Root Beer Recipe

4 GALLONS - BOTTLING METHOD 

INGREDIENTS 

• ½ cup Maltodextrin 
• 2 oz. Root Beer Extract 
• 4 cups White Sugar 
• 6 cups Brown Sugar 
• 4 gallons water 
• 1 pkt. Champagne Yeast  - Look for Pasteur Blanc or EC-1118

EQUIPMENT 

• Food Safe Bucket (approx. 3 gallons) 
• 5 Gallon Food Safe container such as a Pot or Bucket 
• 1 Gallon Jug 
• 4 Gallon Boiling Pot 
• Thermometer 
• Bottles - Plastic or Glass EZ Cap Caps 

DIRECTIONS 

1. Clean all equipment with Easy Clean No Rinse cleaner. 

2. Prepare Star San solution in a food safe bucket. Soak all equipment including bottles and caps in this solution for at least 5 minutes. 

3. Fill your 5 Gallon Food Safe Bucket or Pot with 4 gallons of cold water; remove 4 cups of water from the 4 gallons and discard it. 

All of the water required for the recipe is now in the 5 gallon container. Measuring the water in this way will save time and prevent you from adding too much or too little water later. 

4. Place 1 gallon of water (from the water measured in Step 3) into a pot and begin to heat it. It is not necessary to bring the water to a boil. Heating this small amount of water will help dissolve the sugars and will make a better soft drink. 

5. Add the white sugar, brown sugar and maltodextrin to the pot and stir until the sugars are completely dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved turn off the heat. 

6. Add the 2 oz. Root Beer Extract to the pot and stir it in. 

7. Add the sugar/extract mix to the remaining water in the 5 gallon container and stir well. 

8. Using your sanitized thermometer check the temperature. When temperature is at 80° or less you can add the yeast. 

9. Cut open the packet of champagne yeast and add it to the mixture. 

10. Stir the mixture until the yeast is completely dissolved. You are now ready to bottle root beer. 

BOTTLING 

All bottles and caps must be cleaned and sanitized prior to each use. 

A good rule of thumb for determining how many bottles you will need is; for every one gallon: 

• 11 (12 oz.) bottles 
• 8 (16 oz.) bottles
• 6 (20 oz.) bottles 
• 4 one-liter bottles

1. Using a funnel pour root beer into the bottles so that there is about 1¼ -inch of air space left in the neck of the bottle. Leaving too little air space will cause the root beer to remain flat. Leaving too much air space will cause the root beer to over carbonate and may cause the bottles to gush or even explode when opened. 

2. Seal the bottles tightly and store 4 to 7 days at room temperature. This will allow the yeast to eat some of the sugar and carbonate the soft drink. You can check the carbonation by squeezing the plastic soda bottle. When it is hard, the soda is done and must be refrigerated. 

Test EZ Cap glass bottles by opening one and checking the carbonation. If carbonation is good they must be refrigerated. 

3. Allow the bottles to chill for at least 1 week prior to serving. The root beer will improve in flavor with time. It must be stored in the refrigerator or else it will continue to carbonate and the bottles may gush or even explode when opened.