Homebrewing soda

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Jesse
Posts: 2127
Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 6:54 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Homebrewing soda

Post by Jesse »

Does anyone have any experience with homebrewing? Soda or otherwise.

I've been trying to homebrew a good old fashioned root beer. I'm on my third attempt, the first two came out very bitter and medicine tasting. This time I think I got the general 'rootbeer' flavor right.

My current recipe is:

Saspirilla bark
Sweet Birch oil
Wintergreen oil
Dandilion root
Vanilla extract
Green Cardimon
Star Anise pods
Liquorice root
Ginger root
Blackstrap Molasses
Cane Sugar

Then I use champaqne yeast to carbonate it. I have also tried kefir. Anyway it's seems to be a fun hobby, just seeing if anyone else likes brewing beers/sodas etc.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
SeeLion
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Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 8:09 am

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by SeeLion »

Hmm, isn't Wintergreen oil toxic ?

Also ... isn't what you're doing an alcoholic beverage ?
Jesse
Posts: 2127
Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 6:54 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by Jesse »

It's alcoholic, but not very much. Between 0.5 and 1% alchohol. Youd have to drink alot to get drunk. I've heard wintergreen oil is toxic, as is birch oil but only in higher dosages. The recipe only uses 1-2 drops per gallon of soda, of birch and wintergreen.
Because of toxicity concerns, follow the suggested manufacturer's oral or topical dosage form regimen: 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of wintergreen oil is equivalent to approximately 7000 mg of salicylate or 21.5 adult aspirin tablets.

so one drop is usually around 0.5ml to 1mg max, so there is only 2-3mg of salicylate in the whole batch. (about 4 root beer sodas). Birch contains the exact same chemical, and so 4-6mg total of methyl salicylate.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
DGA
Former staff member
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Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by DGA »

Sounds tasty. Jesse, can you describe your method in a bit more detail? Do you boil the herbs, let the stuff cool, then pitch the yeast, or...? What's the procedure?

Depending on how much sucrose you add, you could end up with a an alcohol content of 13-14% before you kill off the yeast. It can be tricky too if you have too much active fermentation going on in your beverage after bottling. My mom created a batch of bottle bombs one summer when she was trying to make root beer. I'd like to have better luck than her.
DGA
Former staff member
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by DGA »

If I had the time and the space, I'd consider trying this recipe for old-school cherry phosphate

http://www.artofdrink.com/recipes/soda/ ... phosphate/
Jesse
Posts: 2127
Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 6:54 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by Jesse »

I don't remember the exact measurements offhand but you can find a lot of recipes online.

The procedure is basically boiling the barks, oils, extracts for 20 minutes then straining out the solids with a cheesecloth or metal mesh. Then you add the molasses, and sugar and let it cool down to around 75 to 80d fahrenheit. At this temp you add around 7 to 10 grains of yeast per bottle (12oz bottles). This small amount of yeast allows it to carbonate without becoming overly alchoholic. You let the bottles ferment for 3ish days then you put them in the fridge. You can burp the bottles during this time to keep emnfrom exploding. It helps to have the plastic quark bottles.

Oh I also forget after they finish carbonating you can add a tiny bit of citric acid to give them the bite normal soda has. It also acts as a preservitive.

These here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0064ODUD ... =979834011

The cherry soda sounds good. I'm unclear on whether you add phosphate acid to it or if the cherry bark has phosphate acid in it?

Cheerwine is one of my favorite sodas so I'd like to try this one toom
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
DGA
Former staff member
Posts: 9466
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by DGA »

Oh, I see. I made that earlier post with a homebrewer's mindset--where you don't refrigerate it, and you try to avoid getting too much oxygen exposure to your stuff. What you're describing is more like making kombucha, which has traces of alcohol in it but the emphasis is on fizz and sweetness.

I have a very basic homemade mead recipe that I sometimes use. I wonder how it would go if I included the root beer herbs in the boil, thus making root-beer flavored mead. It would be sweet and light, with a kind of floral taste.

Mead is an interesting one because it can come out very differently depending on the honey you choose and the yeast you use. Sometimes it's light and fragrant; sometimes boring; sometimes it's smoky and intense. So I think it's possible to engineer a root beer mead with the recipe you have. <strokes beard>
Jesse
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Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 6:54 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by Jesse »

I'd think a rootbear mead would be very good, but I'd recommend going easy on the barks/extracts.. they are very overpowering. I've kept cutting back on the amounts in my brew and finally got something that tastes good.

The best brew I've gotten so far has emphasized the Vanilla and Star Anise flavors, with subtler bits of sarsaparilla, wintergreen, coriander, ginger, and very light on the dandelion root.

I've only heard about kombucha the other day while looking at soda recipes, it does sound good though.. It's kind of like a green tea soda right?

Ah and thanks for the link to the cherry phosphate, I've gotten a bottle of acid phosphate and will be trying to create a few phosphate sodas later this week. Cherry-Limeaid phosphate here I come..

this one here:
http://www.artofdrink.com/product/acid-phosphate
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
DGA
Former staff member
Posts: 9466
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by DGA »

Jesse wrote:I'd think a rootbear mead would be very good, but I'd recommend going easy on the barks/extracts.. they are very overpowering. I've kept cutting back on the amounts in my brew and finally got something that tastes good.

