer extract binds to it and settles to the bottom. I just swirled before pouring and it worked pretty well. If you make this again let it settle out alittle longer before adding extract/sugar.
 
So I have a 5gallon batch of this going. in 11days I still have a very dense kreusen on top. Is this normal for the rootbeer. All my batches of beer had long since dropped mostly clear by now. Was going to take a FG reading but was surprised there was a thick kreusen on top still so I figured I'd let it sit a bit longer. Not impatient all that much just curious if this is something normal for the rootbeer or if I'm just lucky this time around. As stated its a 5gallon batch OG came out at 1.060 if that helps anything. Fermenting with US-05. Thanks for any input anyone.
 
Pasteurizing question: alright first time doing this my question is do the bottles have to be fully submerged or as long as it's 3/4 covered its good?
 
I'm getting ready to try a 5 gallon batch of this. I'm basically multiplying the 1 gallon recipe's ingredients by 5. When I was at my LHBS one of the employees there was concerned that 20 oz of lactose was going to be too much and may impart an acidic taste. He suggested substituting some or most of the lactose with powered milk. It sounds reasonable, I'm just wondering what everyone else thinks?
 
Philistine said:
I'm getting ready to try a 5 gallon batch of this. I'm basically multiplying the 1 gallon recipe's ingredients by 5. When I was at my LHBS one of the employees there was concerned that 20 oz of lactose was going to be too much and may impart an acidic taste. He suggested substituting some or most of the lactose with powered milk. It sounds reasonable, I'm just wondering what everyone else thinks?
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I just used a 1lb bag of lactose when I brewed up my 5gallons of it. Still in primary though so can't comment as to an acidic taste as of yet.
 
Lactose is a sugar, it isn't related to lactic acid (except that both are derived from milk). It shouldn't impart sourness. I think subbing lactose with powdered milk is like subbing... well, I don't know, it just sounds completely insane. One is a complex sugar, the other is powdered milk. One of those is used in brewing, I don't see how he's concerned about the taste lactose might impart but oblivious to what powdered milk of all things would do to a beer.

Anyway, I have these Enfamil coupons, maybe you can give him those for his next brew.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/lactose-powdered-milk-320491/
 
Thanks fearwig. I'll stick with the lactose.

I've got my yeast starter going right now. I'll be brewing this in a couple days.
 
1fast636 said:
Pasteurizing question: alright first time doing this my question is do the bottles have to be fully submerged or as long as it's 3/4 covered its good?
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3/4 is fine. You just wantto heat up the bottle and liquid to kill the yeast essentially.
 
Thanks pasteurized like 5 bottles to give out to a few people the rest I just cold crashed seems the ones I pasteurized worked out the two on top of my fridge haven't exploded so think it worked lol
 
Has anyone done the all grain version for this if so how did it turn out and do you have a recipe, and has any one had one from a five gallon batch with extract if so what was your recipe for that. Want to do 5 gals but trying to decide on all grain version or just doing the extract
 
1fast636 said:
Has anyone done the all grain version for this if so how did it turn out and do you have a recipe, and has any one had one from a five gallon batch with extract if so what was your recipe for that. Want to do 5 gals but trying to decide on all grain version or just doing the extract
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I did a 5 gallon all grain batch
7Lbs 2 row
2 Lbs light brown sugar.
1LB lactose

Then at kegging added
5oz root beer extract
1 oz. vanilla extract
1.75Lbs honey

Came out to 1.059 and finished at 1.010

Everyone has loved it. Getting ready to brew another 5 for when the keg kicks I'll have backup for refilling.
 
Has anyone considered doing an AG batch with high mash and lots of crystal? I bet you could get a sweet 1.030 FG wort without backsweetening if you start around 1.070, and you'd get a nice malty sweetness instead of straight sugar. Maybe I'll give it a 1gal go and report back sometime, I have a 50# sack of C20 I want to burn through, this would be a good use of it if it works, maybe with some MO.
 
Actually my calc says that's basically impossible, that even brewing straight C20 at 160f you'd wind up around 7% abv just to get 1.018 abv. Maybe some low-attenuating yeast would be in order. I also suspect the calcs may not be prepared for this kind of extreme ingredient use. I think if you break about 162f you're getting into "starch" territory.
 
