What is Hard Root Beer? – Made like beer but tasting like root beer, hard root beer is a flavored beer that contains alcohol. The question on everyone’s mind is: is hard root beer actually beer? Yes. And, no. Hard root beer belongs to a secondary classification of beer, not one brewed with traditional grains like wheat and barley, but with actual plant roots just as the traditional soda is.
Cinnamon Wintergreen Anise or licorice Vanilla Sarsaparilla or birch bark
The flavor is built from the ground up like a root beer – there’s really no traditional hops or malt to speak of – and they taste almost entirely like their soda inspiration. Sugar, yeast, and water are then added to the brew. The alcoholic version of root beer then undergoes a secondary fermentation with additional sugars and ale yeast, which is filtered to develop the root beer base.
Contents
Is hard root beer fermented?
A traditional twist on the now-familiar soft drink, hard root beer used to be the more-common choice among homebrewers. – by AdobeStock/Brent Hofacker 3 weeks DURATION 3 gallons SERVINGS
2 pounds light dried malt extract1 pound sugar1 pound lactose1 ounce Cascade hops1 ounce sassafras root bark (about 6 tablespoons)0.8 ounce licorice root (about 4 tablespoons)3 vanilla beans, or 3 teaspoons vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon yeast nutrients, such as Wyeast or White Labs11-gram sachet of Fermentis US-05 dried ale yeast7 ounces molasses (for priming bottles)
To a 2-gallon or larger pot, add 1 3/4 gallons of water and begin heating slowly. Stir in the malt extract until it dissolves completely. Then, stir in the sugar and lactose until dissolved.Bring the mixture to boil. Add the hops, and boil for 5 minutes. Then, add the sassafras and licorice, and boil 5 more minutes. Add the vanilla and yeast nutrients, and boil 5 more minutes. You should end up with 11/2 gallons of wort (unfermented beer).Cool the wort to approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine it with 1 1/2 gallons of cool water in a sanitized fermentation bucket or a 5-gallon stainless steel pot. Use a sanitized whisk to whip the top of the wort into a froth. Sprinkle the dried yeast on top of the wort. Allow the mixture to ferment at about 68 degrees for 4 to 5 days.Add approximately 4 ounces of water to your molasses to produce an 11-ounce solution. Boil that solution for a couple of seconds to sanitize it, and then cool. Add 2 ounces of the solution to each of your 2-liter bottles, or 3 ounces to every 3-liter bottle. Siphon or funnel the wort into the bottles, leaving 1 to 2 inches of headspace. Seal the bottles.Let the bottles sit at room temperature, or slightly above, for 2 weeks, and then refrigerate them for at least 3 days before sampling.
PRINT RECIPE A traditional twist on the now-familiar soft drink, hard root beer used to be the more-common choice among homebrewers. This fermented, carbonated root beer has an ABV of 4.8 percent. The easiest way to package this volume of root beer is in three 3-liter plastic bottles and one 2-liter plastic bottle.
Is there such a thing as hard root beer?
Known to some as the most popular craft beer in 2015, hard root beer has gained traction in the market and grabbed the attention of many. In 2015, Not Your Father’s Root Beer from Small Town Brewing Co., in Illinois became the nation’s sixth-best selling craft beer brand. Soon after, Coney Island Brewing Co., out of Brooklyn, N.Y., released its own concoction and gained popularity. What exactly is hard root beer, and why should we try it? We compiled a list of things you should know before taking the plunge.1. The first hard root beer was produced nationally only a few years ago. Sprecher Brewing Co., of Glendale, Wis., introduced hard root beer to the market and sparked the interest of other, larger brewing companies, and brands like Not Your Father’s were created. Jeff Bruning, an owner of El Bait Shop in Des Moines, first tried Not Your Father’s Root Beer in Illinois and was surprised at the taste, but said he couldn’t imagine consuming the drink one after another. “I thought to myself though, ‘This was great’ and I knew it would sell,” Bruning said.2. The companies creating the beverage are not new to the market. Small Town Brewery, the creators of Not Your Father’s, is partly owned by Pabst, but is also known to be connected to Four Loco. Coney Island is owned by Samuel Adams’ parent company. The brand owners and marketers have been around the block a few times, judging by the way the ales are marketed and how they took off so quickly. “There’s nothing small about their small-town brewery and they’re very protective of the whole thing,” Mark Nauman, owner of Beer Crazy in Urbandale, said. “Anything you read you have to take with a grain of salt.” 3. The labels don’t say much. Eugene Kashper, chief executive of Pabst Brewing Co., and a co-owner of Not Your Father’s, declined to tell The Wall Street Journal anything more about the ingredients of their ale besides what was