[majorvices]

I love the Sprecher's syrups but my kids are interested in getting more "hands on". Anyone have any good rootbeer, cream soda or other soda recipe? Can anyone recommend a good book?

[1vertical]

I found an amazing flavor Keith.

Get some V8 Fusion Peach Mango....(not the Splash / mango peach) and carb that up....put it over some ice....

WOW  is all I can say

[1vertical]

I also add a dash of mex vanilla to my softdrinks that kind of gets the aromatics going.
I like to mix and enjoy the Flavored beer syrups that we sweeten with stevia and then a tiny bit
of honey and or sugar as a last resort.  These things are good.

I use the carbonator nozzle that fits on a 2 liter plastic ginger ale bottle to carb up, that way my kegs stay free for BEER

[tschmidlin]

I have Homemade Rootbeer, Soda, and Pop and have made some of the recipes out of it, but you might be able to find some online resources.  I like to make a Jamaican style ginger ale with lots of ginger, some lemon, and some cayenne for the burn.

[capozzoli]

We make a lot of homemade fruit syrups around here. Strawberries, peaches, almost anything simmered with lots of sugar and water will produce a good syrup. Just strain it. Its kinda like making jam but a lot more watery.

Homemade lemon aid is great. Just start buy zesting the lemon. into a pot with water and sugar.Dont use any of the white part of the skin only yellow. Simmer with water and sugar for a little while. Then you have a lemon simple syrup. Add soda water and you have a lemon soda. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add a little water and you have the best homemade lemonade in the world...The world!

I made celery seed soda a couple times, good stuff. Just simmer celery seeds in sugar and water, then cool it and add it to soda water. Its a Jewish thing.

My grandmother used to make homemade sassafras syrup for sodas. I never tried it but she would dig up the roots and simmer it in sugar water, I think.

Sassafras is kinda like lemony root-beer.

 

[beerocd]

I just bought the carbonator cap so I can make smaller batches. I had a tap dedicated to the kids - problem is they go nuts for the first weekend and then kinda fuggeddaboudit. So I have a keg of pop lingering for months....

I think this new solution will satisfy everyone. I've only done the little brown box mixes that EVERYONE sells, they're OK. Nothing spectacular. I want to carb up some of the polish "syrups" you can find in the ethnic isles like raspberry or boisenberry I think that would be great - or even sparkling lemonade.

[tschmidlin]

Great idea, I have some carb caps and my kids would love some soda.  And I can use half as much sugar and they'll still like it.  But I'm not buying those flavor extracts, it's pretty easy to make your own flavorings.  We made limeade last weekend that turned out to be great, but carbonated it would have been awesome.

[rabid_dingo]

What about ginger ale? I have heard it blessedly easy to make. I don't have a recipe though.

[tschmidlin]

Really easy.  Here's a recipe based on one from the Homemade Rootbeer (Stephen Cresswell) book, scaled down for 2 liters.

1.5 oz ginger
juice of 1/4 lemon
water
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch or more of cayenne pepper to taste (for the burn)

Grate the ginger into the brewpot, add the lemon juice, cayenne, and 1 liter/qt water and bring to a simmer.  Add sugar, stir to dissolve, simmer 30 minutes, cover and cool 30 minutes.

Put 1 liter water in a 2-liter bottle, pour in the ginger mixture.

Top it up to where a normal soda bottle would be.  Chill and force carbonate with a carb cap.

If you want to naturally carb and or like it sweeter you should use more sugar (3/4 to 1 cup total), I cut it back since I force carbonate mine and I like it less sweet.

Top off the jug, you want it to be lukewarm.  Leave about 2 inches headspace.  Cap and shake.
Rehydrate a pinch of ale (or baking) yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water, add to the jug, cap and shake again.  Let it sit at room temp until it carbonates, chill when the bottle is firm, and consume quickly.

[bonjour]

I use the "Old Fashioned" brand.  I used the "Root Beer" extract and had a bunch of brewers begging me for the recipe, saying it was the best root beer they ever tasted. . . . .












I sweetened it with Splenda and they and they walked away saying they knew something was wrong with it.

Seriously though, sweeten it with DARK brown sugar (light just doesn't have enough punch).  I also prefer the deeper of the 3 root beer extracts that Old Fashioned has.

Birch Beer (the lightest in flavor)
Root Beer (the standard)
Sarsaparilla (the richest of the three)
 

[abraxas]

For something a little bit more complex there's lacto fermented sodas:

http://homegrown.org/blog/2009/02/lacto-fermented-soda-skillshare-make-your-own-ginger-ale-cola-root-beer-and-more/