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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!pesnta!hplabsb!walker
From: walker@hplabsb.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: Non-Alcoholic Summer Beverages
Message-ID: <2969@hplabsb.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 10-Jun-85 21:07:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: hplabsb.2969
Posted: Mon Jun 10 21:07:26 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 11-Jun-85 08:33:22 EDT
References: <2531@cca.UUCP> <5300@fortune.UUCP>, <666@ptsfa.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
Lines: 40

<>
Has anyone tried making homemade rootbeer?  I happened across
a bottle of extract (McCormick brand) in the store recently and 
have made up several batches so far.  Shopping around, I found
that Hires brand extract is also available.  The process is 
fairly simple:

	1) mix 2 cups sugar, 1 gallon water, 3 tsps. extract
	   in large pot.  add about 1 tsp. of baking yeast,
 	   having predissolved it in a cup of warm water.

	2) fill clean pop bottles to within 1/2 inch of the
	   top with the resulting brew.  cap the bottles
 	   with a bottle-capping press (I got one for $30
	   at the local hardware store... caps are about
	   a penny apiece).

	3) let sit in a warm place for at least 2 days. move
	   to the refrigerator.  when cool, enjoy!

One might think offhand that this would produce an alchoholic
beverage, but it apparently doesn't.  When beer is made, it is
allowed to brew for a time before being bottled.  When making 
rootbeer, the mix is bottled immediately.  Since the yeast makes
CO2 so rapidly, it kills itself off by its own generated pressure
before it can make any appreciable alchohol. (one book I read
said that 60psi is not uncommon ... so don't try using weak 
bottles).  

It turns out to be pretty economical.  Neglecting the cost of 
the bottle capper, it works out to about 10 cents a bottle. 
(20 cents / quart)  

My question is:
Has anyone made any other naturally carbonated drinks along this
line?  How about other flavors? (Say apple juice, sasparilla <sp>,
cherry ... etc.)  Any other tips or suggestions?  How about 
other uses for the bottle capper?

thanks, Rick Walker	(...hplabs!hplabsb!walker@hp-merc)