I recently have tried homebrewing my own soda. I bought a cheap bottle capper, thermometer, and the different roots. I carbonate using brewers yeast.

The first batch I tried some rootbeer it tasted awfull and was not carbonated. I then tried a simpler ginger ale this was not bad but had a pretty strong yeasty taste. I tried ginger ale again switching the recipe a bit and it came out good without to much yeasty taste. I now have a batch of rootbeer that is being aged.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you have tried homebrewing and what you have learned? Any advice? Recipes?
I eventually want to find that perfect brew for my taste buds. It'll take a while though. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

buy retail...it's easier, cheaper and tastes better

Back in my wild days, I tried some home grown.LOL
That's another story for another message board.

Your a brave person for trying to make home brew soda pop. I would never try doing that as I agree with Fizzbizz. [img]smile.gif[/img]

PS Would it not be easier and make for a more taste correct soda pop if you made the syrup and just mixed it with strong sparkling water as a way to try out your flavoring.

Then for the batches you could try infusing the syrup with high pressure Co2/water to create your home brew. Granted I have never done this before.
I have never heard of yeast fermentation used in soda pop production? Beer brewing yes but not soda pop making?

Am I way off base?

[ 10-03-2005, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: Mr Zabe ]

PS Would it not be easier and make for a more taste correct soda pop if you made the syrup and just mixed it with strong sparkling water as a way to try out your flavoring.

Then for the batches you could try infusing the syrup with high pressure Co2/water to create your home brew. Granted I have never done this before.
I have never heard of yeast fermentation used in soda pop production? Beer brewing yes but not soda pop making?

1. I have seen websites that talk about mixing with sparkling water, the problem is when you mix the two you are losing alot of the carbonation.

2. You are not at all off base with your idea of force carbonating with Co2, this way has been noted in many sources I have read. However this is very expensive and I am not sure if I want to invest in this yet.

3. Yeast IS used for carbonation in homebrew, what happens is the yeast begins eating the sugar, which results in a miniscule amount of alcohol in the beverage, but Co2 bubles are released during the process giving it carbonation. The reason the yeast does not eat all the sugar making it an alcoholic beverage is because after about four days you put the bottles into a fridge which stops the process. The bottles than need to be drinken in the next week or so.
Because of this there are not any comercial soda pops carbonated using yeast.

As far as expenses go homebrewing is pretty cheap there are only a few ingredients that get expensive like vanilla bean, but there are ways around this like using vanilla extract.

Also the bevereges made are the taste you like and healthier.

I have heard of yeast being used for carbonation. But, you mention the fermentation problem. In the early 20th Century, some people made their own alcoholic Root Beer that way.

Another problem is the yeast might leave some taste, but this is a maybe.

You can rent carbonation equipment, and buy CO2 for it.

Yeah I don't know about yeast for carbonation. That really seems overkill and even the least efficient route. Not to mention adding extra carbohydrates and even a taste to your soda.

Several years ago, I was hosted for about a week by a family in Germany, and they had a very small and simple machine that carbonated a pitcher of water in about 10 seconds. There MUST be something like that here.


SEV

Brewing with yeast can be fun and is all part of the hobby. I have not done it for many years. the hard part was getting the right amount of yeast and using decent extracts. When we got it right the root beer was very good. But when we got it wrong it was horrible. Is brewers yeast different than regular yeast though? This I don't know.

Yes, I've brewed my own soda for years. Have had outstanding root beer and creme soda. I always use yeast. You just have to be very careful with the measuring and make sure you have fresh yeast. If it's old it's gonna be bad. Measuring is utmost important. Once I used too much and there was too much carbonation. One night, about 2 o'clock in the morning, sounded like gunshots in my kitchen. I had used too much yeast and the bottles began exploding. I had glass and soda everywhere. Lots of cleaning up to do! Also, the soda needs to sit in a cool, dark area for a couple weeks so the yeast can do their thing. If it's not fully ready yet, there will be a bad taste.

Wonkapete what roots/herbs or ingrediants do you use in your root beer and creme soda?

putting pieces of dry ice in the bottle will carbonate the drink as well..just DO NOT put too much or it becomes a class 3 explosive device..don't ask how I know this fact.