Judging a Rootbeer

I did not read through all 7 pages, but there is a thread on HBT for cloning Not Your Father's Root Beer if you are interested: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=402386

 

I did a root beer stout once. Used a basic mild stout recipe with sassafrass, sarsaparillla, wild cherry bark, wintergreen and vanilla beans. It was pretty good and did have an obvious root beer flavor.

 

9% Is a heavy rootbeer. I've seen some that are naturally carbonated rootbeers that weigh in at like .05% ABV. These weren't malted, and most of the sugar comes from honey. I'd go with an English strain that doesn't attenuate well. Maybe a Scottish yeast.

Are you able to get a hold of the brewer, or is that against HIPA?

 

I thought judges were allowed to look at the forms, after the competition is finished. I assumed so, because I have had some judges email me afterward.

 

Back in the day, Root Beer had like 20-30 ingredients.

 

Sassafrass is stupid expensive these days and not easy to find. It's the most root beery of all the ingredients. You can get good root beer flavor from 4-5 ingredients. Extract is easier, cheaper and provides good or better results.

 

1890s Rootbeer ingredients - allspice, birch bark, coriander, juniper, ginger, wintergreen, hops, burdock root, dandelion root, spikenard, pipsissewa, guaiacum chips, sarsaparilla, spicewood, wild cherry bark, yellow dock, prickly ash bark, sassafras, vanilla beans, hops, dog grass, molasses and licorice.

 

Dog grass. I don't think I wanna know.

 

Yeah pretty sure you're just making shit up now

 

I didn't make anything up.

 

“Here is a list of ingredients and countries from a 1922 pamphlet about Hires Root Beer.

Birch Bark - United States, New England

Chirreta – India

Dog Grass – Germany

Ginger – Africa

Ginger – China

Ginger – Jamaica

Hires special plant

Hops – United States, Northwest

Juniper Berries – Italy

Licorice – Spain

Licorice – Russia

Sarsaparilla – Honduras

Sugar – Cuba

Vanilla – Mexico

Wintergreen – United States, North Carolina

Yerba Mate, Brazil”

http://www.greydragon.org/library/brewing_root_beer.html

Cheers!

 

Here's a picture of some root beer.

 

I did a root beer brown ale a while back. It was basically Northern Brewer's Caribou Slobber brown ale, but I added flat Barq's root beer to the chilled wort before fermentation. Gave the yeast some extra simple sugars to munch on. Overall I wasn't too proud of it, but my wife liked it!

I used Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast and it seemed to get the job done.

 

Nice try buddy, check your facts next time.


(I'm being sarcastic and/or an a-hole, btw)

 

I like root beer & would really love to make a root beer from scratch, but i'm realistic... no way am I going to be able to get all those ingredients and work out what % of each to use... :S