why boil?

[DougBrown]

In the current issue of Brew Your Own they have an article on brewing hard root beer and hard ginger beer. In the ginger beer recipe from the professional brewer it says to boil the sugar, water and molasses for 15 min. (the other ingredients are added later). I don't understand the reason for this. Why not just mix the water, sugar and molasses and bring the temperature up to fermenting level?

 

[Sir_niveda]

The 15 minute boil makes it completely sterile, lowering your chances for infection. It also thoroughly mixes the sugar water and molasses.

 

[DougBrown]

Thanks. That was my guess but as a bit of a beginner I wanted to make sure.

 

[Sir_niveda]

Oh for sure, that was sort of a hasty reply, sorry if I sounded curt. It's not too often I'm the first poster on something I think I know. I've also never made ginger ale or hard root beer, so there very well may be some other reason. I've been making beer for 3 years and I still consider myself a bit of a beginner...