4th try at root beer

[And1129]

Yep, i've tried to make a root beer three times already with no success. Admittedly, most of my previous attempts i've way over complicated the recipe and have relied on yeast and bottling to provide carbonation. I've tried to make alcoholic root beers, non-sweet rootbeer, lactose rootbeer, and on my last attempt i tried to put it all together myself with a spiceblend instead of using an extract. I haven't produced any drinkable rootbeer yet despite my ability to make some awesome beers and wines.

Now, i'm about to try again. This time i'm trying to keep it simple. I'm trying the Gnome rootbeer extract, i'm going to sweeten with 2lbs of sucrose and 3lbs of a light honey as per the morebeer rootbeer instructions, and this time ... i'm going to force carbonate with my kegging system that i didn't have the last times I attempted root beer. I may add a bit of vanilla too, but in general i'm greatly resisting my urge to add other spices. This one i'll keep bare bones simple, and maybe on my next try i'll experiment more. I'm a bit worried about getting the right amount of the Gnome extract out of the package and saving the other half for next time; we'll see how that goes. Other than using this simplest recipe, any other general tips for success? Thanks and wish me luck!

 

[Hello]

Good luck to you! K.I.S.S. For sure.
Though I'd add vanilla, I love vanilla.

 

[Yooper]

Yep, i've tried to make a root beer three times already with no success. Admittedly, most of my previous attempts i've way over complicated the recipe and have relied on yeast and bottling to provide carbonation. I've tried to make alcoholic root beers, non-sweet rootbeer, lactose rootbeer, and on my last attempt i tried to put it all together myself with a spiceblend instead of using an extract. I haven't produced any drinkable rootbeer yet despite my ability to make some awesome beers and wines.

Now, i'm about to try again. This time i'm trying to keep it simple. I'm trying the Gnome rootbeer extract, i'm going to sweeten with 2lbs of sucrose and 3lbs of a light honey as per the morebeer rootbeer instructions, and this time ... i'm going to force carbonate with my kegging system that i didn't have the last times I attempted root beer. I may add a bit of vanilla too, but in general i'm greatly resisting my urge to add other spices. This one i'll keep bare bones simple, and maybe on my next try i'll experiment more. I'm a bit worried about getting the right amount of the Gnome extract out of the package and saving the other half for next time; we'll see how that goes. Other than using this simplest recipe, any other general tips for success? Thanks and wish me luck!

That sounds like it should work out great.

A couple of tips for kegging soda- first, it requires a much higher pressure than beer, so you will need to set it at 30 psi at 40 degrees. It will take a while to carb up, so you may want to try 60 psi for 24 hours, and then reset to 30 psi to get it going a bit faster. Also, since it's so highly carbed, you need a LOT of beerline to serve it- 30' of 3/16" line is not too much. It can just coil up on top of the keg.

One last thing- the smell and taste of rootbeer will never, ever come out. So make sure you have a dedicated keg, line, faucet, etc, just for the root beer. You can get it out of the keg, when you replace all the o-rings and work your ass off cleaning it, but it will never come out of anything else so it's easiest just to have one keg set up with the long line and a picnic tap (ziptie the long line to the keg) and the disconnects dedicated to the one set up.

 

[And1129]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will add a bit of vanilla. I knew the rootbeer won't come out, so I just bought another corney keg to have one dedicated to rootbeer although, I was planning on using the same lines as I do for beer, so maybe i'll have to get new dedicated lines eventually too. I don't think my beerline is that long from keg to picnic tap, will that be a big problem?

 

[Yooper]

I don't think my beerline is that long from keg to picnic tap, will that be a big problem?

Yes.

It will shoot out worse than a fire hose. To carb it properly, it really needs to be at 30 psi at 40 degrees or thereabouts. In order to balance it, a minimum of 25' of 3/16" beerline would be required, but longer would be better.

Beerline isn't that expensive, but I bought some from McMaster Carr for 15 cents a foot that is semi-rigid and hard to work with in a kegerator, but fine for a picnic tap and it coils up easier. That may be the way to go, if you don't want to buy 30' of bevlex tubing just for root beer.

 

[And1129]

I will look into getting some longer tubing then.

I figured i'd carbonate it at 30-50psi while cold, get it nice and carbed, then release some of the pressure and push it out at like 10psi. I am new to kegging in general, but this is usually what I do with most of my ales and it works pretty well. Is soda somewhat different in that i'll need to dispense it at a higher pressure? Thanks for the tips.

 

[Hello]

That sounds like it should work out great.

A couple of tips for kegging soda- first, it requires a much higher pressure than beer, so you will need to set it at 30 psi at 40 degrees. It will take a while to carb up, so you may want to try 60 psi for 24 hours, and then reset to 30 psi to get it going a bit faster. Also, since it's so highly carbed, you need a LOT of beerline to serve it- 30' of 3/16" line is not too much. It can just coil up on top of the keg.

One last thing- the smell and taste of rootbeer will never, ever come out. So make sure you have a dedicated keg, line, faucet, etc, just for the root beer. You can get it out of the keg, when you replace all the o-rings and work your ass off cleaning it, but it will never come out of anything else so it's easiest just to have one keg set up with the long line and a picnic tap (ziptie the long line to the keg) and the disconnects dedicated to the one set up.

Not to hijack but you're saying SS Perlicks will retain the root beer taste/smell? I am curious since I have a dedicated root beer tap but never heard of the tap issue.

 

[Yooper]

I will look into getting some longer tubing then.

I figured i'd carbonate it at 30-50psi while cold, get it nice and carbed, then release some of the pressure and push it out at like 10psi. I am new to kegging in general, but this is usually what I do with most of my ales and it works pretty well. Is soda somewhat different in that i'll need to dispense it at a higher pressure? Thanks for the tips.

