Beer Ingredient

Beer Ingredient - Root Beer, Spruce Beer, Ginger Soda

The essential Beer Ingredients for making Root Beer, Spruce Beer and Ginger Soda drink.

ROOT BEER

1 gallon water 1-1/2 cups molasses 1 tsp. dry yeast 1/2 ounce each of hops, dried burdock, yellow dock, sarsaparilla, dandelion, sassafras and spikenard roots

Wash the herbs and bruise them thoroughly with a potato masher or pastry blender. Cover with the water, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. Strain into a large crock. Add the molasses and cool to lukewarm.

When the mixture is lukewarm, add 1 teaspoon dry yeast and stir. Cover the crock with a cloth and put it in a warm, draft-free place 70-80 degrees F. After 2 hours, pour into clean bottles to within 1/2 inch of the tops. Cap with capper and metal caps, but not corks. Place the capped bottles on their sides in a warm and draft-free spot (70-80 degrees F) for 5 days, then set upright in a cool place. The root beer will be ready to drink in 10 days, but will keep for the whole summer.

SPRUCE BEER

5 gallons fo water 1/8 pound of hops 1/2 cup of dried, bruised ginger root 1 pound of the outer twigs of spruce fir 3 quarts of molasses 1/2 yeast cake dissolved in 1/2 cup of warm water or 1/2 cup of liquid homemade yeast

In a large kettle combine the water, hops, ginger root and spruce fir twigs. Boil together until all the hops sink to the bottom of the kettle. Strain into a large crock and stir in the molasses. After this has cooled add the yeast. Cover and leave to set for 48 hours. Then bottle, cap and leave in a warm place (70-75 degrees F) for 5 days. It will now be ready to drink. Store upright in a cool place.

GINGER SODA

2 gallons of water 2 ounces of ginger root, thinly sliced and bruised with the back of a knife 4 cups of light raw sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 tablespoon cream of tartar 1 cup liquid homemade yeast or 1 yeast cake dissolved in a cup of warm water

Combine in a large pot the ginger, sugar, lemon juice, cream of tartar, yeast and water. Let the mixture stand in a warm place for 24 hours. Line a funnel with cheesecloth and strain the liquid into two clean gallon jugs. Cover them tightly and let them stand overnight. Chill well before drinking.

So, make use of your new found Beer Ingredients.