Mr. Premise
The Living Force
Homemade Root Beer
Ingredients:
4 quarts water
2 teaspoons licorice root
1 tablespoon sarsaparilla root
1 teaspoon sassafras root
1 teaspoon spikenard root (difficult to find: optional)
2 teaspoons marshmallow root
2 teaspoons oak chips (medium toast, can be bought at brewing or winemaking supply stores)
1 teaspoon wild cherry bark
1/4 teaspoon goldenseal root
1 teaspoon echinaecea root
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
10-15 drops wintergreen oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
3/8 cup maple syrup (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon champagne yeast (can be bought at bought at brewing or winemaking supply stores, baking yeast will impart some off flavors, champagne yeast tastes the best)
Directions:
Bring the water to a boil and turn heat down to simmer. Add licorice sarsaparilla, sassafras, spikenard, marshmallow, oak chips, wild cherry bark, goldenseal, echinaecea, lemon juice or cream of tartar and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add vanilla, sugar and maple syrup and stir until dissolved. Strain into a large bowl and cover with a clean dishtowel and a plate. Let cool a bit and add wintergreen oil. When room temperature sprinkle the champagne yeast on top. Cover with towel and plate again and let sit for 12 to 24 hours our until bubbles start appearing on top. Stir liquid, put into clean brown beer bottles and cap. Bottle caps and a capper (crimper) can be purchased inexpensively at a brewing supply store. Store upright at room temperature for one or two days. This is the tricky part, you want just enough fermentation to take place to carbonate but not so much that it foams all over when you open it. I recommend opening one bottle after 24 hours and, if there aren't enough bubbles, recap and try again 12 hours after that. Once the drink is sufficiently carbonated, refrigerate so that no more fermentation takes place. This root beer will be essentially alcohol-free. It might have trace amounts, about as much as you would get in fresh-squeezed orange juice, so kids can drink it. But the flavors may be too much for children used to commercial soft drinks. If you are making it for grown-ups you can reduce the sugar a bit.
For non-North Americans: Root Beer is a popular soft drink that has been around since colonial days. Most people who did not grow up with it think it tastes like medicine. Many of the ingredients are indeed medicinal, especially in this case the echinaecea, goldenseal and wild cherry bark (good for coughs). Marshmallow root has little flavor but gives it a good smoothness and helps create a good head of foam.
The yeast deposits that form on the bottom of the bottles is very nutritious as well.
If you don't like yeast and don't want to mess with fermentation, you can reduce the amount of water to create a syrup, which can then be mixed with equal part soda water or seltzer, soda-fountain style.
Note on ingredients:
These are measurements for dried chopped roots, not powdered. Most of these ingredients can be purchased in a good herb store (health food stores, too, in some cases) or from on-line herb sellers.
Ingredients:
4 quarts water
2 teaspoons licorice root
1 tablespoon sarsaparilla root
1 teaspoon sassafras root
1 teaspoon spikenard root (difficult to find: optional)
2 teaspoons marshmallow root
2 teaspoons oak chips (medium toast, can be bought at brewing or winemaking supply stores)
1 teaspoon wild cherry bark
1/4 teaspoon goldenseal root
1 teaspoon echinaecea root
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
10-15 drops wintergreen oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
3/8 cup maple syrup (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon champagne yeast (can be bought at bought at brewing or winemaking supply stores, baking yeast will impart some off flavors, champagne yeast tastes the best)
Directions:
Bring the water to a boil and turn heat down to simmer. Add licorice sarsaparilla, sassafras, spikenard, marshmallow, oak chips, wild cherry bark, goldenseal, echinaecea, lemon juice or cream of tartar and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add vanilla, sugar and maple syrup and stir until dissolved. Strain into a large bowl and cover with a clean dishtowel and a plate. Let cool a bit and add wintergreen oil. When room temperature sprinkle the champagne yeast on top. Cover with towel and plate again and let sit for 12 to 24 hours our until bubbles start appearing on top. Stir liquid, put into clean brown beer bottles and cap. Bottle caps and a capper (crimper) can be purchased inexpensively at a brewing supply store. Store upright at room temperature for one or two days. This is the tricky part, you want just enough fermentation to take place to carbonate but not so much that it foams all over when you open it. I recommend opening one bottle after 24 hours and, if there aren't enough bubbles, recap and try again 12 hours after that. Once the drink is sufficiently carbonated, refrigerate so that no more fermentation takes place. This root beer will be essentially alcohol-free. It might have trace amounts, about as much as you would get in fresh-squeezed orange juice, so kids can drink it. But the flavors may be too much for children used to commercial soft drinks. If you are making it for grown-ups you can reduce the sugar a bit.
For non-North Americans: Root Beer is a popular soft drink that has been around since colonial days. Most people who did not grow up with it think it tastes like medicine. Many of the ingredients are indeed medicinal, especially in this case the echinaecea, goldenseal and wild cherry bark (good for coughs). Marshmallow root has little flavor but gives it a good smoothness and helps create a good head of foam.
The yeast deposits that form on the bottom of the bottles is very nutritious as well.
If you don't like yeast and don't want to mess with fermentation, you can reduce the amount of water to create a syrup, which can then be mixed with equal part soda water or seltzer, soda-fountain style.
Note on ingredients:
These are measurements for dried chopped roots, not powdered. Most of these ingredients can be purchased in a good herb store (health food stores, too, in some cases) or from on-line herb sellers.