Well, when I carbonate something at a higher pressure than I dispense (say, at a party or something), I get a lot of foaming. If you can do it without a foamy mess and losing carbonation, then it's definitely worth a try. Remember that at 30 psi it will take a couple of weeks to even carb up unless you employ the shake method or some other quick carb method.

I was just thinking- people who don't want to get ultra long lines have found success with those "epoxy mixing sticks", on the "in" diptube inside the keg. It provides resistance, and may fix any issues with trying to dispense the soda.

 

[duboman]

Since I make a hard root beer as well as regular root beer regularly here are some tips:

Gnome Extract is pretty strong stuff and has a definitive wintergreen flavor to it so be sure you like that prior to use. I add the extract at bottling.

I suggest you dose to taste with a pre-measured sample first and then scale up, you will not need the whole pack for a 5 gallon batch.

To back sweeten with sugar, make your simple syrup first and once you have dosed the sample with extract add the sugar to taste and then scale up as well, some like it sweeter, some do not, your taste will tell you.

If using Gnome extract I would not add any other flavors at first, go one thing at a time

As mentioned already, root beer flavor will not go away so whatever tap, lines and vessel you use will need to only be used for root beer from this point forward. Also, at 40oF you will need at least 25' of 3/16" bev line and carbonate to 30psi. Do not expect a lot of head or any retention, I think the extract just kills it. I have found adding malto-dextrine at packaging improves head and retention.

 

[Yooper]

Not to hijack but you're saying SS Perlicks will retain the root beer taste/smell? I am curious since I have a dedicated root beer tap but never heard of the tap issue.

Yes. I think it's the o-rings(?) or something in there, but I"m unsure. I would use a picnic tap for root beer. I've used my perlicks for ginger ale, and while there was a faint "ginger ale" smell to the beer afterwards until I changed out the lines, it was tolerable. Root beer, not so much.

 

[Yooper]

. I have found adding malto-dextrine at packaging improves head and retention.

That's a great point! The only I caution I have is "less is more" applies.

It works great, when used appropiately. My son, when he was about 17, made some up and must have screwed up the amount on the malto dextrine, and made root beer jell-o. It's even grosser than it sounds, in case you were wondering.

 

[duboman]

Yes, perlicks will retain the root beer flavor for whatever the reason is

Yes, too much malto is a bad thing! For a 3 gallon batch I use 45 grams and get a decent head and a creamy mouthfeel


Sent from the Commune

 

[Summerland]

I have had completely different experiences in my root beer brewing than what has been stated. The extract I used made absolutely terrible root beer, so I went on the hunt for good recipes. I found one that worked pretty good, and the last time we made it I added some extra Star Anise and it is very good! MUCH better than the extract, and not much more work.

As for carbing it, 15psi works fine for me. I use a Carbonator Cap on a 2 liter for quick drinking when it drops to 40 degrees since there's no need to wait for fermenting, and it carbs up nice. Then I leave the keg in the keezer at 15psi and in a week or so it's carbed up nice as well. I've never had to turn the dial up past 15psi, I only have 4ft of line, and I have no problems with dispensing.

 

[Hello]

Yes. I think it's the o-rings(?) or something in there, but I"m unsure. I would use a picnic tap for root beer. I've used my perlicks for ginger ale, and while there was a faint "ginger ale" smell to the beer afterwards until I changed out the lines, it was tolerable. Root beer, not so much.

Cool. It's a dedicated soda line but I do have an extra perlick if need be.

 

[And1129]

My rootbeer has been great! I took the whole keg setup to a 4th of July picnic and everyone enjoyed it. The flavor is nice and I'm happy with the Gnome extract that I used; although, I probably will do some things differently next time. I carbonated it for about 4 days at 30 psi and then I dispensed it through my usual picnic tap beer line, about 2 feet long, at 10 psi. The carbonation looked good initially and poured with a good head, but the rootbeer has no head / carbonation retention and the fizzyness quickly dissipates in cup. I guess beers hold onto carbonation better than sodas do??? Next time I may add some brown sugar, lactose, and perhaps DME or maltodextrin.

 

[passedpawn]

I make root beer ready-to-drink in 24 hours. I keg, so the carbonation is easy: make the root beer, hook up a 40psi line, and roll the keg back and forth for about 10 minutes. Done.

Here's the recipe.

Root Beer Recipe - Makes 4 Gallons

• 1 Bottle Rainbow Flavors Rootbeer Extract
• 4 gals of water
• 2 lb bag of Domino Dark Brown Sugar
• 6 Cups White Cane Sugar
• 2 Teaspoon Vanilla

1. Heat up 1 - 2 gals of water just enough to dissolve sugars (make sure it's fully dissolved).
2. Remove from heat add root beer extract and vanilla and get every drop out of the bottle.
3. Pour into keg and add the rest of the water stir and shake really good to get it mixed up.
4. Connect to CO2 and carb to 40psi

I got this from http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=31257

 

[Yooper]

I dispensed it through my usual picnic tap beer line, about 2 feet long, at 10 psi. The carbonation looked good initially and poured with a good head, but the rootbeer has no head / carbonation retention and the fizzyness quickly dissipates in cup.

It's the fact that it was was carbed well, but poured at 10 psi. That makes it lose head/carbonation and fizziness. If it was dispensed at the carb pressure, with longer line, it would have been perfect.

 

[And1129]

^ Thanks for that tip. The keg is nearing empty, so I get to start formulating a recipie and plan for my next successful attempt. I'll look into getting a longer BevOut line as well as the recipe adjustments discussed. Thanks all!