The second most appropriate DIY topic for the "Brewery&

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stickjam

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 17, 2004
Messages
325
Location
Grand Rapids MI
(the first being brewing the hard stuff)

Anyone out there try their hand at brewing their own root beer?

I figure it's a good science project to do with our 4th grader. I think I'm going to start down the road of small 2-liter bottle batches, trying to go the diet route) with just enough sugar to get the yeast to carbonate it. Besides controlling carbs, I hope to avoid the risk of this :shock:

Any root beer brewing tips, tricks, and stories?

-Bob
 
Yes, I have done exactly this, and yes, I have a very good tip for you.

Use as little yeast as possible (about 1/4 teaspoon for a 2-liter batch) so that it takes a minimum of seven days to carbonate the bottle, It should become quite difficult to push into the bottle with your hand, just like with bottles in the store. The longer it takes to carbonate, the fizzier the drink will be, as a lot more carbon dioxide will dissolve into the liquid. If you use more yeast, and it only takes three or so days for the bottle to "harden", you'll have a flat drink.

That's all I've got. Good luck!
 
Something else to warn you about: root beer made in this way will be alcoholic. Not much, about .25 to .5% on the outside, but it'll be in there. All yeast, no matter the variety, make alcohol in addition to carbon dioxide.
 
I brew beer on a regular basis, but haven't done root beer except once or so. But actually it should be easier without all the sugar - you put in just enough to carbonate it (with beer it's about a 1/4 cup of sugar per gallon) and you're done. With sweet root beer it's a race to consume it before the bottles start exploding.
 
yeast activity slows as pressure builds, but they want to eat the sugars and make c02 and alcohol, a seltzer (dissolving c02 directly) bottle would be an easier and safer way to add fizz.
champagne yeast is prefered to ale or lager strains, I believe
good luck

edit,just reread that this is for a science class:
i've brewed bottle conditioned/carbonated beer and it seems to take and it developed fizz after a week or 2 but gets much better after a month...

you could introduce variables such as amount yeast or sugar or fermenting temp.on monday and consume whatever has not exploded on friday for a fun delve into the scientific method
 

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