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Drink

Root Beer

Root beer is a fermented beverage made with molasses, water, sarsaparilla root, sassafras, wintergreen bark, and yeast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Root Beer

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix molasses with water.

  2. Let the mixture stand for 2 hours.

  3. Pour the mixture into a barrel.

  4. Add sarsaparilla root, sassafras, wintergreen bark, and yeast.

  5. Fill the barrel with water.

Ferment and bottle

  1. Ferment for 12 hours.

  2. Bottle the beer.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Supplies sugar that the yeast ferments, and adds sweetness and dark flavor.
Yeast
Ferments the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which gives the beer its fizz.
Sarsaparilla root
Adds its characteristic earthy, aromatic flavor to the beer.
Sassafras
Contributes its distinctive aroma and flavor.
Wintergreen bark
Adds a minty, aromatic flavor.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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