Looking to clone Not Your Father's Root Beer (Small Town Brewery)

[formula2fast]

This is not the same beer...What is being bottled in 12oz and sold as NYFRB is a 5.9% root beer, and the original was 10.7% in bombers or kegs. This version tastes like root beer flavored cough syrup. The original was creamy, sweet, had great flavors, and you could barely tell there was alcohol in it.

What is being sold in 12oz bottles is contract brewed, and from rumors I heard Sprecher was brewing it for them. I have never heard official word on if Sprecher was actually the contract brewer, but I have heard that from a number of people.

I loved the original and could drink it all day, and now I have been fighting to finish the two 6 packs I bought in November.

 

[OmegaRed]

sub

 

[Kidagora]

Haven't touched this in awhile but think it could benefit from a little chocolate malt for that cola taste and color. Think the right combo of caramalt with chocolate would make a difference. May pick up grains for a new batch this week.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

This is not the same beer...What is being bottled in 12oz and sold as NYFRB is a 5.9% root beer, and the original was 10.7% in bombers or kegs. This version tastes like root beer flavored cough syrup. The original was creamy, sweet, had great flavors, and you could barely tell there was alcohol in it.

What is being sold in 12oz bottles is contract brewed, and from rumors I heard Sprecher was brewing it for them. I have never heard official word on if Sprecher was actually the contract brewer, but I have heard that from a number of people.

I loved the original and could drink it all day, and now I have been fighting to finish the two 6 packs I bought in November.

Yep. Tastes like root beer cough syrup from a bottle. Late April, early May, the 10.7% bombers and 19.1% bombers come out again. Keep your eyes open. They go fast...

You can also search around to see what bars have it on tap. There's the 10.7% and a whopping 18.something% version (only in keg). I don't remember, but I think you can search on their website to see where it's served and what type.

Good luck!

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429745627.079800.jpg picked up a four pack of this since I can't get nyfrb here in the middle of Iowa. It's not bad but I can see where it seems overly sweet almost syrupy. I wouldn't drink more than one of these a night. And this is only 5% label says malt beverage artificial flavors caramel color and age in bourbon barrels fwiw.

 

[Kidagora]

Had one recently as well. The 5.9% is pretty sweet and does come across artificial.

I am revising another simplified one gallon recipe cooking now and am expecting ~7%. Will post with updates.

 

[joefarmer]

Is there any chance some of the alcohol in the original 19% version came from the vanilla extract? Or would it have only come from a high gravity mash?

 

[burnsie8791]

I live close by to small town and the scuttlebut is that they ran into some trouble with the fed becuase this was more of a fortifed root beer then a "beer" beer. Forbidden Root in chicago makes a root beer beer that is much close to an actual beer.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I live close by to small town and the scuttlebut is that they ran into some trouble with the fed becuase this was more of a fortifed root beer then a "beer" beer.

Is this the reason why there seems to be a delay in the bombers being distributed? The six packs are friggin' everywhere... but they suck! Lol!

I've been anticipating the bombers coming out for weeks now, but there's no info from the local distributor as to what is happening...

 

[burnsie8791]

I think they paid a bunch of additional taxes to settle. Bombers are hard to get i assume becuase the 6 ers are in high demand and most of the prodution time is taken making that stuff. It's a pretty small place. It's a boozy pop in my opinion. more then 5 oz and i end up with a case of the beetus

 

[espyusmc]

Sorry, I'm an idiot...what do you mean by EtOH? I'm looking to do this for Halloween, any updates or recommendations?

 

[espyusmc]

Sorry, I'm an idiot...what do you mean by EtOH? I'm looking to do this for Halloween, any updates or recommendations?

Comment above directed at Kidagora. Thanks.

 

[mtnagel]

EtOH is shorthand for ethanol, which is the alcohol you are drinking in beer.

 

[espyusmc]

All,

I've looked at all the posts and I'm going to attempt this as soon as I get the ingredients. Wanted to get your thoughts on the following recipe. I used Kidagora's recipe as a starting point and incorporated his lessons learned to attempt to improve on the recipe.

1 Gallon batch(7.0% ABV):
----------------
2.5lbs - 2 Row (80%)
2.5 oz - Caramel 60 (5%)
2.5 oz - Caramel 75 (5%)
1.5 oz - Flaked Oats (3.2%)
.8 oz - Chocolate Malt (1.5%)
.8 oz - Special B Malt (1.5%)
1.5 oz - Molasses (3.2%)

Yeast Fermentis US-05

I'm keeping the bitterness ratio the same as Kidagora's recipe and I'm keeping the spice additions and extract additions the same.

