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Our Philosophy

Be fair to others, be humane to our animals, be kind to mother earth, and be thankful for what we have.

Recipes

For more recipes, check-out Carol's Recipe Index.

Notable Quote:

“....the egg creams of Avenue A in New York and the root beer float....are among the high points of American gastronomic inventiveness.”
Mark Kurlansky, 'Choice Cuts' (2002)

Homemade Root Beer

Recipe for one gallon. Please read instructions before starting. 
Equipment
  • Mixing Spoon 
  • 6-8 Quart Sauce Pan 
  • Kitchen Funnel 
  • Measuring spoons 
  • Measuring Cup 
  • 2-3 gallon Pail 
  • Unscented Bleach 
  • A clean one gallon plastic milk jug 
  • 8-16 oz. Returnable Beer bottles & caps
  • Bottle Capper
    		•
     

    Ingredients
  • 1 Cup White Table Sugar 
  • 1-1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 
  • 2 tablespoons Malto Dextrin
  • 2 teaspoons Root Beer Extract 
  • 1/4 teaspoon Champagne Yeast 
  • 1 Gallon of Cold Filtered Water 
    1. Clean all equipment with soap and water. Rinse very well.
    2. Prepare a sanitizing solution in a clean utility pail by mixing 2 teaspoons of unscented bleach with 2 gallons of cold water. Soak all equipment including bottles and caps in this solution for at least 10 minutes. Remove your equipment and rinse it well with hot water.
    3. Fill a one gallon container with cold water. Now remove 1 cup of water from the jug and discard it. All of the water required for the recipe is now in the gallon container. Measuring the water in this way will save time and prevent you from adding to much or to little water later.
    4. Place 4 cups of water from the container into a sauce pan and begin to heat it. It is not necessary to bring the water to a boil. Heating this small amount of water will help dissolve the sugars and will make a better soft drink.
    5. Add the white sugar, brown sugar and malto dextrin to the sauce pan and stir until the sugars are completely dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved turn off the heat.
    6. Add 2 teaspoons of Root Beer Extract to the sauce pan and stir it in.
    7. Add the remaining water to the sauce pan and stir well. Check the temperature of the mixture by carefully touching the outside of the pan. It should be cool to slightly warm. It may be necessary to allow the pan to sit covered for a short time in order to cool.
    8. Open the packet of champagne yeast by cutting off a corner. Measure out 1/4 teaspoon of yeast and add it to the sauce pan. Close the yeast packet by folding over the open corner and sealing it with tape. Store the remaining yeast in the refrigerator for the next batch.
    9. Stir the sauce pan until the yeast is completely dissolved. You are now ready to bottle your root beer.
    Bottling the Root Beer
    Use a kitchen funnel to fill each bottle. Pour the root beer into the bottles so that there is about 1¼ inch of air space left in the neck of the bottle. Leaving to little air space will cause the root beer to remain flat. Leaving to much air space will cause the root beer to over carbonate and may cause the bottles to gush when opened or even explode. Fill a used plastic soda bottle in the same manner. Seal the bottles tightly and store them for 4 to 7 days at room temperature. This will allow the yeast to eat some of the sugar and carbonate the soft drink. You can check the carbonation by squeezing the plastic soda bottle. When it is hard, the soda is done and must be refrigerated. Allow the bottles to chill for at least 1 week prior to serving. The root beer will improve in flavor with time but it must be stored in the refrigerator.
    Notes About Natural Carbonation
    The yeast used to carbonate your soft drinks will feed on sugars in the drink and produce carbon dioxide gas and a very small amount of alcohol. You should not be concerned about this alcohol production. There is more natural alcohol in fresh squeezed orange juice than that produced in your soft drink.
    If your soft drink becomes over carbonated you may need to reduce the amount of yeast used in your next batch. 
    If your soft drink is not carbonated within 2 weeks of bottling you may have added the yeast while the soft drink was to hot. You can open each bottle and carefully add 3 or 4 grains of yeast. Close the bottle and leave them at room temperature for 1 more week. You may need to add more yeast in your next batch but never add more than 1/4 teaspoon of yeast regardless of the size of the batch being made.
    You will notice that when a fully carbonated bottle is cooled in the refrigerator, the amount of carbonation is reduced. This is caused by the fact that the colder a liquid is, the more gas it can hold in suspension. Be sure that your plastic test bottle is very, very hard before refrigerating.
     

    BOTTLES NEEDED BASED ON BOTTLE SIZE

    gallons

    12 oz

    16 oz

    20 oz

    1 Liter

    1

    11

    8

    6

    4

    2

    22

    16

    12

    8

    3

    33

    24

    18

    12

    4

    44

    32

    24

    16

     

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