Does anyone have a recipe for home-made root beer.?

Question

The alchoholic kind, preferably, but non-alcoholic is fine too.

And preferably not just one that uses extracts and artificial flavorings. I want to make the real kind with real plant roots and stuff.

Answer 1

My hubby told me that before he met me he had tried making root beer from scratch.  One thing to be careful of when you make it - it WILL blow up if you're not careful.  You'll have sticky stuff all over the place.  So do exactly as the instructions tell you.

Answer 2

HOME MADE ROOT BEER

1 (3 oz.) bottle root beer extract

4 lbs. sugar

4 gallons water

Combine sugar, root beer extract and 1 gallon warm water in 5 gallon tall cooler. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add 3 pounds block dry ice; this will cause mixture to bubble; add 2 gallons water and have lid ready to put on container. DO NOT put it on tight.

Let bubble for about 1/2 hour and add rest of water. Root beer will bubble about 2 hours. When bubbling has stopped, root beer is ready to drink. Put in gallon plastic jugs and cap. Will keep in refrigerator for some time.

Answer 3

Root beer extract may contain a variety of flavors,coming from the wide range of ingredients. Bark from the roots of the sassafras tree was the typical flavor in root beer historically, and is the primary flavor most individuals associate with the beverage. It is slightly red at times. Sassafras bark was banned by the FDA in 1960 because of the carcinogenic properties of its constituent chemical safrole. A safrole-free variety is now used, with some claiming that it has a weaker flavor than the pre-1960 variety.[3] Acacia is also used.

There are hundreds of root beer brands in the United States, produced in every U.S. state,[4] and there is no standardized recipe. The primary ingredient, artificial sassafras flavoring, is complemented with other flavors, common ones being vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, liquorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, anise, molasses, cinnamon and clove.

Homemade root beer is usually made from concentrate,[5] though it can also be made from actual herbs and roots. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic root beers have a thick and foamy head when poured, often enhanced through the addition of yucca extract.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer

Answer 4

ROOT BEER  

1/2 oz hops

1/2 oz burdock

1/2 oz yellow dock

1/2 oz sarsaparilla

1/2 oz dandelion

1/2 oz spikenard roots

oils of spruce and sassafras

2 or 3 tbsp. of yeast

2/3 pint molasses or 1/2 pint white sugar

For each gallon of water to be used, take hops, burdock, yellow dock, sarsaparilla, dandelion, and spikenard roots, bruised, of each 1/2 oz; boil about 20 minutes, and strain while hot, add 8 to 10 drops of oils of spruce and sassafras mixed in equal proportions, when cool enough not to scald your hand, put in 2 or 3 tbsp. of yeast; molasses 2/3 of a pint, or white sugar 1/2 pound gives it about the right sweetness.

Keep these proportions for as many gallons as you wish to make. You can use more or less of the roots to suit your taste after trying it; it is best to get the dry roots, or dig them and let them get dry, and of course you can add any other root known to possess medicinal properties desired in the beer. After all is mixed, let it stand in a jar with a cloth thrown over it, to work about 2 hours, then bottle and set in a cool place. This is a nice way to take alternatives, without taking medicine. And families ought to make it every Spring, and drank freely of it for several weeks, and thereby save, perhaps, several dollars in doctors' bills.

Answer 5

Found this on the web, hope it helps.  

http://www.greydragon.org/library/brewin...