GilSwillBasementBrews said:
I did a 5 gallon all grain batch 7Lbs 2 row 2 Lbs light brown sugar. 1LB lactose Then at kegging added 5oz root beer extract 1 oz. vanilla extract 1.75Lbs honey Came out to 1.059 and finished at 1.010 Everyone has loved it. Getting ready to brew another 5 for when the keg kicks I'll have backup for refilling.
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Guessing 60 min boil all ingredients in at 60?
 
I've brewed this 2 times now. 1st time I total screwed it up and pitched the yeast when it was still to warm. 2nd time I tried to make sure I followed the direction exactly. But something I'm doing is just not working. The taste is nothing like a root beer float. Taste sort of like sour root beer. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I let it ferment out to long? Ended up with a ABV of 4.79% Fermented at 68 for 7 days. Please help with some suggestion of what I might be doing wrong.
 
Did you rehydrate the yeast? It's never happened to me when making the hard root beer, but there was an ale I made alittle while back that I pitched directly into the wort and the beer came out sour. I've also read that some infections can make the beer come out sour.
 
I've had more tartness from notty than other strains, for what it's worth. Not in every batch, may be a factor of pitch or ferm conditions. Even my notty starters taste more acidic side-by-side than S-04 or others, though--and I don't temp control starters, so that may be the cause.
 
No I didn't rehydrate the yeast. I don't think it's infected as it's not totally undrinkable. It just not smooth but it pours nice, good head, smells fine but it just doesn't taste that good. Maybe I'll try it again with a different yeast and rehydrate it first. I'll see if I can get it right because it sound great.
 
Wow, glad I put this in a large brew bucket. I was watching tv and heard a belching. Couldn't figure out what it was, light bulb dinged. I didn't figure I'd be able to hear it belching in the living room its in a closet on a completely different level of the house. Lol
 
1fast636 said:
How does yours look when poured mine seems alil light here is pic am I good on that or is it alil light compared to yoursView attachment 167795
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I'm not entirely sure. I believe I was getting extract settling in the bottom of the keg. The initial pour comes out the faucet dark. Then as the glass fills it gets lighter and lighter. Which would explain why the first glass tasted excellent and then the flavor gradually diminished through the drinking if the keg. I think my color was slightly darker than yours is though. I will post a comparison photo when my next batch finishes in about a week and a half.

On a side note. Anyone else who had kegged this recipe notice wether or not their extracts settled out if solution while sitting in the keg? I'd be curious to hear any yeahs or Nays or possible solutions/explanations of why..
 
I didn't have a problem kegging, but I have found out if you have any particulates such as suspended yeast the extract has a tendency to attach itself to it and sink to the bottom. I had the same problem with a batch being that light, but I just give the beer more time to settle now and haven't had that problem again. I've had some that have been pasteurized since August and they are still as dark as when I added the extract.
 
Yea the first batch I did it all settled out but I cold crashed this batch and hardly no settling out just a small layer on the bottom but nothing like the first batch
 
Just bottled drank 3 not carbeb lol. Really like this need to get more going.going to add probably another 1/2 tsp rootbeer extract and 4 more oz lactose to get the creamy float flavor threw more
 
My first all grain version was a hit over the holidays I'm ready to get some more rollin
 
Just started this brew and it's my first brew ever, so wish me luck. I like the sound of the float flavor/mouthfeel so I added a bit more lactose, is that right? Also I used a distillers yeast that I normally use for mash, it is a very clean fermenter I hope that works out well. Any thoughts?
 
cottrell said:
Just started this brew and it's my first brew ever, so wish me luck. I like the sound of the float flavor/mouthfeel so I added a bit more lactose, is that right? Also I used a distillers yeast that I normally use for mash, it is a very clean fermenter I hope that works out well. Any thoughts?
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Yes the lactose will give a creamier float kind of mouthfeel. As for distillers yeast I couldn't comment either way never having used it before. I would assume as long as it is clean in flavor when finished it wouldn't be an issue. But like I said take it with a grain of salt as I have never used it before.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, I will update on how the distillers yeast works out. Makes me a little nervous to bottle carb since this yeast is strong I usually get a good 19-22% on a mash.
 

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