labeled on the package. This is typical of many alcoholic beverages, but can lead to difficulties if you are interested in producing your own hard root beer. “I think tasting it, it’s quite good, quite amazing but it’s pure corn syrup,” Bruning said. “They did it right. It tastes like old style root beer.” With that taste comes a reported 300-plus calories per 12-ounce serving.4. There’s a difference between fermented beer and a root beer-flavored malt beverage. Nauman said some labels will tell you the product is a flavored malt beverage, meaning it isn’t actually fermented beer. “My understanding, because I don’t have hard confirmation, and just from me tasting it without being able to find exact information from the company, it’s just a malt alternative,” Nauman said. “Where it’s essentially root beer flavored Smirnoff.” 5. Known as a “niche” or “novelty” beverage. Many are calling hard root beer a niche beverage because it is more popular among millennials and “hipsters,” and with the trend growing, Bruning said, it’s just a matter of time before more of the same are introduced on the market. “I’m sure there will be a hard cola and it’s for a younger crowd, so we don’t really want to push it that hard,” Bruning said. “I want people to know what they’re drinking.” 6. Hard root beer has yet to be brewed in Iowa. As of now, there aren’t any records of home brewers creating their own hard root beer. “I don’t know that most care,” Nauman said. “I’ve had very few, only one or two, come in and ask because we’re a home brew shop.” Some of them were under the impression they can brew it themselves, but they can’t. Nauman said the process to create the beverage is more laboratory than boiling and fermenting at home.7. The beverage can be purchased locally. Since hard root beer hit the market, vendors have been bringing it into stores like Hy-Vee, and it available on tap at places like The High Life Lounge. Check your local bar or Hy-Vee wine and spirits to find the brands offered.8. It makes one great float. The sweet taste of hard root beer almost doesn’t taste like beer at all. Flavors of vanilla mesh well with your favorite ice cream and could make a tasty treat with an added punch.
How is real root beer made?
How Is Root Beer Made? – Root beer is typically made by combining sweeteners, flavorings and carbonated water. The mixture is then heated to create a syrup or concentrate, which is then blended with additional water and carbonated to give it its signature fizz. How Is Root Beer Made?
What makes root beer so strong?
What Gives Root Beer Its Distinct Taste? – Root beer gets its unique taste from the blend of herbs, spices, and sweeteners used to make it. The sassafras root and wintergreen are the main contributors to root beer’s strong, intense flavor, while adding vanilla, licorice, and anise gives it a sweet, rich, and complex taste.
Why is root beer not alcoholic?
Plus 5 sweet and unique craft brews to savor slowly – January 23, 2014 This week, we’re taking a break from our never-ending quest for great beer to begin wella quest for a different kind of great beer: root beer ! First off, the question on everyone’s mind: is root beer actually beer? The answer is yes and no.
- Root beer belongs to a secondary classification of beer, not one brewed with traditional cereal grains like wheat and barley, but with actual plant roots, A&W, Dr.
- Pepper, Barq’s and others have done a great job popularizing root beer in the modern era, but many of the best are still made at craft breweries.
Root beer is made using sugar, yeast, water and spices. The big kicker is that root beer typically isn’t allowed to ferment, so this beer is usually kid-friendly, though they can be made with an ABV similar to that of craft beer or brewed without alcohol for a sweet, refreshing treat.
- Here are five of the best root beers made by breweries, as they should be.
- Hard Root Beer: Sprecher Brewing Company: Bourbon Barrel Aged Root Beer Sprecher might not be a household name, but they quietly have cornered the market with their awesome gluten-free beer (Shakparo), a great German-style Schwarzbier (Black Bavarian) and now this excellent alcoholic root beer, aged inbourbon barrels! It’s a respectable 5% ABV, with just enough bourbon flavor, sweetness and spice to make this a standout.
Small Town Brewery: Not Your Father’s Root Beer We like extreme beers because they push the boundary of what’s possible, even if they might only be worth a one-time try. This, however, is not one of those beers. While the regular version clocks in at a pedestrian 10% (hah!), there’s an even stronger version clocking in at an ass-kicking 19.5%.
- Both versions are huge by beers by any standards, yet the amazing thing is they are actually smooth, with a sweet, spicy flavor profile that steals the show.
- Craft Root Beer (non-alcoholic): Abita Brewing Company: Root Beer The always-enterprising brewery from the Big Easy makes some great root beer, too! This one is made with natural cane sugar.
