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Root Beer, Sarsaparilla and Home Brewing.

I don't drink but for a few times a year. Usually this is my birthday (except for this year when my wife bought me a DE razor, brush, blades and cream for my birthday instead of the usual case of craft beer - that normally gets consumed a bottle at a time over a couple of weeks) and the odd family gathering (my parents own a vineyard and my father in law is a winemaker - refusing drinks can get... political). A heart condition and an intolerance means my general level of consumption is quite low.

So, my "I'm socialising and I feel awkward being the only one without a glass in my hand that is constantly being refreshed" drink of choice was ginger beer - not sure if you North American chaps are familiar with it but I assume it is similar to non alcoholic root beer only made with ginger root. Depending on how you brew it or what brand you buy it is usually gingery with a hint of lemon or lemony with a hint of ginger(I like mine gingery).

Anyway it doesn't lend itself well to all night consumption and one can get kinda sick of it after a while. I started drinking Bundaberg Sarsaparilla an Australian brewed Sarsaparilla drink that is kinda like an aniseedy cola, nice and dark, a little foamy and quite sweet - but again not an all nighter mostly because of the sweetness. The point which I am slowly driving to is Root Beer! What is it? What does it taste like? Can it be home brewed (no supply in NZ you see)? Are you familiar with ginger beer and Sarsaparilla and if so how does Root Beer compare?
 
I'm pretty sure you can find recipes for root beer on the web,it's pretty close to sasparilla,I know the Amish in PA used to make it in a non carbonated form,I had thought about trying it once but haven't gotten around to it yet.I have a book that might have some info on it also,if nobody posts anything else before morning,I'll see what I can find.
 
I don't have any links super handy, but I think home brewed root beer (yes, it can be home brewed just like Ginger Beer...which I too, make on occasion) consists of root beer extract (I couldn't find any sources of root beer COMPLETELY from scratch) water and yeast. It sounds super easy actually. You just have to get your hands on root beer extract. There are different brands and they have different tastes. So just experiment I guess!

Btw, while I have you here: Do you have a specific recipe for your ginger ale?
 
I'm having trouble finding my GB recipe, but it was a real simple "under the sink in a bottle for a week" one. From memory it consisted of breadmakers yeast, sugar, fresh squeezed lemon juice with the skins steeped in hot water, and grated ginger root.

edit:
Aha! This is very similar to what I used to do
Lemon-based Ginger beer
Recipe is for 1.5 L plastic bottle
2 tblspns warm water
1/2 tspn sugar
1/4 tspn dried yeast granules
-
1 cup sugar
juice of 2 lemons
rind of 2 lemons
1 tspn to 1 tblspn dried ginger

Put first measure of sugar in warm water to dissolve, add yeast and stir. Place in warm place to start working.

Finely grate or slice rind from 2 lemons and place in a heatproof container with the 1 cup of sugar and the dried ginger. Pour over 1 cup of boiling water and leave to steep for 10 minutes. Strain into 1.5 L plastic bottle in which the ginger beer will be made. Top up bottle with cool water to near top so that final temp is approx. body temp. Add yeast to bottle as soon as it shows signs of working, ie. it foams. Cap bottle tightly. Mix thoroughly and put in a warm place. Leave until bottle becomes undentable. Depending on the yeast this can take anything from 12 hours to 3 days, but best to check regularly, as I guess there is a risk of explosion with th
 
Sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii)is often used in Root Beer but this is different from what it is called sarsaparilla (false) in Australia (Hardenbergia violacea). You can brew it and you can either obtain the flavor from the actual roots or by using the extract. If you brew it at home, it is not going to be as sweet as some commercial examples, unless you force carbonate with a keg and a CO2 tank or slow the yeast down (otherwise, it will turn into a spicy alcoholic beer). If you prime (use sugar to carbonate) yours, be careful not to make "grenades" when you brew it.

Al raz.
 
There are lots of sources for rootbeer extract on the web, but I do not know how available they are in NZ. I have not made rootbeer in decades, but it was simply water, sugar, yeast, and rootbeer extract mixed in the correct proportions and bottled, as I recall. Carbonation develops from yeast fermentation in glass crown capped bottles. The wrong mix proportions can result in over pressure and burst bottles.

Some US rootbeer extract brand names are Zatarain's, Cook's, Hires, Watkin's.

In the north east US (New England), rootbeer and sarsparilla soda are somewhat similar in flavor with rootbeer being far more available in stores. Rootbeer is sold in almost every store selling canned/bottled soda, and is available from the self-serve soda dispenser in most fast food restaurants.

I will not say anything further on the subject of homrbrew from commercial extract or recipe since detailed advice on the subject should come from someone who actually makes the beverages at home.

HTH
 
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Thanks all, this clears a lot up and should make searching for a home brew solution much, much easier.
 
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