Description
Homemade root beer is a healthy alternative to commercial pop. When it’s made with herbs, the old fashioned way, it is healthy, tonic, and energizing.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/4 cup sassafras root bark
- 1/4 cup sarsaparilla root bark
- 1/4 cup black birch bark
- 3 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 gallons water
- 1/2 tsp. bread yeast
Instructions
- Place the sassafras, sarsaparilla, and birch in a 3 gallon stock pot.
- Add 2 gallons of water. Cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Turn the heat down and simmer the pot for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Allow the pan to cool to 100F, naturally. Strain the decoction.
- Return the decoction to the pot. Dissolve the sugar in the water. Add the yeast. Stir well to dissolve the yeast.
- You’ll need glass bottles to create the carbon fizz of commercial root beer. Glass is strong enough to seal in the bubbles until the root beer is ready to drink. Swing top bottles or crimp bottle caps will both work.
- Once your bottles are capped you need to store them somewhere to allow them to ferment for 48 hours.
- Check the bottles by opening one over the kitchen sink, check every 24 hours after that. When they are almost perfectly fizzy, refrigerate immediately or place in a cooler with ice. The length of time it takes for homemade root beer to get the perfect fizz depends on your ambient temperatures.
