Not Your Father's...

[LouieMacGoo]

Interesting article about Not Your Father's Root Beer and other "Boozy Root Beers" that are coming. My daughter brought some home and it does taste just like regular root beer. And I do like root beer.

http://www.ibtimes.com/pulse/hard-root- ... cy-2015755

[Kealia]

Great timing on this. We just tried some from a brewery down in San Diego this past weekend. It was "ok". Definitely smelled and looked like root beer and was great up front - just a bit hot on the finish with almost a whiskey aftertaste which I didn't care for. I'll try others, but this one didn't quite work out like I'd hoped.

[FedoraDave]

Hmm...I'll have to look for this. I like root beer, too.

So does The Bhoy-o, but he's not a drinker of alcohol. Not that I'm trying to corrupt him, but he didn't like the beer I bought him on his 21st birthday, and I think it would be a good thing for him to learn that not all alcoholic drinks are going to turn him into Otis the Town Drunk.

[LouieMacGoo]

The article mentions that the

process is quite complex for an up-and-coming brewer to master

. I don't know that I agree with that statement. I think any good experienced home brewer could figure out how to create a Root Beer brew recipe.

Also Kealia, if you get a chance to try Not Your Father's Root Beer it has no alcohol burn on the back end. I would be hard pressed to pick it over regular root beer as the one with alcohol.

[Kealia]

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for that one and give it a shot if I see it.

[BlackDuck]

This stuff is pretty good. LouieMacGoo is right about having no alcohol burn...this stuff really does taste just like root beer.

[John Sand]

I tried it at the urging of a bartender and a restaurant manager in Lewes De. Really great.

[swenocha]

[beer snob]Not Your Father's was so much better before they sold out to Schlitz/Four Loco and went national[/beer snob]

The current iteration (which hit our market this week) still makes a mean root beer float. The 10%abv version was incredible when I had it last year (or early this year). I wonder if it will make a national appearance...

[swenocha]

Here's a popular homebrew recipe that I intend to do a one-gallon of soon...

Grandpa Willies Hard Root Beer

One Gallon

---Primary---
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz lactose
1 pound light DME
Nottingham Ale Yeast

Boil DME, brown sugar, and lactose with about 4 cups water. Pour in primary. Add nutrient and energizer. Top off. Let cool and pitch yeast. Ferment for 5-7 days. Stabilize (if kegging). Wait another week.

---Before Kegging/bottling---
1 cup sugar boiled in 1 cup water
5 1/2 oz wildflower honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp root beer extract (McCormick)

Boil sugar and add to bottling bucket. Then add honey (warm it so its easier to pour) and the extracts. Let cool and add primary. Pour in Keg or bottles.

If bottling, let carb and put in fridge so the yeast doesn't continue to carb and over carbonate bottles

[MrBandGuy]

How long is the boil?

[alb]

I like root beer, and I like beer, but I didn't care for this. I thought it was too bitter on the finish. I'd rather just have one or the other. I wouldn't turn it down if somebody else was paying for the round, but I won't buy it again myself.

[EFBell351]

I'm guessing many of them are just an alcohol added product like a lot of the other similar items out there like the lemonades, ice teas, "malt base" coolers, smirnoff ice etc.
But on the other hand I could be wrong.