Recent content by 777funk

Well most (if not all) of those use extracts. The same company that makes the extracts for Sprecher has one that tastes much like A&W. I've also seen the Sprecher syrup for sale: http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/store/details.php?prodId=202&category=

I pulled some Sassafras plants for the root bark yesterday to make root beer and I chewed and tasted segments of it to see where the flavor was at. Some had more (or better) flavor than other pieces. The more aromatic/flavorful pieces almost burn my mouth a little and definitely numbed my...

I thought that soda had HFCS 55 or 45 (can't remember). I think what the store has contains HFCS but I don't think it's purely HFCS. But I could be wrong on what I'm deducing from the ingredients list. Sometimes they have it broken down into more categories on certain single ingredients etc...

Never have. I saw them last summer and I didn't try it unfortunately. But I don't like the sweet in my root beers like I do in commercial root beers (Sprecher, IBC, A&W, etc). I'm not talking about the flavor of the extract etc... I'm talking the sweet flavor.

I'm sure sugar is better (still not good for you) and supposedly tastes more classy, but I'm used to factory produced off the shelf pops. I think I'm used to the smooth taste (no bite) of high fructose corn syrup. Where can I get the type used in soda making?

Mr Food Scientist, I saw on your blog recipes you add something to get more sweet with less sugar. What was that? I tried to look again and your site wouldn't load on my browser for some reason. EDIT: Ok cream of tarter. Just found it.

No additives since it's well water. I'm just curious about the extracts themselves and the best treatment of them. Obviously somethings will evaporate if temps are raised. I have tried adding them to warm and hot water. I've never let them sit/age at room temp. So far I'm not thrilled with...

I'm new to making root beer and have a pile of extracts from various sources: Rainbow, Zatarains, McCormic, and some others and I'm noticing that most of them taste sort of chemically and maybe a little too strong. Here's the other thing I notice is that they smell like alcohol (similar to...

I started making rootbeer a few days ago with a 20lb cylinder of Co2 and a 2 liter bottle with a valve stem in the cap and at first I had a hard time getting enough fizz (maybe 30 psi). So I cranked it up to 95 psi and shook and filled a few times until the bottle stayed firm. So far so good I...