The recipe below has been slightly adjusted based on previous taste tests of an earlier batch than Dan linked to above - I felt that initial batch didn't have enough birch and sassafras, and too much wintergreen.
IMHO, my recipe turned out better than any of the commerical 'hard' sodas I've tried; I am also proud that I crafted it from scratch, as opposed to some of the commercial meaderies I've tried and discovered that just use pre-manufactured flavor extracts.
initial flavors of sassafras, birch and vanilla, a touch of wintergreen in the middle palate, and slight molasses and adjunct spices on the back end.
More akin to Barqs than A/W, I think
please attribute properly if you share or use the recipe
Ty's Root Beer Metheglin
Ingredients:
(1 gallon batch)
- 40 oz Orange Blossom honey
- 16 oz Avocado honey
- 12 oz brown sugar
- 1 gallon water
- D47 yeast
- 12 tbs sarsparilla root
- 4 tbs black birch bark
- 0.5 tbs wintergreen
- 3 tsp ginger root
- 3 tsp licorice root
- 1 clove
- 1 oz cinnamon stick
- ½ star anise
- 2 vanilla beans
- 0.5 ounces sassafras cubes
- Go-ferm
- Fermaid O
- 0.25 tsp potassium sorbate
- 0.25 tsp potassium metabisulfite
Method:
- Bring 1 gallon of water to a simmer. Add spices (sans vanilla) in a brew sock and simmer for 20 minutes, then remove from heat and steep for 1 hour.
- Rehydrate yeast w/ go ferm per instructions.
- Add hot tea, honey and brown sugar to primary vessel. Stir vigorously to dissolve honey and sugar, and oxygenate.
- Pitch yeast once must has reached acceptable temperatures.
- Degas twice daily for 5 days, and add nutrient additions per tosna.
- Rack after fermentation has completed and lees have settled - at about +2 months
- Stabilize
- Add vanilla beans, split lengthwise and sassafras
- Rack at 4 months - pull vanilla and sassafras
- Rack again if needed
- Bulk age to+10 months
- Bottle and age to +1 year