Homebrew Extract Root Beer - How To and Tips

Unlike brewing beer, root beer is an instant gratification process--even more so when brewing with an extract. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing like tossing the sassafras root, vanilla, and other ingredients into a pot and letting it simmer to a dark red, adding the sugar and bringing it all home with the yeast, but when you want something easy and faithful (or for the kids), an extract is the way to go.

The extract we used this time around is from Gnome Soda. There are a few others you can try from your local homebrew store, and the best thing to do is try a few to find which one you like, but most are good and reliable.

Long before Mr. Brew was a homebrewer, he was a home-root-brewer. Naturally, this passion melded into beer, but there is nothing like a batch of homemade root beer, and it doesn’t get any easier than this! Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients (for 1 gallon batch):

• 1 Gallon water

• 2 cups Cane Sugar

• 1 oz. Extract (more or less to taste)

• ⅛ tsp. Yeast (We used some leftover US-05 Ale yeast, but champagne yeast produces the best bubbles!)

• 1 3-inch Vanilla Bean (optional)

Process:

• Fill a pot with ½ gallon of water and add the vanilla bean (or any other aromatics/flavorings).

• Bring water to a gentle simmer (130-140℉) and turn off the heat. Add the sugar.

• Let the sugar dissolve, remove from heat, and add extract.

• Pre-activate the yeast in ½ cup of warm water (95-105℉).

• Let the extract/sugar mixture cool to room temperature, or cool by adding the remaining water to meet the 1-gallon mark.

• Once mixture is cooled and additional water is added to make 1 gallon, add pre-activated yeast and aerate mixture by sloshing the liquid, preferably in a fermenter to not make a mess.

• Once mixture is aerated, fill 10 sanitized bottles with brew and cap.

• Set aside for 48 hours and check root beer for desired fizziness.

• Once desired carbonation is achieved put ALL the root beers in the fridge.

• Enjoy straight up or with some ice cream--maybe even some homemade ice cream to bring it all together!

Verdict

Now, how does it taste? To put it simply, quite good. It has some deep herbally flavors and the sweetness was not overdone. I wished for more carbonation, but we did use some yeast leftover from brewing beer, so it was old and a little weak (Guilty!). That is an easy enough fix. Other than that, this first brew gave us a chance to try out the Gnome Soda extract (we like it!) and the chance to get a good test of the foundation flavors. Here are some tips to make it more to your liking.

Root Beer Tips

• Just as with brewing beer there are always ways to improve things. Sanitation is important in root beer just like it is with beer, so keep clean as best as possible, especially when bottling.

• To add more depth of flavor try some different sugar(s). We plan on reducing the cane sugar by a quarter-cup next time and replacing it with honey. Honey is smooth and sweeter than sugar because it contains high levels of fructose over glucose. It also adds flavor of its own, a.k.a. more depth.

• We wanted a little more vanilla in our root beer, so next time we will simmer the vanilla in the water for 15-25 minutes. You can also break/cut the vanilla open for much more vanilla flavor, but beware of this, the beans are strong.

• Consider adding other flavors like licorice root or yucca. These are both used in many root beers (and extracts). We don’t love these flavor additions in our root beer as much so we try to avoid them, but if you enjoy them experiment a bit.

• Place ALL the root beers in the fridge once carbonation is complete. This makes the hardworking and sugar hungry yeast go dormant and drops them out of suspension. This prevents over-carbonation and off flavors from developing. With such a high sugar content, root beer is prone to exploding from over-carbonation. You’ve been warned.

• Experiment with the extract. Use less or more to get the bite you want.

Root beer is a versatile drink, and it is fun to brew. I have loved it since I was a kiddo, and it was fun to experiment with again during our month of sobriety. Give it a try if you’re aching to brew something in Sober October, if you have kids, or if you have a craving that only a root beer will cure.

Cheers!

Mr. Brew