The best brew I've gotten so far has emphasized the Vanilla and Star Anise flavors, with subtler bits of sarsaparilla, wintergreen, coriander, ginger, and very light on the dandelion root.

I've only heard about kombucha the other day while looking at soda recipes, it does sound good though.. It's kind of like a green tea soda right?

Ah and thanks for the link to the cherry phosphate, I've gotten a bottle of acid phosphate and will be trying to create a few phosphate sodas later this week. Cherry-Limeaid phosphate here I come..

this one here:
http://www.artofdrink.com/product/acid-phosphate
Sounds great! Let me know how those phosphates turn out, and thanks for the guidance on the root beer. I really like the flavor of anise, so if I get the chance to try this, I'll do as you suggest.

yes, kombucha is a kind of fizzy tea drink, with a vinegar-y taste. I like it, but not everyone does.


Here is DGA's mead recipe. My only request is that no one drink to intoxication, sell it, or give it to minors. If you are a minor, DO NOT attempt this.

Ingredients:
Six pounds of high-quality honey
Four gallons of water
herbs of your choice for flavoring (may be omitted--I like to use Cascade or Chinook hops)
one packet yeast (I prefer Lalvin d-47, but have had good results with Nottingham ale yeast )
yeast nutrient
cheap vodka adequate to fill a fermentation lock

Clean your kitchen, your implements, and yourself carefully. Get some sanitizer (iodine-based) and sanitize a five-gallon fermentation bucket, lid, and bubbler.

In a five-gallon pot, bring the honey and water to a boil, and let it burble around for at least ten minutes. Sanitize a long spoon and stir to ensure that the honey is dissolved in the water. Skim that frothy gunk that rises to the top off of there if you can. Add herbs such as hops now, if you are going to. Think about the witches in Macbeth.

Carefully transfer the contents of the big hot pot BE CAREFUL (make sure the dogs and cats are nowhere around) into the fermentation bucket. If you need to, scoop some of it out with a separate container that has been sanitized; four gallons of hot goop is heavy and potentially dangerous. I typically rely on the help of an assistant here. Anyway, now that your glasses are fogged up and you have a bucket full of sweet smelling liquid, let it rest to cool down. Put the lid on and put it in a cool place so that the temperature falls to the specified range on the yeast packet, which you will need to reconstitute according to the instructions printed on said packet. Add a heaping spoonful of yeast nutrient, which accelerates fermentation and thus prevents Trouble. Stir. Sanitize everything along the way, including your hands, don't forget the thermometer, don't pick your nose, &c.

Pitch the yeast. Stir assertively and a-plenty. Affix a fermentation lock (one of those bubbly things) on there, fill with vodka, and store that bucket in a temperature-secure spot. It shouldn't blow up on you because it's four gallons of love in a five gallon bucket. But just to be safe, remove any big chunks of plant matter that could clog up the fermentation lock to ensure that the gases can escape.

After two weeks it should be done bubbling. I prefer to rack it in glass carboys (you will need four gallon-sized glass carboys--your great-aunt's used wine jugs work fine, and the apple juice jugs that your sister-in-law buys for her kids at Whole Foods do too, just clean and sanitize them well). This process separates the gunk at the bottom of the bucket, an aggregate of dead yeast, pollen once suspended in the honey and now fallen away, herbal residues... all of that, and allows the mead to clarify. With a sanitized siphon, transfer the contents of the bucket into sanitized carboys. (Got some leftover? Put it in a pitcher with some saran over it. When it separates out, drink it. This will be significantly stronger in flavor than your finished drink--maybe a little harsh--but why waste it?) Stop off the carboys with rubber bungs and, again, fermentation locks filled with vodka, and let 'em rest until they fall clear. The final drink should be a beautiful amber color, and all the residues fallen away at the bottom. It takes weeks, but not months.

Bottle as one does. If you let it rest in bottles for at least a year, you will thank yourself later. Two years is even better.

Share with friends but not minors, as you now have four gallons of good drink on your hands (12-14% alcohol). Again: Mind your mind, do not drink to intoxication, and do not sell this substance, which is for responsible adult use only.
Jesse
Posts: 2127
Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 6:54 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by Jesse »

I'm not sure if you've heard of clearing/fining brews(works for any homebrew, not just beer).

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/06/ho ... latin.html

Found this the other day, it removes all the sediment and yeast from the brew leaving a commercial quality clean drink. Btw I just tried my first homebrewed rootbeer, it came out really good. The foam stayed the entire time drinking it, rather than just fizzeling away like store-bought kind. I'm gonna tweak it a bit more for my next batch. (more vanilla, more wintergreen) I'm thinking.

Overall, trying to get something to taste excellent is fun, and rewarding obviously. :P
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
Jesse
Posts: 2127
Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 6:54 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Homebrewing soda

Post by Jesse »

Just an udpate for anyone considering making rootbeer.

After my last batch came out really well, I've decided to continue using sassafras root. The only problem is that sassafras contains a known carcinagen (Safrole), many claim the study was very poorly conducted and not realistic to compare with food usages.

With that said, You really can't compare the flavor of rootbeer with, and without the sassafras though. It makes rootbeer rootbeer. (There are supposedly ways to get sassafras without the safrole, but I haven't found any online yet.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
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