I found 2 different versions of "hard root beer". One was brewing a beer with spices and adding a rootbeer concentrate.
The other seems to be making alcohol water and adding rootbeer flavor to it.
I tried the later, due to time constraints and available ingredients.
Also in my reading it seems like this would be easier to keg than bottle. Bottling you have to guess when it is carbed and then either pasturize or chill to avoid bottle bombs.
Both of these recipes have been found either on HBT or the interwebs. I may have tweeked them a little.
I will be bottling this weekend. If anyone has better recipe let me know.
Recipe #1 (1 gallon)
1.5 lb Light Dry Extract Boil
1.0 lb Molasses Boil
0.5 lb Caramel Malt 120L Briess Steep
0.25 lb Carapils® Malt Briess Steep
Safale S-04 Fermentis S-04
2.0 tbs Rootbeer Extract 0.0 days Bottle
3.0 tsp Whole Cloves 10.0 min Boil
2.0 oz Sassafras Root Bark 10.0 min Boil
2.0 oz Wintergreen 10.0 min Boil
All herbs will be steeped for 1/2 hour prior to boiling in 1/2 gallon hot water and then removed prior to the boil.
Added 2 cups of sugar at bottling with 2oz root beer concentrate
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#2
1 gallon
Recipe Type: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.015
Boiling Time (Minutes): 30
Color: Dark
Notes: Smooth root beer flavor finishing in vanilla and honey.
--Primary---
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz lactose
1 pound light DME
NottinghamAle 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. Wait another week.
---Before Kegging/bottling---
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 bottle. Stabilizing would be killing the yeast so that additional sugars could be added without the risk of the yeast eating them. Stabilizing could be done with stove top pasteurization
