11 replies to this topic

[HerrHiller]

I am gonna make some soda tonight...or tomorrow.. quick question...Im gonna use rootbeer extrract where u just drop the stuff in the liquid and carbonate it...ccbrown brought me a back to reality and told me to think of it more like making kool-aid and not like making beer cause i was thinking all about sanitation etc...question is... is it like kool-aid to this extent?could i just take my keg rinse it a lil.. (not use any starsan) just rinse it like i would a pitcher if i was making kool-aid? then just use an empty gallon jug (unsanatized but clean) and use it to dump 4 gallons of tap water in the keg... and then pour in the extract stiir with some kind of (unsanatized but clean) spoon.. seal it up refridgerate purge and carbonate? or do i need to take a lil more care than that? again i am only writing this here because i need an asap answer. thx guysim hoping this is all i need to do as far as care of sanitation is concerned...caus that would make life so much easier...

[Cliff Claven]

IIWM, I would sanitize the keg. You don't know what might be lurking in there. You are introducing a sugar.Tap water should be "safe". I mean, it has chlorine/chloramines in it.

[dondewey]

If your water is good to drink, it should be fine out of the tap. Might as well sanitize the keg; it doesn't take much time. If it is refrigerated you probably don't need to worry about infections for a long time. How many psi are you going to use? Aim high (then use lots of line).

[jammer]

Ive made Cola before, not root beer. I sanitized the keg. And you have to boil/heat half the water to dissolve the sugar, then add the rest of the water to cool it down enough to add yeast.Heres a video of my two boys making the first [and only] batch of soda. The youngest is kind of hard to understand, hes so quiet and tries to talk too fast. LOL.

[BrewerGeorge]

My experience with soda is that it will be MUCH better if you use distilled water. That's what they use in the factory. If you have hard water like most of the US, it will come with a pretty significant residual alkalinity and soda is supposed to be pretty acid. The resultant mix won't be as acidic as it needs to be.As for sanitation, I'd sanitize it. Starsan is easy.

[djinkc]

My experience with soda is that it will be MUCH better if you use distilled water. That's what they use in the factory. If you have hard water like most of the US, it will come with a pretty significant residual alkalinity and soda is supposed to be pretty acid. The resultant mix won't be as acidic as it needs to be.As for sanitation, I'd sanitize it. Starsan is easy.

That and get ready to have a keg that smells like root beer for a long time..........

[CarlosM]

That and get ready to have a keg that smells like root beer for a long time..........

or always have a root beer keg.

[Brian72]

That and get ready to have a keg that smells like root beer for a long time..........

I learned this the hard way. 1 complete keg rebuild and one perlick faucet still out of comission, thank you very much...

[Jeff]

I use a dedicated root beer keg.I clean, but don't sanitize that much. Yes, it is like koolaid! But like koolaid, you want to drink it the first week. If you plan to have it around for a month or more, then better sanitation is in order. Kids usually drink a keg in less than 3 weeks, so almost never had a problem.1st problem was self inflicted. I tried yeast to carbonate. NEVER again! It was nasty stuff. Poured it out. Next time was when we left it in the keg for a couple of months at room temps. Not horrible, but a little sour tasting. Kids drank it anyhow!Sugar and salt are both used to preserve things. Candy can sit out for a long time and stay fresh. But yeast loves water and sugar, so be prepared for any wild stuff to slowly take hold over time.I usually add a little extra to mine. I use the tiny concentrates, not the gallon syrup jugs. I used a whole bottle of sasperellia and half a bottle of birch for 5 gallons. The bottles are made for 4 gallons, so this is extra extract and better flavor also! I use 2 cups light brown sugar, 2 cups dark brown sugar, and the rest (I forget if it's 4 or 6 more cups) plain white sugar. I have used sugar in the raw also. It has a little bitterness to it. That is good in root beer. I drop a stick of cinnamon in the bottom of the keg. I always add 2-3 tbls of vanilla extract. Most times, I add a few drops of coconut, almond, and rum extract also. I use a carbonating stone to speed up carbonation. It usually goes over quite well.

[HerrHiller]

cool. ya..with this syrup bottle...I will make it today ill gently sanatize it....question tho....do I need to stir the syup in? or add the syrup at a special temp? (I'm force carbing with my co2 bottle) or can I just add the syrup in at w/e temp and stir? or what? thx.

[Jeff]

Since I add sugar, I usually do 1 gallon of hot tap water to make a sypup and the rest cold tap water. Then add carbonating stone and roll it back and forth on the floor for a few minutes to get it started carbonating.

[Jeff]

I meant to mention ... I have a jocky box and served root beer on it once. Then forgot to clean the line out right away! Next time I served a sweet sac mead on it. 18% alcohol and very sweet! Mmmmm! Anyhow, it had this hint of root beer to it. Must have been left from the chiller lines. The aroma was stronger than the flavor. It took a lot of tapping for that smell to go away in that tap line.Morale: Clean your root beer taps every day after serving. Don't let it sit on the lines.