Not Your Father's Root Beer

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Eman24dx

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FIrst off happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I was lucky enough to get a case of this stuff today for fathers day and can tell you it was absolutely delicious.

I was skeptical to see what it was rated and was surprised to find its world-class ratings. I was also very surprised to find it's only available in four states.I set aside a 12 pack for anyone out there who wants to trade and try this great Beer/root beer. I will warn you it is pretty dangerous at 6% when it tastes just like root beer.

I am looking to try some good rare beers out there of course always wanted to get Pliny and heady but am willing to try anything good you might have your way. feel free to send me a private message...

Happy fathers day!
 
This has been taken to national distribution by pabst so many if not all of the US will have this sitting on shelves soon.

I don't get the hype of a 12$ 6pk of 6% root beer.
Buy a case of soda for $5 and dose up to 6% with your favorite liquor!! lol

Sorry if I ruined your post OP!
 
Johnnyhitch1 said:
This has been taken to national distribution by pabst so many if not all of the US will have this sitting on shelves soon.

I don't get the hype of a 12$ 6pk of 6% root beer.
Buy a case of soda for $5 and dose up to 6% with your favorite liquor!! lol

Sorry if I ruined your post OP!
Click to expand...

Agree on this. Reminds me of buying a 6 pack of Mike's Hard or some of those Bud Light Lime Ritas. Equally as sweet as those, just Root Beer flavored. I wonder if we'll see Not Your Father's Mountain Dew, soon...
 
ukaH said:
Agree on this. Reminds me of buying a 6 pack of Mike's Hard or some of those Bud Light Lime Ritas. Equally as sweet as those, just Root Beer flavored. I wonder if we'll see Not Your Father's Mountain Dew, soon...
Click to expand...

I liked my buddies idea, not your mothers milk (Chocolate milk stout) haha
 
What Johnny said above.

Also, the big difference here is that it's actually brewed, not just root beer mixed with any type of alcohol.

And FWIW, I personally think the 5.9% version tastes like fake crap. The 10% and 19.5% are 100x better.
 
Thanks for your .02 Johnny but already had a few people message me. Seems like a few people can't get it and want to try it so thanks for your input...
 
absoluthamm said:
What Johnny said above.

Also, the big difference here is that it's actually brewed, not just root beer mixed with any type of alcohol.

And FWIW, I personally think the 5.9% version tastes like fake crap. The 10% and 19.5% are 100x better.
Click to expand...

We just got the reg version. Geez they go up that high in abv. Wow
 
absoluthamm said:
I personally think the 5.9% version tastes like fake crap.
Click to expand...


I brought some of this back from a recent trip and I second this opinion. My husband thought the same thing as well as stepdaughter who was very excited to try alcoholic root beer. I'd be interested in trying the higher alcohol versions, though.
 
This stuff is not beer, tired of seeing it discussed in beer forums and poured at craft beer fests. It root beer flavored sugar water fortified with alcohol with probably a sprinkle of dme to satisfy the ttb so it can be called "beer". Read Small towns own description of how the 19.5% came to be.
http://smalltownbrewery.com/our-beers/limited-19-5-m.
This was an accident by pitching more yeast??? I have a wee heave going that's 12% im going to just pitch more yeast and get it to 19.5.
Laughable
 
burnsie8791 said:
This stuff is not beer, tired of seeing it discussed in beer forums and poured at craft beer fests. It root beer flavored sugar water fortified with alcohol with probably a sprinkle of dme to satisfy the ttb so it can be called "beer". Read Small towns own description of how the 19.5% came to be.

http://smalltownbrewery.com/our-beers/limited-19-5-m.

This was an accident by pitching more yeast??? I have a wee heave going that's 12% im going to just pitch more yeast and get it to 19.5.

Laughable
Click to expand...


