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Homemade Root Beer

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(12) 12-ounce bottles

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar (adjust to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons root beer extract (adjust to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

Equipment

  • Glass or stainless steel container sufficient to hold at least 2 gallons of liquid
  • Hand-operated bottle capper–available at home-brewing supply stores
  • Home-use bottle crowns–available at home-brew supply store
  • Clean, empty glass soda or beer bottles–available from recycling stations at beverage outlets
  • Rubber spatula or wooden spoon for stirring
  • Stainless steel or plastic funnel and ladle

Method

  1. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water.
  2. Dissolve sugar in the 1 gallon of water.
  3. Add root beer extract to sweetened water.
  4. Add dissolved yeast to the root beer mixture; stir to combine.
  5. Ladle liquid mixture into bottles, leaving 1 inch of empty space at the top of each bottle.
  6. Place bottle beneath capper press. Place one cap on top of bottle opening. Press down on handle of capper until cap is properly sealed onto bottle.
  7. Remove bottle from capper and wipe clean with damp cloth.
  8. Place filled, capped bottles on their sides inside of a picnic cooler or other water-tight sealable, container. Store bottles in a cool, dark place for at least 5 days.

Refrigerate before serving.

Caution! Pressure build up inside the bottles during fermentation may occasionally cause bottles to explode. For this reason it is safer and neater to hold bottles in a lidded, leak-proof container such as a picnic cooler or a box lined with a heavy gauge plastic bag.

Hudson Valley Restaurant Week is back this October 28 to November 10!