How to Make Root Beer from Roots: Recipe, 1 to 30 Gallons
Homemade root beer from sarsaparilla, licorice and wintergreen: a strong root tea sweetened with brown sugar and molasses and carbonated with CO₂. No alcohol, no sassafras, and a recipe card from 1 to 30 gallons.
In this post
The short answer: simmer sarsaparilla and licorice root with a little wintergreen leaf, cinnamon and star anise for 20 minutes, steep for 30, strain, then dissolve dark brown sugar and molasses in it. Chill it and carbonate it with CO₂ to about 3 volumes. Per gallon: about 30 g of sarsaparilla and 200 g of sugar. No fermentation, no alcohol.
Root beer started as a lightly fermented drink of roots, bark and sugar. Today it is almost always a carbonated soft drink, and that is the easiest way to make it well at home: brew a strong root tea, sweeten it, and force-carbonate it cold. A brewing kettle and a keg do the job perfectly.
The recipe
The card scales from 1 to 30 gallons.
Bräu Supply recipe · Root beer
Root Beer from Roots
Ingredients · for 5 gal
| 5 gal (18.9 L) | Filtered water | |
| 150 g | Sarsaparilla root, dried and cut | 30 g/gal |
| 30 g | Licorice root, dried and cut | 6 g/gal |
| 10 g | Wintergreen leaf, dried (the leaf, never the oil) | 2 g/gal |
| 5 | Cinnamon sticks | 1/gal |
| 5 | Star anise | 1/gal |
| 2.20 lb (1.0 kg) | Dark brown sugar | 200 g/gal |
| 10 tbsp | Molasses | 2 tbsp/gal |
| 25 mL | Vanilla extract | 5 mL/gal |
Process
- Simmer: the roots and spices in the water, covered, 20 minutes
- Steep: off the heat for 30 minutes, then strain
- Sweeten: dissolve the sugar and molasses while it is hot
- Chill: to 34–38°F (1–3°C), then stir in the vanilla
- Carbonate: 3.0 volumes: about 14 psi at 34°F in the tank, or 16 psi in a keg at 38°F
- Serve: cold, ideally on a tap
Roots vary: taste the strained tea before you sweeten it and steep longer for more depth. Some brewers add dandelion or burdock root, or birch bark, a little at a time.
What about sassafras?
Sassafras root bark gave old-fashioned root beer much of its flavour, but it contains safrole, which the US FDA banned as a food additive in 1960. Commercial root beer uses safrole-free sassafras extract or none at all. This recipe uses none: sarsaparilla, licorice and wintergreen carry the classic taste. If you want sassafras, use a safrole-free extract and add it to taste after chilling.
Ingredients to respect
- Wintergreen: use the dried leaf. Wintergreen essential oil is concentrated methyl salicylate and is toxic in small amounts.
- Licorice root: keep it modest. In large, regular amounts it can raise blood pressure.
- Bottling fermented root beer: old recipes add yeast and cap it in bottles to carbonate. That makes alcohol and pressure; glass bottles can burst if they stay warm too long. Carbonating with CO₂ avoids both.
Carbonation
Root beer is served fizzy and cold, around 3 volumes of CO₂: about 14 psi at 34°F in a Unitank (under its 15 psi relief valve), or about 16 psi in a keg at 38°F. A carbonation stone gets it there the same day.
Frequently asked questions
Is root beer alcoholic?
This one has no alcohol: nothing ferments. Fermented root beer, made with yeast or a ginger bug, has a little.
Can I use root beer extract instead?
Yes. Extract makes a quick root beer: follow the label for the amount per gallon, add sugar and water, chill and carbonate. Brewing from roots gives a rounder, less candy-like flavour.
Root beer or sarsaparilla?
Sarsaparilla soda is built mostly on sarsaparilla root and tastes earthier and less sweet; root beer blends several roots and spices with vanilla and more sugar.
How long does it keep?
Cold and carbonated in a keg, about three weeks. Keep it cold: it is sweet and unpasteurised.
Related
How to make ginger beer, how to make water kefir, how to make hop water.