D-I-Y Root Beer and Ginger Ale

Ah, "homemade" root beer (4.00 / 1)

Our church used to have big barbecues every summer. They had a pit dug in the south lawn that they'd uncover every August, set the briskets in to smoke for a day or so, and on the day of the picnic they'd go out and buy bottles of Hires root beer extract. Not home made I know, but simple. Then they'd mix them up in trash cans (that never held trash, I hasten to add!) with sugar and add dry ice for temperature and carbonation. Those barrels would steam from the dry ice, and that root beer sure tasted good on a hot summer day. Add rolls, salads and baked beans, and you have a picnic that 40 years later could be described as "made of win."

I understand you can still buy root beer extract. I know it's not quite like making your own, but it might be easier than finding sassafras bark.

Sometime when I have a few extra minutes I'll have to tell the story of my one and only attempt to make my own root beer.

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 13:23:07 PM UTC

Wondering if... (4.00 / 1)

I can scale up, get a hold of some 55-gallon drums (yeah, leave the North Jersey jokes aside please, thanks...), and make a living this way!

Heh.

Jay's Ginger Ale.  Rutgers Root Beer.

:)

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 14:40:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Jay (4.00 / 2)

you'll need mucho licenses for that! Better to barter... ;-)

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 15:07:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ah... (4.00 / 1)

Knew there'd be a catch.  Well, there's always my "desert island" scenario...

:)

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 15:08:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, you've no doubt seen the Weinhardt (sp?) ads (4.00 / 1)

about the two guys who decide to quit their jobs and start a brewery. If they can make it, why can't you?

Of course you'd have to make root beer and ginger ale as good as Henry Weinhardts . . .  

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:28:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And to be honest... (0.00 / 0)

I'd probably also have to move to another city.  One where every third person isn't already making their own beer or sodas...

Heh.

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by: JayinPortland @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:59:28 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I have a recipe for ginger "beer" (4.00 / 3)

that's much simplier. It's from one of the Vegetarian Epicure books by Anna Thomas. It basically involves making a ginger concentrate that you mix half and half with seltzer. No fermenting/bottling necessary and so yummy! I'll look it up and post it later if anyone's interested. I couldn't find the recipe online, alas.

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 14:57:51 PM UTC

Cool! (4.00 / 2)

Look forward to it...

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 15:07:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I remember when (4.00 / 3)

Tom Baker was playing Dr. Who. He was always drinking ginger beer and munching on jelly babies.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 15:08:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

jelly babies are the same as (4.00 / 1)

jelly beans, right? Mr. WEL is a huge Dr. Who fan, old and new stuff. He has a replica of one of the scarves Tom Baker wore as Dr. Who-- it's more than 14' long!

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 16:06:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If I'm remembering them correctly. . . (4.00 / 1)

. . . they're closer to gummy bears or gum drops. Just in the shape of a baby. :)

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by: robespierrette @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 17:30:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ginger beer is amazing (4.00 / 2)

Ugh, now I'm craving it and it's really hard to get decent ginger beer where I live.

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

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by: rossl @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 17:58:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ginger beer recipe-- no yeast or bottling necessary (4.00 / 3)

I was wrong about this coming from Anna Thomas. Instead, it's from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant by the Moosewood Collective. I've adapted it a bit. The main ingredients are really the ginger root, boiling water and sugar. Everything else is gravy. It makes about a gallon of concentrate, which is perfect for gatherings, but you can cut everything in half if 2 quarts is enough concentrate.

6 cups boiling water
2 cups grated fresh ginger root
2 cups sugar
4 tsp whole cloves
6 cinnamon sticks
1 cup fresh lemon or lime juice or combo
2 cups orange juice
4 cups cool water

Pour boiling water over ginger, sugar and spices in a large, non-reactive bowl or pot (stainless steel, enamel-coated or glass). Cover with a lid or cloth and allow to sit in a warm place (sun is good, stove with pilot light also works) for at least an hour.