My thoughts regarding the grist adjustments are as follows.
-Caramel 60 & 75 to try and get a mix of the sweet caramel notes from the 60 and the more "roasted" sugar notes from the 75. I realize this may be very subtle but thought I'd give it a shot.
-I want a full ferment with no stalling issues so I choose US-05 (my "goto" strain). To retain the mouthfeel I've elected to keep the flaked oats.
-Chocolate malt is included to help get the SRM up to "root beer" type levels with a minimal affect on the flavor.
-Added Special B to try and give a hint of the raisin notes sometimes found in root beer. Tough call whether to use 120 or special B, thought I'd try something different.

Again, I'll be brewing this test batch in the next week or so. Once the recipe is figured out I plan on doing a 10 gal batch for Halloween. We'll see. Please let me know what you guys think. I really want to retain the sweetness of the root beer quality without needed to add sugar, thus I've tried to keep the bittering very low.

 

[JRybacki]

Hate to be a downer, but recent reviews of the where this is actually brewed leads to the conclusion that this would be an extremely hard taste to clone. It is most likely not brewed in the traditional manner but the alcohol is infused in a similar manner to the way Mike's Hard products are, with a pre-made base product and unflavored alcohol added for the alcohol content. That being said, if anyone finds a way of even fitting as close as Coney Island, I'm game!

 

[bierhaus15]

The process for making this stuff is actually pretty simple. Basically you take a ton of dextrose or similar sugar, boil it with lots of DAP and other yeast nutrients to around 1.100, then ferment it with turbo yeast or another alcohol tolerant wine yeast. You end up with around 18-22% abv. It is then filtered with carbon to remove color and some off flavors and then is blended with water down to abv spec. Rootbeer flavoring, caramel color, and high fructose corn syrup is added.

It is illegal to add straight alcohol to a beverage base, so most of your malt beverages are made this way.

 

[JRybacki]

Not sure that is exactly a simple process for the home brewer. The key is to remove the harsh alcohol flavor from the high concentration. That involves multiple runs through a charcoal-based filtration system. Without a good pumping mechanism, the process is very long. Even with a good pumping system, the optimal performance requires a multi-stage filtration system which becomes very expensive. Or you could go Mythbusters style and run it through a Britta jug, for hours at a time...

 

[TheMarkWhite]

Any updates on brew attempts?

 

[formula2fast]

I am not sure it is worth brewing this anymore. There are pallets of it in every single store and they are almost giving it away now. Probably not worth the time and money unless you are doing it just to say you can do it.

 

[1977Brewer]

Where are they practically giving it away now? It's still $10/6 around here.

 

[TheMarkWhite]

I am not sure it is worth brewing this anymore. There are pallets of it in every single store and they are almost giving it away now. Probably not worth the time and money unless you are doing it just to say you can do it.

Isn't this true for beer in general?

 

[espyusmc]

I attempted to brew this per my recipe above. It was by far the worst tasting wort and beer I've ever made. That being said, I had some attenuation issues. Also the Rootbeer spices I used in the boil did not taste well. If I was going to attempt this again I would try it based on a Dopplebock recipe.

 

[formula2fast]

$9/6pk here...In the current state of beer, sadly $9/6 is almost considered cheap around Chicago.

 

[gicts]

It's still $10 per 6 pack or $36 for a 24 pack (at Costco). $1.50 for a can? Time for a recipe.

 

[bja]

It's still $10 per 6 pack or $36 for a 24 pack (at Costco). $1.50 for a can? Time for a recipe.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/YourUnclesRootBeer.pdf

View attachment YourUnclesRootBeer.pdf

 

[dustinboyd]

Bja, have you tried that recipe? If so, how did it turn out?

 

[gicts]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/YourUnclesRootBeer.pdf

I got a marketing email about that today

Thinking of grabbing that and ingredients for a few porters, stouts, and smoked beers

 

[bja]

Bja, have you tried that recipe? If so, how did it turn out?

I haven't yet. I'm going to convert it to all grain and try it, hopefully in a few weeks.

 

[MaxStout]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/YourUnclesRootBeer.pdf

This is interesting. I'd like to try making this. Maybe a 2.5 gallon batch.

Looks like essentially a low-hopped dark ale with lactose added in the boil, and root beer extract in secondary. I noticed the ingredient list included "6 grams Sweetner," presumably a non-fermentable artificial sweetener. Like dumping in a few packets of Splenda?

 

[dustinboyd]

I haven't yet. I'm going to convert it to all grain and try it, hopefully in a few weeks.

Do you mind sharing the all grain recipe once you convert? Id like to try brewing this one as well.