Alco Sarsaparilla - Recipe & Discussion Of It

[Wolfy]

Yep, adding more refined sugar (Golden syrup) will not help since the yeast will simply ferment all the sugars, to make it sweeter you'll need something non-fermentable like lactose or to back-sweeten after you've removed (or killed) the yeast.

 

[Malted]

Add some lactose to the keg to sweeten it up a touch?

Cheers SJ

I was thinking some complex sugar such as Sucrose (i.e. more golden syrup - usually about 44% Sucrose) as I reckon you can taste Lactose (and I don't really like it). But Wolfy is probably right, the residual yeasties would probably get through it eventually despite the cold. Maybe I could race them to see who finishes first?

How would you kill the yeast without destroying flavours or boiling out the alcohol?

But I had better not touch it if I am to follow SWMBO's orders.




Here's a label (below) for the kegerator. It is a bit of a running joke with SWMBO's sister who arrives for a visit tommorrow.

 

[Wolfy]

How would you kill the yeast without destroying flavours or boiling out the alcohol?

Potassium sorbate (1/2 teaspoon per gallon) is recommended by Ken Schramm for mead (it does not kill the yeast but stops it fermenting), I'd assume it would work well here too.

 

[manticle]

I was thinking some complex sugar such as Sucrose (i.e. more golden syrup - usually about 44% Sucrose) as I reckon you can taste Lactose (and I don't really like it). But Wolfy is probably right, the residual yeasties would probably get through it eventually despite the cold. Maybe I could race them to see who finishes first?

How would you kill the yeast without destroying flavours or boiling out the alcohol?

But I had better not touch it if I am to follow SWMBO's orders.




Here's a label (below) for the kegerator. It is a bit of a running joke with SWMBO's sister who arrives for a visit tommorrow.

Sucrose isn't that complex and yeast have no real trouble eating it. The cold will help though. Maybe try various sweeteners in a glass until you find one you like? Alternatively, pour yourself a glass that has had a teaspoon of sugar added. That way you can keep the keg untouched for your lady and have the sweeter version yourself. Brown sugar might work nicely.

You can kill yeast by pasteurisation which doesn't require boiling temps. Anything above 50 would probably do it although more regular temps seem to be higher.

Please research pasteurisation before taking my advice though - it's not something I have done and I'm probably not keen (additives like sulphites and sorbates I'm also no keen on. Whatever flavour lactose may or may not have is preferable to sodium met and its propensity to give me rotten hangovers).

 

[felten]

You could filter it, not sure what size filter you need to strip out yeast

 

[Malted]

Some good advice, thanks guys! I appreciate your ideas.
There are a few good options for me to consider.

 

[Malted]

Whoah a bit of a reality check!
I just read way too many pages of "Fully Automated Brewing System Design, Self milling, mashing, lautering, boiling, hop adds, chill, ferment" and despite being rather amusing, it did make me look at my behaviour. Newby has 'new' idea that has already been done, over complicates it, prattles on about irrelevant stuff, annoys people, asks questions but does not listen to advice - mmmm I am seeing me fit this picture. Prattling on about what I'd researched rather than more about what I had actually done. I get verbal diarrhoea sometimes, thanks for your patience and advice.

BTW this story is not finished yet, there are many suggestions and comments in here that I am aiming to experiement with in future (unspecified time frame) batches.

 

[felten]

This thread is nowhere near as bad as the automated brewing one, not yet anyway....

 

[Malted]

I went to the Lighthouse Tavern and had a sars on Saturday, then went home and had one of mine. Now that my pallet has 'matured', I think I like mine better! Baseline level met! Mine has a little more depth to it.

Good news #2. I finally got to speake with the brewer whilst at the Lighthouse. Collin is a good bloke and gave me a few tips. He says forget molasses and golden syrup. He brews a base of light malt and adds essence in the last two minutes of the wort boil. He said it took him about 20 brews to get it right. He said to add liquid glucose to sweeten it. He gets his essence from Queensland and said he found it by Googling it. Collin was happy to talk about it, unfortunately he was busy serving and I had girls with me who wanted to go somewhere else... didn't get much time to talk to him.

 

[Wolfy]

Good news #2. I finally got to speake with the brewer whilst at the Lighthouse. Collin is a good bloke and gave me a few tips.

Cool, now we can let you perfect the recipe over the next 20 brews and you can keep us updated on what works best.
I'd be interested in brewing some, but have a few other 'experimental' projects. :chug:

 

[fnqbrew]

Craft Brewer sell root beer extract. I recently tried a non-alco version of the #2. Basically threw 2kgs of cheap white sugar, 500grams of CSR golden syrup, and the root beer extract in a bucket and half filled it with hot tap water. Stirred it up, put in a keg, topped it up, chilled, gassed, and was in heaven. I have the gnome brand here to try, too. I wouldn't mind betting CB is the qld source for the brewery..

