Hard Root Beer recipe

[easymode]

Good luck with the build...hopefully it goes smoothly but we know how that usually goes.

I'm going to go ahead and make this from the recipe from page 2 and add in your tweaks except I probably won't boil for 60 minutes maybe just long enough to dissolve the DME, brown sugar and Lactose and see how it goes...maybe 10 or 15 minutes,if that long?

Well, it was the brew expert who's actually made hard root beer using Dme that said that. I'd follow the instructions. Better to be safe than sorry. You never know if boiling for that period of time changes the DME somehow

 

[LCE]

Ok,I will follow the instructions and see how it turns out. I wasn't really thinking to much about the DME as I was the Lactose. 60 minutes it is...
Thanks easy

 

[BobbyNacho]

The root beer extract separates and settles in the bottom of the keg/bottles

Yes, this happened to me...next one I pour, I'll take a picture..the top of the bottle is golden and crystal clear, extract and the lactose has settled to the bottom of the bottles

 

[langgore]

I cooked up my first batch 4 days ago. It was really active until yesterday. Now it's seemingly inactive.

 

[easymode]

I cooked up my first batch 4 days ago. It was really active until yesterday. Now it's seemingly inactive.

It's possible it stalled. If it did you can lightly stir the batch, but be sure to not stir too much. If you add oxygen it messes it up. You'd just want to lightly "fluff" up the bottom. If you do it and still nothing happens, I'd still wait until the time frame it recommends

 

[Ike]

I cooked up my first batch 4 days ago. It was really active until yesterday. Now it's seemingly inactive.

To quote the HBT sages: check the gravity. Whether in a bucket or carboy, leaks can make it seem like nothing is going on when in fact it is. OR, checking the gravity will also tell you whether or not you really did have a runaway fermentation.

 

[langgore]

So it's been 7 days. I tested it at 1.014 which is what 5%? Anyway the color is a little light.

 

[Ike]

So it's been 7 days. I tested it at 1.014 which is what 5%? Anyway the color is a little light.

So, assuming you were using an ale yeast, you may be done. Did you use any temperature control? If it fermented that fast, I'd bet it's going to taste pretty hot, it may be worth letting it sit a bit longer so the yeast can clean up, at least a little bit. The ABV will depend on where you started with your OG.

After primary, my batches are lighter than iced tea. It's the extract that brings the color of the finished product. ...if it doesn't separate out, that is.

 

[easymode]

I'm anxious to hear if there was any separation in this batch

 

[langgore]

So far no

 

[langgore]

I bottled last night and it is carbing quickly

 

[langgore]

It seems that I am getting separation as well in the bottle.

 

[easymode]

It seems that I am getting separation as well in the bottle.

Well, wait and see once it's done if it separates. That'll make me so sad if it does.

 

[langgore]

How does one prevent separation.

 

[easymode]

Lol the last 4-5 pages is our discussion trying to figure that out.

 

[langgore]

Is everyone that had seperation using the same brand extract

 

[Ike]

Is everyone that had seperation using the same brand extract

Seems to be pretty consistent across the board, regardless of extract. I can confirm separation with both McCormick's and Zatarain's.

 

[langgore]

I used Watson which is clear. About 1/3 of my bottles had some sedement in the bottom which I thought was separation. But the reast seem to be fine.

 

[langgore]

Not sure but wouldn't some type of hops work as a binding agent?

 

[langgore]

Would the soda stream root beer flavoring work for this application?

 

[TheCauseOfAndSolutionTo]

Got super stoked about this recipe by reading through the first few pages of the thread, and brewed a 5 gallon batch 2 days ago. Since then, I've read through ALL 41 PAGES of the thread, and uncovered all the issues with separation. Lucky me that I uncovered the issue before proceeding with the addition of root beer extract! I did a little digging, and found a recent Hard Root Beer recipe from BYO:

"Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) pure cane sugar
1 tablespoon (15 mL) molasses
½ tsp. yeast nutrient
Root beer extract (quantities vary based on extract)
2-4 tsp. baking soda (added to taste)
Clean fermenting ale yeast (Champagne works well also)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) sugar to backsweeten (added to cold keg)

Step by step
Bring sugar, molasses, and water to a boil for 15 minutes. At flame out add yeast nutrient. Once cooled to yeast pitching temperature, add the yeast and allow the temperature to rise naturally to the upper limit of the yeast’s range; you want a good and fast ferment. After 10 days, cool to near-freezing to drop out as much yeast you can. Transfer the clear finished beer into an empty corny keg and add in the root beer extract and baking soda to taste. Finally, add the sugar (dissolved in 1 qt./1 L boiling water) to backsweeten. Mix all this very well or the dense sugar syrup will drop to the bottom and make for an awkward first pint.This beer likes to be well carbonated — try 2.4-2.7 volumes — and will stay good for quite a while in a kegerator."

