Shank’s Root Beer Extract

 Homemade Root Beers  No Responses »
May 222024
 
Seal of Approval

2020 brought many horrible catastrophes such that the world will never be the same. In the midst of these apocalytpic conditions and daily blights, one smaller travesty occurred that went unnoticed by most, the discontinuation of McCormick’s Root Beer extract. This was a very personal blow for me, as for over a decade, McCormick was the root beer extract for my home brew adventures (save dedicated kits). Alas I was doomed wander the deserts of life, devoid of my celebrated homebrew. That is until I went to a family reunion in 2023 and my mom asked me to make a batch of brew for the fam and pulled out a sealed bottle of McCormick. Just what I needed to make things easier for me to find the replacement. After one farewell batch, I returned home, armed with half a bottle of my home brew standard to start some taste comparisons. I got several brands and mathed their recipes to make a single liter to match my soda water recipe. After testing the various batches with the family we aggreed that Shank’s Root Beer Extract provided the closest flavor profile to my standard with a ratio of 2-tsps of Shank’s for each tsp of McCormick in the recipe. Subsequent full batches using my uKeg tasted as good as I remembered them so I can give Shank’s my Seal of Approval as the root beer extract of choice. Now my root beer soirees are back with a vengeance! I’ll update my recipes soon to avoid confusion.

GrowlerWerks – uKeg Pressurized Growler: God’s Gift to Home Root Beer Making

 Homemade Root Beers  3 Responses »
Nov 202019
 

GrowlerWerks uKeg

You may not know this, but I’ve dabbled quite a bit with home root beer brewing. I mean, you should know it, in as much as I’ve blogged my adventures of it. To summarize though, the biggest issue with making Seal of Approval quality brew was getting good carbonation. I had tried three main methods; Yeast, dry ice, and just using carbonated water. All had their drawbacks. Yeast you have to be careful with so it doesn’t over carbonated, explode, or generally make the root beer taste yeasty. Even in the best case scenarios, it makes the root beer taste a little yeasty. Dry ice is really cool for parties, but it’s hard to get a good carbonation from it. Trying to pressurize with dry ice also results is explosions. The best I could find was using carbonated water. This works decent, though the carbonation just isn’t quite there. But it had been my go to for awhile, and I had two nice 1.5 gallon ice tea dispensers that I’d use for root beer parties. But I’d always wished for a keg. The problem was, kegs are really expensive and a real pain to use in a home kitchen setting. Then one fateful day, a coworker told me about the GrowlerWerks uKeg.

The uKeg is a pressurized growler that’s intended to make people’s beer taste tap fresh for up to two weeks. It’s essentially a mini-keg system that’s easy to use, clean, transport, and finally let me get the perfect root beer I’d been searching for. Let me walk you through how it works. It has a pressure regulating cap that is charged with a standard food grade 16g CO2 cartridge. After filling the uKeg with liquid, you adjust the regulator until you get the desired pressure, displayed on a convenient gauge, and then you’re set. There’s a goose-neck tap to dispense your bubbly brew in the most satisfying way possible. Additionally, it’s vacuum insulated so you can keep it cold for nearly 8 hours outside of the fridge (I have verified this). And it’s small enough that it easily fits inside most fridge door milk shelves.

I immediately knew that this was at last the product I was searching for. While the instructions don’t really address homemade root beer, after extensive research I can share how this is easily done. There are really two ways to try and carbonate your root beer in the uKeg, full forced carbonation or starting with carbonated water and letting the uKeg finish it. I recommend the latter, as getting a good root beer fizz takes about 2 weeks and three CO2 canisters, whereas starting with carbonated water takes only 1 CO2 cartridge and 3 liters of carbonated water. You could even do 2 liters of carbonated water and 1 liter of regular water as long as you let it sit as least three days before serving. I’ve developed a nice base recipe that you can use to get started.

The basic idea is to make your own root beer syrup and then gently pour the syrup and the carbonated water into the uKeg after charging the cap. After it’s sealed set the pressure to 15 psi then swish the uKeg around to stir the mixture. Shaking is bad as it can get root beer into the regulator values and mess them up. Then just let it settle for awhile and you’re good to go. I recommend making it at least a day before you want to serve so it can fully settle. I also recommend making the syrup and chilling it and the carbonated water the night before, as the colder the ingredients when you mix them, the less CO2 will be lost.

So if you love making homemade root beer, you need to buy a uKeg. If you know someone who loves making root beer, it’s the perfect Christmas gift and just the right time to order for the holidays. Feel free to ask me any questions about additional root beer making tips and happy root beer brewing. I’ve been hosting root beer parties at home and at work this past year and it’s been a real hit. I’ll post new recipes from different extract brands from time to time.

Eric’s uKeg Root Beer Recipe

    Syrup

  • 1 1/2 Cups White Sugar
  • 3/4 Cups Honey
  • 1 1/2 Cups Water
  • 3 Tsp McCormick Root Beer Concentrate
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/8 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/8 Tsp Ginger
    Method

  1. Mix sugar and honey in a pot with water
  2. Bring to a boil
  3. Add root beer concentrate, vanilla, and spices
  4. Simmer for 15 minutes
  5. Chill
  6. Mix with 3 liters of chilled seltzer water in a uKeg
  7. Let sit for at least 12 hours to settle




Witches Brew Root Beer Recipe

 Homemade Root Beers  No Responses »
Oct 232014
 

Witches Brew Root Beer

Halloween is coming, which means creepy costumes, too much candy, pumpkin spice everything and wonderful parties. And what Halloween party would be complete without a big cauldron of bubbling brew? Here’s a recipe that I’ve been perfecting for witches brew root beer, guaranteed to be a hit. Make it in a cauldron or a punch bowl if you don’t have a cauldron. But seriously, if you’re going all the way, you really should get a cauldron. Nothing impresses your friends like a big ol’ cast iron cauldron bubbling with root beer, except for the flavor of this root beer.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups honey
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 tsp McCormick Root Beer Concentrate
  • 1/8 tsp powdered ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp ground allspice
  • 2 gal cold water
  • 2 lbs dry ice

Directions
Add sugar, honey, vanilla, root beer concentrate, spices, and 4 cups of water in a pot and bring to a rolling boil while stirring.
Reduce heat and let the mixture boil on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add to cauldron with the rest (28 cups) of the water.
Crush half the dry ice and add to the cauldron, stir the mixture until the dry ice is largely disolved, this adds the primary carbonation
Add second pound of dry ice as a single or several large blocks. This will bubble for the duration of the party and help maintain the carbonation level
WARNING Do not seal a lid on your root beer while dry ice is bubbling, it will explode, trust me…




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