Good luck with the adventures. I'd be interested to read about how you get on if you keep going.

 

[SuiCIDER]

I'm only new to these forums and haven't seen evidence of it, but you guys don't bottle pasteurise? It's the perfect way to get a sweet fermented product without adding non-fermentable sugars or synthetic sugars... I'm happy to share the method?

 

[BjornJ]

Hi,
yes, wouldn't mind knowing more about how that works.

Do you boil the capped bottles to kill the yeast?

thanks
Bjorn

 

[SuiCIDER]

Well, yeah essentially. It's a bit more complicated. I'll make a new thread on it so people can ask question in there....

EDIT: It won't let me make a new thread, probably because I'm too new. I'll wait overnight and post in the morning.

 

[andy1990]

Has anyone come up with the perfect recipe? please tell

 

[Green-Lobster]

i was given a recipe for sassafras beer whilst living in Hobart . i never tried it but remember a critical stipulation on trunk diamater , it needed to be under or over a certain size as this effected the essential oil, sap, tannin, constituent. im thinking under ,meaning young tree but im not sure.. I shall try to locate it . I like the idea of alco sars and think its well worth a crack . An old german Logger /bushie gave me his secret recipe.

 

[andy1990]

Sounds good! let me know if you find it.

i was given a recipe for sassafras beer whilst living in Hobart . i never tried it but remember a critical stipulation on trunk diamater , it needed to be under or over a certain size as this effected the essential oil, sap, tannin, constituent. im thinking under ,meaning young tree but im not sure.. I shall try to locate it . I like the idea of alco sars and think its well worth a crack . An old german Logger /bushie gave me his secret recipe.

 

[A Hippie That Brews]

Hello All

Try This Extract Zatarain's Root Beer Extract it is a double sars

You can get it here in Australia
http://redbacktrading.com.au/contents/en-us/d60.html

My Alco Root Beer (you would add more extract to increase the sars flavour) SG 1.080 - High 9.5% ABV

Recipe Name Amount
Ingredient 1 Sarsaparilla Root 5 Tlbsp
Ingredient 2 Liquorice Root 3 Tlbsp
Ingredient 3 Star Anise 1
Ingredient 4 Fresh Grated Ginger Root 1 Tsp
Ingredient 5 Cardamom Pod 1
Ingredient 6 Sultanas 10
Ingredient 7 Fresh Lemon Juice 1 Tsp
Ingredient 8 Vanilla Extract 2 Drops
Ingredient 9 Sea Salt 1 Drop
Ingredient 10 Zatarians Root Beer Extract 1/4 Tsp
Ingredient 11 Dextrose 6 Cups
Ingredient 12 Dark Brown Sugar 3 Tlbsp
Ingredient 13 Maltodextrin 4 Tlbsp
Ingredient 14 SN9 Yeast 2 grams
Ingredient 15 DAP Yeast Nutrient 1 Tsp
Ingredient 16 Filtered Boiled Water 4 Litres

Sanitized Equipment
Measuring Spoons, Measuring Cup, Scales, 5 Litre Bucket, Wooden Spoon, Fine Straining Cloth, 5 Litre Demijohn, Bung & Fermentation Lock

Step 1 Combine Sarsaparilla Root, Liquorice Root, Grated Ginger Root, Star Anise, Cardamom Pod, Sultanas & Sea Salt with 500ml of filtered water in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes, let this steep for a further 5 minutes then strain into mixing bucket. Keep Wort and return to saucepan with 250ml filtered water, bring back to the boil and strain to mixing bucket, Repeat this step until you have 3 litres of liquid (ten times) so that all flavour has been released from the Wort, you should see that the colour gets lighter as you go.
Step 2 Add Lemon Juice, Vanilla Extract, Zatarians Root Beer Extract, Dextrose, Dark Brown Sugar & Stir Well.
Step 3 Add 1 Litres Cold Filtered Water & Let Cool
Step 4 Once Cool Add SN9 Yeast & DAP Yeast Nutrient & Stir Well
Step 5 Pour into 5Ltr Demijohn & Add Bung with Fermentation Lock
Step 6 Add Maltodextrin When Bottling with Priming Sugar

 

[andy1990]

That sounds really good! how do you find the finished product? does it taste like bundy sars?

 

[A Hippie That Brews]

Hi Andy

To get it to taste like bundy sars you need to add 1 Tablespoon of extract