Homemade root beer....

Another reason this place is so cool! Thanks for the info!

rubbbq said:

Local spice store in Chicago special ordered them for me....I also found sassafras and sasparilla on amazon


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Is this the really cool spice store in Old Town Chicago, or another one?

Bonewagon said:

That's awesome. I'd love to give this a go. :thumb:

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I'm with b w on this one. I'd love to try that, looks great!

rubbbq said:

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'm going to keg it, and serve it my restaurant - i

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I'd think long and hard before doing this...and maybe with a few lawyers in the room to help. If it's illegal to make, I'd bet it's still illegal to sell. Otherwise all those other root beer companies would still be in business brewing somewhere else to sell here. If it is illegal and someone gets sick for ANY reason...maybe they ate something bad before even coming into your restaurant. You will lose in court...it's a no brainer (it doesn't make it any more right, but the law is the law) I wouldn't do it for anything (serving it to someone else)

We have sassafras growing all over our property...and yep I still enjoy sassafras tea, and so do my friends...but they serve themselves. A bit of moronic reasoning going on there but it's the best this moron could come up with...some lawyer will probably have me for breakfast some day, but I didn't serve it to my friends or anyone else.

As an aside, sassafras is a great smoke wood for things like ham, ribs etc...a bit sweet, with a licoricy (sp?)finish.

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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..

I looked up sassafras and sure ennough it is listed by the FDA and a known carcinogen. I couldn't find anything definitive one way or another if it is actually dangerous. from what I read it did not seem to me to be all that dangerous. If I make it and my wife finds out I am using a "banned" substance it will cause problems. what is the source of your info on sassafras?