Brewing Master

Question:

most any grocery store will carry root beer concentrate.  Most winemaking supply shops have several kinds.  Two suggestions. Use about twice the concentrate per volume of water as recommended.  It will make a better, richer root beer. Also, if you bottle in glass (Grolsch bottles for example), make several bottles in plastic.  Plastic soda bottles work very nicely.  When the plastic gets really hard, put the whole batch in the fridge to stop the ferment.  The plastic bottles serve as a telltale when the batch is done. If you don’t do this, you risk exploding bottles if you leave the ferment go too long.  Trust me on this one.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I know this is a little off topic but if you can please help me out.  I have been a reader of this group for sometime now and have made many kits as well as many scratch wines.  I would eventually like to try a champange but first I really would like to make some RootBeer like my parents made when i was a kid.  The only problem is, do you think I can find any RootBeer extract anywhere?  I have looked high and low and can not find any.  The wine stores close to me cant even find any (who would of thought)  Anyway I bring this to the readers of this news group.  If you have made or do make homemade RootBeer and you know where I can get some or order some good RootBeer extract please let me know.  Also if you have any tips on homemade RootBeer feel free to drop me a line.  I would love to hear from anyone.  Thank you in advance. Jay

Response:

You can reuse the caps. A better idea, if you have a keg system is to make or buy a carbonator cap. They are available at homebrew stores for $12-$14. However you can make them at a fraction of the cost. What you’ll need: The cap from your bottle A tire valve from the auto parts store (rubber or metal works the same) A drill bit sized for the valve Pliers Air chuck What you’ll need to do: Drill a hole in the cap of the bottle Insert valve from inside using pliers if necessary You’ll need to attach the air chuck to the hose of your CO2 tank to make the connection between bottle and tank. Chill your beverage (cooler is better) and apply CO2 to about 3 – 4 volumes while shaking for several minutes. Return bottle to fridge to settle. Open, pour, and enjoy. You also don’t even need a carbonating cap for every bottle. After your beverage is well carbonated you can switch out the carbonating cap for a regular one. The benefit of this system is you can basically carbonate anything that you can get into the bottle. I’ve heard of people carbonating grapes even. You can adjust the carbonation to your taste. You don’t need to deal with yeast or the yeasty flavor normally associated with that carbonation method. No bottle bombs. It’s easy to "top-off" the carbonation if a beverage goes flat. And best of all you can enjoy your beverages soon after you make them. No need to wait a week or plan your consumption a week a head of time.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Now that is a great suggestion.  Too often I have found out that I had waited to long when the first bottle blew. Do you use the same screw top that came off the bottle or do you get new ones somehow? It has been a while but I may go back and make some batches again. Ray

Response:

I use to be able to get Hires Root Beer Extract at the grocery store.  If you can’t find it there, any WineMaking Shop.  If you don’t have one, try any on line WineMaking store.  I have made it with good results. Ray

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – in I know this is a little off topic but if you can please help me out.  I have been a reader of this group for sometime now and have made many kits as well as many scratch wines.  I would eventually like to try a champange but first I really would like to make some RootBeer like my parents made when i was a kid.  The only problem is, do you think I can find any RootBeer extract anywhere?  I have looked high and low and can not find any.  The wine stores close to me cant even find any (who would of thought)  Anyway I bring this to the readers of this news group.  If you have made or do make homemade RootBeer and you know where I can get some or order some good RootBeer extract please let me know.  Also if you have any tips on homemade RootBeer feel free to drop me a line.  I would love to hear from anyone.  Thank you in advance. Jay Jay, The local shop I get my stuff from here in Nampa, ID has it, at around $3 for a bottle if I remember correctly.  1 bottle is enough for 4 gallons. They also have lemon-lime, creme soda, orange, and a bunch of other soda extracts/flavorings.  I don’t have the address or phone number here at work, but if you e-mail me (remove the obvious anti-spam part of the address) I will get the information to you when I get home.  If nothing else, I can pick some up and send it to you and you can paypal me over the cost. Jeremy — Jeremy Hall Imagine being able to speak with a lawyer for less than the price of a cup of coffee each day…  Impossible?  It was, until now.  E-mail me for details.

Response:

I know this is a little off topic but if you can please help me out.  I have been a reader of this group for sometime now and have made many kits as well as many scratch wines.  I would eventually like to try a champange but first I really would like to make some RootBeer like my parents made when i was a kid.  The only problem is, do you think I can find any RootBeer extract anywhere?  I have looked high and low and can not find any.  The wine stores close to me cant even find any (who would of thought)  Anyway I bring this to the readers of this news group.  If you have made or do make homemade RootBeer and you know where I can get some or order some good RootBeer extract please let me know.  Also if you have any tips on homemade RootBeer feel free to drop me a line.  I would love to hear from anyone.  Thank you in advance. Jay

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I know this is a little off topic but if you can please help me out.  I have been a reader of this group for sometime now and have made many kits as well as many scratch wines.  I would eventually like to try a champange but first I really would like to make some RootBeer like my parents made when i was a kid.  The only problem is, do you think I can find any RootBeer extract anywhere?  I have looked high and low and can not find any.  The wine stores close to me cant even find any (who would of thought)  Anyway I bring this to the readers of this news group.  If you have made or do make homemade RootBeer and you know where I can get some or order some good RootBeer extract please let me know.  Also if you have any tips on homemade RootBeer feel free to drop me a line.  I would love to hear from anyone.  Thank you in advance. Jay

Jay, The local shop I get my stuff from here in Nampa, ID has it, at around $3 for a bottle if I remember correctly.  1 bottle is enough for 4 gallons.   They also have lemon-lime, creme soda, orange, and a bunch of other soda extracts/flavorings.  I don’t have the address or phone number here at work, but if you e-mail me (remove the obvious anti-spam part of the address) I will get the information to you when I get home.  If nothing else, I can pick some up and send it to you and you can paypal me over the cost. Jeremy — Jeremy Hall Imagine being able to speak with a lawyer for less than the price of a cup of coffee each day…  Impossible?  It was, until now.  E-mail me for details.

Response: