Sweet Alternatives

[Crazy8]

So I have been trying to think of some other ways to take my root beer up to the next level of amazingness. Rather than adding other ingredients, haven't had much luck in the flavor department on this, I thought I would try something different. Here are some ideas...

Make some invert sugar and add that to the brew. I would do this in place of the sugar already in the recipe.

Make a simple syrup. This would be in place of the sugar already in the recipe.

Make caramel and add that to the brew. I'm assuming this would have to be a caramel sauce and not hot caramel that gets hard when it cools. The only catch is that carmel sauce contains heavy whipping cream. Don't think that would go well in root beer. Not sure if this would be added to or to replace the sugar already in the recipe if this could, should, would be done.

I currently use brown sugar in my recipe and like it a lot. I'm just wondering if any of these options are worth looking into, if they offer any flavor benefits, etc.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Yooper]

Invert sugar, simple syrup, etc are all going to give the same results as sugar.

I don't like brown sugar in my root beer, but one ingredient you might look into is maltodextrine. A little bit gives a creamy "thicker" mouthfeel to the root beer.

One time, my son used too much and made bottles of homemade root beer jello. So, don't overdo!

 

[Crazy8]

I do actually use maltodextrine. I love what that stuff does. Here is a list of ingredients...

Honey
Salt
Sarsaparilla
Sassafras
Wintergreen leaves - for head retention
Light Brown Sugar
Vanilla Flavoring
Chopped Raisins
Nutmeg
Maltodextrine

Maybe there is nothing to do to improve? It is good and a big hit so I'm just kind of testing the waters to see if their are little things that can be tweaked or if maybe it's perfect as it is. It is possible that it's perfect as it is.

Since I am on the topic of flavors, is there a way to get something similar to A&W? I love that vanilla flavor and would love to have something like that also. Other than using a ton of vanilla, I'm not sure what other ingredients/roots to use. Any thoughts on that?

 

[MrFoodScientist]

I agree with yooper that a simple syrup won't do much for you other than adding extra work.

Inverting your sugar will get you a sweeter taste than white sugar alone, but whereas you have honey already, it may not make much difference. Plus, I'm not sure how the presence of molasses in the brown sugar will affect the inversion process and I don't see any white sugar in the recipe. I like dark brown sugar in some of my root beers, that seems to work well without being overly molasses-y. But again to reference Yooper's above post, not everyone likes brown sugar in their root beer.

Caramelizing your sugar is an option, and you don't have to add milk or cream for a caramel sauce. Just put your sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat and constantly stir until it's golden and melted, then add water to turn it into a syrup. Be careful, though. Adding the water to melted sugar makes it boil instantly and spatter.

Another option if you want a caramel character, you could try a caramel malt. I've used Muntons Crystal 40L with success in a root beer.

If you're looking for an A&W flavor, my opinion is that equal parts of mccormick root beer extract and vanilla extract will get you where you want to be. Probably not the answer you were looking for, but there it is.

It looks to me like you've got a good recipe there, but if it's a big hit, why mess with success?

 

[aruzinsky]

I do actually use maltodextrine. I love what that stuff does. Here is a list of ingredients...

Honey
Salt
Sarsaparilla
Sassafras
Wintergreen leaves - for head retention
Light Brown Sugar
Vanilla Flavoring
Chopped Raisins
Nutmeg
Maltodextrine

Maybe there is nothing to do to improve? It is good and a big hit so I'm just kind of testing the waters to see if their are little things that can be tweaked or if maybe it's perfect as it is. It is possible that it's perfect as it is.

Since I am on the topic of flavors, is there a way to get something similar to A&W? I love that vanilla flavor and would love to have something like that also. Other than using a ton of vanilla, I'm not sure what other ingredients/roots to use. Any thoughts on that?

Of course, you want to copy the flavor of A&W subject to the unspoken and completely self-imposed constraint that none of your ingredients are essential oils and pure flavor chemicals like the ones used in A&W. Well, since that constraint is unspoken, I am going to ignore it.

In descending order of intensity, I taste the following in A&W:

1. Methyl Salicylate
2. Something vanilla-like
3. Something caramel-like

And, I do NOT taste anything like Honey, Salt, Sarsaparilla, Sassafras, Chopped Raisins, Nutmeg or Anise in A&W.

There are dozens of chemicals with vanilla-like and caramel-like flavors, each with their own subtle but unique character. Thus, the chances of identifying adequate ingredients from the flavor of A&W is very low. The closest that I have been able to get to duplicating the flavor of A&W is with the following recipe:

1. Methyl Salicylate, 35 ppm
2.1 Vanillin, 50 ppm
2.2 Dihdrocoumarin, 8 ppm
3.1 Homofuronol, 4 ppm
3.2 Ethyl Maltol, 8 ppm

The flavor of this is not close enough to A&W's to fool anyone, but, maybe, you will like it more.

 

[Crazy8]

Thank you guys for the help. A lot of good advice. As far as A&W goes, I only ask about it because my wife is a big fan. I like it also but not enough that I'll lose sleep over not being able to imitate it. I was just curious for my wife.

Thanks again