Puppy's Butt Root Beer

Puppy's Butt Root Beer is the first soda brewed at the Dog's Butt Brewery.  It was made with the non-beer drinker in mind so that everybody can enjoy beverages brewed at the Dog's Butt Brewery.

Equipment Needs

1 - 6.5 Gallon Food Grade Plastic Pale with spigot for bottling.
Food thermometer capable of measuring up to 220+ degrees.
3 feet of 3/4 inch plastic tubing.
Siphoning setup.
Long spoon.
35-40 12 oz. Crown Top bottles or equivalent.
35-40 Crown Top Bottle Caps.

Ingredients

2 oz. Root Beer Soda Extract.
1 Tsp. Dry Brewing Yeast.
8 c. White Cane Sugar.

Procedure

  1. Dissolve yeast in a cup of warm water (98 degrees Fahrenheit).
  2. Let stand for 5 minutes or longer to dissolve.
  3. Shake extract bottle well.
  4. Combine extract and sugar in sufficient warm water to dissolve sugar.
  5. Add yeast mixture to extract and sugar mixture.
  6. Add warm water to bring total volume to 4 gallons.
  7. Taste mixture and add sugar to taste.
  8. Bottle.
  9. Age 3 to 4 days at room temperature then move to a cooler location.
  10. Age at least 1 to 2 weeks for proper carbonation and mellowing.
  11. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Results

I had some trouble with this first batch of root beer.  First off, I made the error of trying too hard to make it like brewing beer.  It is not.  I tried to make a 4 gallon batch, which is not necessary, as root beer doesn't keep as well as beer.  In the end, I had to open up each bottle and add more yeast, which resulted in what I like to call "explosive carbonation."  I had a couple of broken bottles, but mostly it was just very VERY carbonated.  The taste was pretty good, though.  My next challenge will be brewing it from scratch, which can be seen in "Pappy O'Grady's Real Bark Root Beer," which is next on the root beer calendar.