I needed room in the beer fridge to make Canadian bacon, so I worked on killing the keg of grolsch and the kids helped with the keg of root beer I had. Once I got the bacon out, it was time to fill it back up. I make root beer in 3 gallon batches. Due to lack of a sassafras tree and time to do it the hard way (even if I would buy a kit), I like to use Gnome brand extracts. I think they have the best flavor profile and texture.
Step 1 - Sanitize
Just like brewing beer and making sausage, everything gets sanitized. I spray everything that will come in contact with the brew with Star San. This includes the pot, spoons, measuring devices, etc. I also sanitize the keg and all the supply lines and connections with the keg cleaner.
Step 2 - Add ingredients
Add a gallon of hot tap water and 5 cups of sugar to the pot. Mix until sugar is dissolved. If you don't like the very subtle chlorine flavor, you can run it through a filter or buy mineral water, heat and continue. I add 3.5 Tbs Rootbeer extract and 1 Tbs Vanilla extract. Top off mixture with cold water to the 3 gallon mark on the pot. Mix.
Step 3 - Carbonate
I have a kegging system set up for this with a line and keg dedicated to the root beer. It is not recommended to mix the two because you may get some cross over flavoring. Pour the root beer into the sanitized keg. Attach the CO2 and out lines. Set the CO2 to 12 psi and let sit for a week. This is called force carbonating. You can speed this up by shaking the keg to make it absorb the CO2 for about a half hour. You can also add champagne yeast to bottles and carbonate that way. I don't remember the exact steps to do it this way because it has been way too long since I have bottled anything.
Step 4 - pour and enjoy.
Step 1 - Sanitize
Just like brewing beer and making sausage, everything gets sanitized. I spray everything that will come in contact with the brew with Star San. This includes the pot, spoons, measuring devices, etc. I also sanitize the keg and all the supply lines and connections with the keg cleaner.
Step 2 - Add ingredients
Add a gallon of hot tap water and 5 cups of sugar to the pot. Mix until sugar is dissolved. If you don't like the very subtle chlorine flavor, you can run it through a filter or buy mineral water, heat and continue. I add 3.5 Tbs Rootbeer extract and 1 Tbs Vanilla extract. Top off mixture with cold water to the 3 gallon mark on the pot. Mix.
Step 3 - Carbonate
I have a kegging system set up for this with a line and keg dedicated to the root beer. It is not recommended to mix the two because you may get some cross over flavoring. Pour the root beer into the sanitized keg. Attach the CO2 and out lines. Set the CO2 to 12 psi and let sit for a week. This is called force carbonating. You can speed this up by shaking the keg to make it absorb the CO2 for about a half hour. You can also add champagne yeast to bottles and carbonate that way. I don't remember the exact steps to do it this way because it has been way too long since I have bottled anything.
Step 4 - pour and enjoy.
