Sunday, September 27, 2009

Experiment #2

This is the recipe for my first successful batch of root beer. The book is full of recipes, but I couldn't resist putting together something using a lot of the ingredients I bought.

3 Tbsp sassafras
3 Tbsp sarsaparilla
1 Tbsp cherry bark
2 Tbsp birch bark
1 anise star
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/8 tsp champagne yeast
1 gallon water

I boiled the roots and bark in 1 quart of water, dissolved the sugar, strained and then added the remaining water and yeast, and bottled it. It fermented for 3 days. The bottle I opened did bubble, so, nervous that the bottles would explode, I stuck it in the fridge. When I poured a bottle the next day it was flat, so I gave them another 2 days at room temperature. At that point I opened a bottle and it gushed. I saw it starting and made it to the sink before it made a mess.

Carbonation was good, but the color was unexpectedly light, and the flavor not as strong as I'd like. But a good first successful batch!

1 comment:

  1. so what recipe do you suggest for a 12 yr old that loves commercial rb? I got him some basics to try his own rb, but our first batch was much like beer...dad will like it,lol...we just tried extract, but our gameplan is to now try with real roots, etc...need a good recipe please!

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