Someone seems real upset for no reason.
 
burnsie8791 said:
This stuff is not beer, tired of seeing it discussed in beer forums and poured at craft beer fests. It root beer flavored sugar water fortified with alcohol with probably a sprinkle of dme to satisfy the ttb so it can be called "beer". Read Small towns own description of how the 19.5% came to be.
http://smalltownbrewery.com/our-beers/limited-19-5-m.
This was an accident by pitching more yeast??? I have a wee heave going that's 12% im going to just pitch more yeast and get it to 19.5.
Laughable
Click to expand...

I'm with you on the yeast addition thing. It's silly and frankly, IMO, smacks of flat out lying.

However, we also have a soda section here and some people quite into that hobby as well. They may be interested in reading about this stuff.
 
I tried some a few weeks ago. It was good, in a different non-beer way. Due to the sugar content I could not drink more than 1 in a sitting, but once again it was good, in a different non-beer way.

a day after trying 1 I researched ways of kind of cloning it. I am bottling a batch this weekend and have no idea how this will turn out.
 
no intent in slamming for someone posting about this beer on the forum, more an issue with the brewery and the marketing of this beer as craft beer gets me riled up. I live close by and I've heard from more then one source that small town had issues with the Feds because they were fortifying the stronger versions of this beer with either grain alcohol or vodka, covered up with tons of sugar
 
Pyg, do you have any sort of recipe for trying to clone? I'd be interested in making an honest-to-goodness attempt at it.
 
The additional yeast pitching line is a bit odd unless it was a higher attenuation strain (much higher lol). But they also do hop it. It is brewed as a beer, it doesn't just have a neutral spirit just added to it. I've been up to the brewery and have seen them brewing it.
 
Tried this at a sampling at a local grocery/liquor store and I immediately snatched up a six pack. Since I am in Wisconsin and we like our alcohol a little to much, it was on sale for $8 originally $10. I may go buy more tomorrow. I like it a little more than Sprechers Hard Rootbeer which is only a four pack.
 
Homercidal said:
I'm with you on the yeast addition thing. It's silly and frankly, IMO, smacks of flat out lying.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. This stuff has tons of sugar in it in the bottle, so a high FG. One method of ending up with a high FG is stopping the fermentation by killing the yeast (maybe by UV or heat pasteurization) and force carbonating. If a fermented batch was pasteurized, but then had more yeast pitched in it, it would attenuate further and end up with more alcohol.
 
This may be of help:

Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms

PART 25—BEER

Subpart B—Definitions

§25.15 Materials for the production of beer.

(a) Beer must be brewed from malt or from substitutes for malt. Only rice, grain of any kind, bran, glucose, sugar, and molasses are substitutes for malt. In addition, you may also use the following materials as adjuncts in fermenting beer: honey, fruit, fruit juice, fruit concentrate, herbs, spices, and other food materials.

(b) You may use flavors and other nonbeverage ingredients containing alcohol in producing beer. Flavors and other nonbeverage ingredients containing alcohol may contribute no more than 49% of the overall alcohol content of the finished beer. For example, a finished beer that contains 5.0% alcohol by volume must derive a minimum of 2.55% alcohol by volume from the fermentation of ingredients at the brewery and may derive not more than 2.45% alcohol by volume from the addition of flavors and other nonbeverage ingredients containing alcohol. In the case of beer with an alcohol content of more than 6% by volume, no more than 1.5% of the volume of the beer may consist of alcohol derived from added flavors and other nonbeverage ingredients containing alcohol.

[T.D. TTB-21, 70 FR 235, Jan. 3, 2005]
 
TallDan said:
Not necessarily. This stuff has tons of sugar in it in the bottle, so a high FG. One method of ending up with a high FG is stopping the fermentation by killing the yeast (maybe by UV or heat pasteurization) and force carbonating. If a fermented batch was pasteurized, but then had more yeast pitched in it, it would attenuate further and end up with more alcohol.
Click to expand...

Well, those are good points. I could believe they pasteurized the stuff and then accidentally added yeast back in. I think they'd have to add more sugar again after getting it to 19%, but I can see it.
 
Skillafizer said:
Pyg, do you have any sort of recipe for trying to clone? I'd be interested in making an honest-to-goodness attempt at it.
Click to expand...

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
_______________________________
#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
 

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