It’s a little creamy and has some good spiciness to it as well. It’s packaged just like their beer and lives up to their reputation as a very reliable brewery. FX Matt Brewery: Saranac Root Beer One of the grandfathers of the New York craft beer scene, FX Matt Brewery definitely doesn’t get the respect it deserves, especially because — little known fact — they used to brew most of Brooklyn Brewery’s beer.
They also make excellent craft sodas, including this stand-out root beer. Hints of molasses, brown sugar and licorice make this one a go-to. Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Co.: Henry Weinhards’s Root Beer The famous Pacific Northwest brewery also makes an excellent root beer made with sassafras. This one has a distinct sweetness from honey and vanilla.
The good thing is, it’s not overpowering and makes for an excellent sweeter style. More beer on Food Republic:
5 More Gluten-Free Beers That Are Actually Worth Drinking So Canadian Craft Beers Are Really Good, Eh? Yes, Yes They Are. 5 Foolproof Ways To Get Your Girlfriend Into The Craft Beer Game
Is root beer naturally alcoholic?
When does root beer contain alcohol? – As noted earlier, root beer naturally does not contain alcohol, and it’s also caffeine and gluten free, But there are exceptions to the rule, such as when caffeine or alcohol are intentionally added back to the formula to create energy drinks or hard sodas.
- In the beverage space, variety is the name of the game, which is also true with root beer.
- Today, you can find Sprecher Root Beer in a variety of styles, all delicious: Bottles, cans, low-calorie, caffeinated ( Rev’d Up Root Beer ) and maple –– you can even make your own with Sprecher Root Beer syrup extract,
In recent years, one of the more popular flavors of root beer is hard root beer, which contains alcohol. In 2013, Sprecher released its own version of hard root beer. According to a press release at the time, Sprecher Hard Root Beer was described as having “all the flavors and characteristics of Sprecher Root Beer nicely melded with bourbon and oak flavors.” “We had a lot of customers asking for a hard root beer,” said Jeff Hamilton, then president of Sprecher.
” Since this is a variation of what we do best, two of our Wisconsin distributors — Beechwood Sales and Service and General Beverage — suggested a limited initial roll out to test markets. That will let us know if we need to change anything before we go into large scale production.” Over the next few years, the popularity of hard sodas and hard root beer rose exponentially and then quickly fell again, as consumer preferen ces for sweet drinks with alcohol fluctuated.
Currently, hard sodas and the category of “flavored malt beverages” (FMBs) are undergoing a resurgence, according to Wine Enthusiast, even if it’s not reaching the heights of its mid-2010s apex. Today, Sprecher currently offers hard root beer in our taproom for tours and to-go crowlers and growlers.
Why is real root beer illegal?
Unless you’re participating in a spelling bee or playing Fallout New Vegas, you probably don’t think about sassafras much, but you might still ingest it regularly. It is, or at least once was, the main flavourful ingredient in root beer, Sassafras (a tree) and sarsaparilla (a vine) were traditionally used-along with other substances like licorice root, mint, nutmeg, and more-to flavour root beer.
- Recipes for root beer similar to what we know today date back to 1860, and sassafras root beverages date back even further, made by indigenous peoples for medicinal and culinary purposes.
- But modern root beer doesn’t contain any real sassafras root anymore, why not? Well, sassafras and sarsaparilla both contain safrole, a compound recently banned by the FDA due to its carcinogenic effects.
Safrole was found to contribute to liver cancer in rats when given in high doses, and thus it and sassafras or sarsaparilla-containing products were banned. But more recent studies have actually failed to find evidence that the effects seen in rats occur in humans.
- This, and the fact that several other (still legal) foods, like the aforementioned nutmeg, also contain safrole, makes the ban seem less science based and more the result of fear.
- So, modern root beer is flavoured most often with artificial sassafras, though sometimes with safrole-free sassafras too.
More important than checking the safrole content of your beverage, though, might be checking the alcohol content. Traditional root beer was usually alcoholic, whereas modern root beer is rarely fortified with ethanol and is a favourite of kids everywhere.
Why is Mcdonald’s root beer so good?
The addition of carbon dioxide makes the soda more acidic and taste ‘sharper’. Also, the bubbles bursting on the tongue send shock waves through the tongue tissue, which is the source of slight, but pleasurable pain (somewhat akin to the pain of capsaicin, but it goes away a LOT quicker).
Is root beer healthier than other sodas?
Skip to content Summer, a time for bar-b-ques, fun outside and the soda that is part of America’s pastime, Root Beer, Soda can have a negative effect on our teeth; however, many people are surprised to learn that sugar isn’t the only reason why. Colas usually contain phosphoric and citric acids, both of which are known to cause enamel loss and dental erosion. If left untreated, these conditions can lead to complete tooth-loss. Soda covers a wide span of drinks; from Coke to Sprite, Pepsi, 7-UP and so on, there is an endless amount of sweet carbonated beverages on today’s shelves.
