Homemade root beer....

You know what goes really well with smoked BBQ?

REAL, fresh brewed root beer! I just brewed my first batch yesterday. Anyone brewing root beer?

Most people have never had REAL root beer, as the FDA outlawed brewing of root beer with its primary ingredient - sassafras - in 1960.

Story goes: during prohibition, many beer companies started making adult sodas and "root/herb" beers that didn't have alcohol, as brewing alcoholic beverages was illegal. Root Beer became very popular, as it was distinctively different from brand to brand, using fresh barks, spices, herbs, and other unique ingredients that made it very different from colas. After prohibition, many beer companies continued brewing the popular beverage; Root beer became very popular from the 30's-50's. It was so popular, it started taking major market share away from the larger Cola Companies. So, rather than playing fair, the larger (coca) Cola companies "lobbied" (aka bribed) the FDA to do a study on sassafras, the main ingredient in root beer. They fed a sh*t ton of the stuff to rats, and some of them got sick. The toxicity level in the rats was equivalent to a human drinking 7 gallons of root beer every day for 5 years, but they used the manipulated data to outlaw brewing with sassafras, and many root beer companies shut down. Coca Cola wins..

All modern root beers contain other ingredients, or imitation sassafras flavors, but it's still illegal to brew root beer with sassafras...however, it's not illegal to buy it (further shows the study was a croc)

I made some fresh root beer yesterday by steeping fresh sassafras bark with sarsaparilla bark, winter green, raisins, and vanilla bean.

I added sugar to the mix over high heat, and simmered for about 40 minutes to make a syrup. I strained the mixture through a colander, then a cheese cloth, to remove all the bark - pure, real root beer extract!

I added a little of the extract to carbonated water and ...presto: Fresh Real Root Beer!

I'm going to keg it, and serve it my restaurant - it has such a unique flavor and tastes MUCH better than any store bought root beer. You can actually taste the root and spice flavors...and it wasn't hard to make





just realized I didn't take any pics of the finished, frosty mug of root beer! I'll get another pic next time I'm at the office of the finished product - but share your stories and recipes if you'd tried this or PM me for a detailed recipe
:clap2:

Boil 1 1/2 cups water, pour over 3/4 cups chopped raisins.

In a brew pot (cleaned and sanitized large kettle), bring 1 gallon of water to about 200 degrees...just below boiling. Add 3/4 ounce sassafras root, 3/4 ounce sasparilla root, and 3/8 ounce winter green. Add 1/2 chopped up vanilla bean, and 7 1/2 cups sugar. Simmer for 40 minutes stirring here and there, then dump "raisin water" into brew pot.
Strain water through colander, then strain through cheese cloth to get out remaining roots.
Let rest, covered for about 30 minutes, then "can" the extract in 1 quart jars (5).

To make 1 gallon of root beer, combine 1 q extract with 3 q soda (carbonated) water, warm to combine, chill to serve.


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