Homemade Root Beer Soda Recipes

Steps:

• In a large cooler, mix together the sugar and water, stirring to dissolve sugar completely. Stir in the root beer extract. Carefully place the dry ice into the cooler, and cover loosely with the lid. Do not secure the lid, as pressure may build up.
• Let the mixture brew for about an hour before serving. Leftover root beer can be stored in one gallon milk jugs.

Steps:

• Use the funnel to pour the sugar in the bottle.
• Add the yeast.
• Toss the sugar and yeast around in the bottle so it mixes well. Just swish it around, don't shake it violently. Make it so there is a little depression in the center of the dry mixture.
• Add the root beer extract via the funnel.
• Add some of the water by pouring it over the tablespoon so get the extract residue into the bottle.
• Fill up the bottle about half way with some more water.
• Put the cover on the bottle and GENTLY swish to get the sugar/yeast mixture slightly dissolved.
• Add the rest of the water to about 1 to 1-1/2 inches from the top, then cap this TIGHTLY.
• Let stand in a cool place (65 to 72 degrees F) for three to four days.
• Do not shake the bottle or move it around unnecessarily. Leave it be.
• After about 24 hours of brewing itself, the bottle will start to feel hard as the pressure builds.
• After three/four days, the bottle should be very hard -- resist the urge to shake it up or open it, you will ruin your root beer. Place in refrigerator overnight. This arrests the yeast action.
• After chilling, decant into a glass and enjoy.
• Note: There will be leftover yeast in some sludge at the bottom of the bottle. Be careful decanting as you get to bottom of the bottle. That yeast will be skunky.
• Another note: The yeast is still working! Drink this up right away, keep it chilled.

Steps:

• Slice the ginger into thin sections and add them to two cups of boiling water.
• Simmer this on very low heat for 20 minutes.
• While this is simmering, boil the gallon of water and two cups of sugar for one minute and set aside.
• Pour the ginger and liquid into a blender and blend on high for about one minute.
• Pour this blend into the sugar water, through a strainer.
• With a soup ladle, pour a few cups of the hot brew through the remaining pulp to extract a bit more of the ginger flavor.
• Cool to room temperature. When cool, add vanilla, yeast and stir until dissolved.
• Let sit for about 30 minutes.
• Then bottle and age.
• The simplest, safest and least expensive method of bottling is to use one-liter plastic soft drink bottles with screw caps.
• These can be sterilized by rinsing in a mixture of household bleach and water and then rinsed with clean water.
• After filling, the bottles should be set aside at room temperature for about 48 hours, or until hard (check by squeezing).
• Then refrigerate to finish the aging process.
• Leaving the bottles at room temperature too long will cause over carbonation.
• Using glass rather than plastic bottles can cause shattered bottles.
• Another nice feature of the plastic bottles is that they can be re-carbonated if only partially consumed.
• Just let it sit out over night with the cap on and refrigerate it when hard.