That said, not all of these products are created equally. It was determined that, despite being a soda, root beer is considered the safest soft drink as it rarely contains the harmful acids found in most sodas, which lessens its impact on teeth. Commonly, we think of sodas as being sweet and fizzy, but rarely does acid come to mind; however, it has been shown that certain brands of cola have acid rankings of 2.39.
Compare that number to the average acidity of a battery: 1.0. With a drink more than twice as acidic as a battery, it’s no surprise that soda can cause damage to our teeth. While Root Beer is more healthier than some of the other options, it’s important to not go out and drink it in excess as it still contains sugars that can damage your teeth.
Can vegans drink root beer?
Most root beer is considered vegan-friendly. Unlike beer, it’s not traditionally refined with isinglass (fish bladder) or gelatin, and it does not usually contain any animal derivatives. Typical root beer ingredients include roots/herbs, plant-based foaming agents, yummy spices like nutmeg and star anise, and a vegan-friendly sweetener.
- However, sometimes ingredients like lactose or honey are added.
- The good news is, the most popular root beer brands, like A&W, Barq’s, Abita, Bundaberg, and Mug are totally vegan-friendly! However, you may be wondering about their sweeteners, since refined sugar is sometimes processed using animal bone char.
In that case, you can rest assured knowing that all of these brands—with the exception of Mug Root Beer, which does contain sugar—are sweetened with either cane sugar (vegan-friendly) or high fructose corn syrup. While these are not the healthiest choices, they are not produced at the expense of our animal friends, meaning they are OK for vegans to consume, ideally in moderation! That said, the root beer from brands like Sprecher, Dominion, Pitchfork, Coney Island, Smirnoff, Joe’s, and Red Monkeys, or any root beers containing the word ‘Honey’ in their name or ingredients list are not suitable for vegans, as they contain either dairy products, honey, or both.
Does root beer need to ferment?
So, How Do We Brew Root Beer at Home? – There are a lot of different root beer recipes with a lot of different flavors. The primary ingredient to make root beer is still sassafras root, but since the U.S Food and Drug Administration banned it due to the carcinogenicity, most commercial recipes don’t contain the actual sassafras root; most use an artificial sassafras flavoring.
The commercially produced version of root beer is often sweet, carbonated, foamy, non-alcoholic and flavored with artificial sassafras. Methods may include vanilla, cherry tree bark, molasses, anise, cinnamon and honey. The traditional method for making root beer involves molasses syrup. You should let it cool for three or four hours and then combine it with the root’s ingredients.
After that, yeast was added and allow to ferment for 12 or 14 hours, and then it was put through secondary fermentation. This recipe ended up having 2% alcohol content, and it was often modified to produce more alcohol. The ingredients in the traditional root beer used to include allspice, juniper, wintergreen, hops, spicewood and liquorice.
- Even some added dandelion root, spikenard, and guaiacum chips.
- There is no standard root beer recipe, and a lot of the methods start in the same way.
- The first step is to boil the sassafras or sarsaparilla root into a strong tea.
- Once the decoction or extract is done, it’s time to season it with vanilla extract, cherry tree bark or cinnamon.
Some like to add natural honey instead of sugar because it makes it taste a lot better. The next step in any root beer recipe is carbonation. Carbonation is the word used to talk about carbon dioxide reactions to carbonates, bicarbonates and carbonic acid.
- Carbonation is what causes the fizziness and bubbles in drinks like soda or beers.
- The carbonation in root beer can be done by fermentation, adding yeast to the batch before bottling, or making a syrup—usually with a strong flavor—and slowly mixing it with icy carbonated water.
- The cold often helps retain the carbonation.
Once you bottle the batch, it comes: the time for fermentation. The fermentation is a metabolic process that occurs in the yeast; it basically converts the sugar into acids and gases, highly similar to carbonation. Remember that, when it comes to making homemade root beer, carbonation is somewhat optional.
What type of fermentation is root beer?
Alcoholic fermentation begins after glucose diffuses into the yeast cell. The glucose is broken down into 2, 3 carbon molecules called pyruvic acid. The pyruvic acid is then converted to CO2, ethanol, and energy for the yeast cell. It is the carbon dioxide produced by the yeasts that give root beer its ‘fizz.’
Is ginger beer a fermented food?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GINGER BEER AND GINGER ALE? – The phrases, “ginger beer” and “ginger ale” are typically used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two beverages. Ginger beer is fermented for up to 2 or 3 weeks using a “ginger bug,” where ginger ale is more of a ginger flavored soda.