A couple of things stand out to me here. First, the primary is allowed to go for 10 days. Second, they recommend cold-crashing the beer to near-freezing to precipitate out as much yeast and other solids as possible. Third, they recommend baking soda to reduce acidity. I'm going to try employing all of these techniques to my batch which is roughly based on the original recipe, and I'll keep you posted.

 

[TheCauseOfAndSolutionTo]

Link to full article, which also includes Hard Ginger Beer:
https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3392-hard-root-beer-ginger-beer

 

[easymode]

Ladies and Gentleman, the culprit for all the separation is the yeast! All the yeast needs to be filtered out of the beer before the extract is put in. Using a sanitized 30 micron filter will do the trick. Then you can add the extract and sugar to back-sweeten.

 

[langgore]

How then can one bottle carbonate.

 

[globell]

and how did this turn out for you??

Got super stoked about this recipe by reading through the first few pages of the thread, and brewed a 5 gallon batch 2 days ago. Since then, I've read through ALL 41 PAGES of the thread, and uncovered all the issues with separation. Lucky me that I uncovered the issue before proceeding with the addition of root beer extract! I did a little digging, and found a recent Hard Root Beer recipe from BYO:

"Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) pure cane sugar
1 tablespoon (15 mL) molasses
½ tsp. yeast nutrient
Root beer extract (quantities vary based on extract)
2-4 tsp. baking soda (added to taste)
Clean fermenting ale yeast (Champagne works well also)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) sugar to backsweeten (added to cold keg)

Step by step
Bring sugar, molasses, and water to a boil for 15 minutes. At flame out add yeast nutrient. Once cooled to yeast pitching temperature, add the yeast and allow the temperature to rise naturally to the upper limit of the yeast’s range; you want a good and fast ferment. After 10 days, cool to near-freezing to drop out as much yeast you can. Transfer the clear finished beer into an empty corny keg and add in the root beer extract and baking soda to taste. Finally, add the sugar (dissolved in 1 qt./1 L boiling water) to backsweeten. Mix all this very well or the dense sugar syrup will drop to the bottom and make for an awkward first pint.This beer likes to be well carbonated — try 2.4-2.7 volumes — and will stay good for quite a while in a kegerator."

A couple of things stand out to me here. First, the primary is allowed to go for 10 days. Second, they recommend cold-crashing the beer to near-freezing to precipitate out as much yeast and other solids as possible. Third, they recommend baking soda to reduce acidity. I'm going to try employing all of these techniques to my batch which is roughly based on the original recipe, and I'll keep you posted.

 

[globell]

Anyone try to make their own extract or start with a homemade root beer base from sasparilla/sassafrass ect?

 

[easymode]

Turned out great. I'm cold crashing 3 gallons of my recipe now to filter it. After that I'll do force carbonating.

 

[Soulshine2]

This would be the final recipe. I'm thinking next time to add a vanilla bean in the primary and also hops, most likely Willamette. I feel as though this would be a lot easier in a keg, but you could skip stabilizing it, bottle, and put in the fridge to stop fermentation.

Grandpa Willies Hard Root Beer

---Primary---
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz lactose
1 pound light DME
Nottingham Ale Yeast

Boil DME, brown sugar, and lactose with about 4 cups water. Pour in primary. Add nutrient and energizer. Top off. Let cool and pitch yeast. Ferment for 5-7 days. Stabilize (if kegging). Wait another week.

---Before Kegging---
1 cup sugar boiled in 1 cup water
5 1/2 oz wildflower honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp root beer extract (McCormick)

Boil sugar and add to bottling bucket. Then add honey (warm it so its easier to pour) and the extracts. Let cool and add primary. Pour in Keg or bottles.

Im coming in late on this thread ,but with this recipe ,what is the total volume /how much water do you use?

 

[Jaybird]

I love me some hard Root Beer! I thought about doing this years ago when the post was first put up but totally forgot about it! I am SO GLAD to see it pop back up!
I will be giving this a go!

Cheers
Jay

 

[user 269088]

Im coming in late on this thread ,but with this recipe ,what is the total volume /how much water do you use?

This is for a one gallon batch so just enough water to top off a one gallon carboy.