Put a colander inside a 2nd non-reactive bowl or pot. Pour mixture into a colander, pressing solids to get every drop of goodness out. Discard solids. Put liquid back in warm place for another hour to let the sediment settle. Strain through a coffee filter or a colander lined with a couple of layers of cheesecloth. (Tip: The less you disturb the sediment on the bottom, the easier it is to filter.)

Add juices and cool water. Now you have about a gallon of concentrate that should be stored in the fridge in a non-reactive container. It keeps for about 2 weeks. (You can also freeze it either before or after adding the juices and cool water.)

To serve, add cold, plain seltzer to taste (diluted by half is about right, though you may prefer it stronger or weaker) and garnish glasses with a wedge of lemon or lime. Perfect as is, but a shot of dark rum makes this the yummiest dark & stormy you've ever had.

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Sun Sep 06, 2009 at 13:13:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

yum (4.00 / 2)

sassafras grows as a weed here. Sometimes we gather a bunch up and steep the roots, add coconut cream and honey.

Some juiced ginger, a few table spoons of honey, and a quart of water w/ some lime. In a day or two, its fizzy and excellent on a hot day.

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by: arthurw @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 16:10:23 PM UTC

Yep, sassafras is very common in the eastern half (4.00 / 2)

of the U.S. and Canada. More info on how to identify, harvest and use it can be found here.

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 16:32:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Use the ale yeast (4.00 / 3)

Unless you want a beverage that has a yeasty bread-like taste to it, use an ale yeast. A single packet is only about $1.00. My husband owns a homebrewing and winemaking supply store and has been brewing all sorts of beverages for over 30 years using only wine and beer yeasts. The use of bread yeast dates to Prohibition days when nothing else was available.

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by: wv voice of reason @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 17:12:48 PM UTC

Hey there! I bought that book you recommended, (4.00 / 2)

Sacred & Herbal Healing Beers. I'm enjoying reading it-- lots of great recipes-- though we don't currently have the space to do much fermentation. Someday!

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 17:23:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I was wondering about (4.00 / 1)

the differences between bread and other yeasts. All the kvaas recipes I have call for bread yeast, but kvaas is usually made with bread anyway.

I'm using a sherry yeast for my wines and so far I've been very happy with it. I get mine from a brewing supplier in Portland, OR - FH Steinbarts. I'm making wine with yellow plums, and the batch I worked with today is from frozen apple/asian pear and yellow plums.

I had a sneaking suspision that if I used bread yeast it'd have a hint of bread in it.

I was astounded at the sheer number and variety of yeasts that brewers and wine makers use.

I've also been experimenting with back sweetening some dryer wines and vinegars with syrups. I'm working with a mint syrup right now. I have spearmint here at the farm, but I could probably get access to a bunch of pepermint too, and I want to work with that next. Oy, I need to get some more sugar. Geeze I'm buying the stuff by the 25# bag nowadays.....

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 23:07:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Safrole (4.00 / 1)

I thought sassafras for human consumption was illegal because it contains safrole - a carcinogen.

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by: MonkeyBoy @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 19:23:40 PM UTC

From my diary about sassafras... (0.00 / 0)

Beginning around 1960, a series of studies showed that enormous quantities of synthetically produced safrole caused cancer in rats. The FDA pulled various forms of sassafras from store shelves but never pulled filé powder or nutmeg, which also contains safrole. (And it's still perfectly legal to own sassafras in any form.) My research has indicated that safrole oil may very well contain sufficient quantities of toxins to be dangerous to humans. I couldn't find much about toxicity from drinking tea in humans other than the following quote:

A 72-year-old woman drank sassafras tea up to 10 cups a day and developed diaphoresis and hot flashes. When the woman "stopped drinking the tea, the diaphoresis and hot flashes promptly resolved." (Haines)

Personally, my symptoms would be far worse if I were to drink 10 cups of coffee or 10 beers a day, and both of those substances are completely legal. I liken this to the difference between chewing coca leaves and snorting cocaine in that the form in nature has mild effects that don't seem harmful if used in a rational fashion but a purified, highly distilled version is dangerous. As always, you should use your own judgment in such matters, but I personally won't be giving up filé powder or the occasional cup of sassafras tea.

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Sun Sep 06, 2009 at 12:37:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]