Daily Archives: December 29, 2002

Progress Report

Posted by on December 29, 2002 Comments Off

Progress Report
Recipie Number: 1.0
Batch Number: 1
Stage: Carbonation
Elapsed Time: 35 hours

After looking up that tidbit about the foam rings, I went down to check the bottles again to see how things are going. The good news is that the foam rings are gone! In it’s place is a very slight ring of what is obviously sassafras sediment. Also, the color is becoming a little more amber than orange and is much less cloudy with some obvious, but few, flecks of sassafras floating around in it. The bottom appears to have developed quite a layer of sediments which look to be mostly yeast and sassafras. Thank goodness for bottle brushes. I think that I’m going to open the first bottle at 8pm (the 45 hour mark) to check carbonation so I have plenty of time to taste and post. I’ve got my big A&W mug in the freezer already so it should be ready for the inaugural tasting. I might have to invest in some more good glass mugs if this goes well.

No tag for this post.

Hmmm….

Posted by on December 29, 2002 Comments Off

[From "Homemade Rootbeer, Soda, and Pop" by Stephen Cresswell (ISBN: 1580170528) page 97]:

“Those who are experienced in making homebrewed beers know that one telltale sign of an infected batch is a ring around the neck of the bottle. While such a ring may also mean your soft drink batch has been spoiled by bacteria or other unwanted nasties, you should recognize that with soft drinks such rings can also be caused by bits of root floating to the top of the bottle, or by floating bits of citrus pulp. Thus, taste will be a better indicator of a bad batch than any ring round the neck of the bottle. Whatever caused the ring, though, be sure to clean the bottle with a bottle brush and then soak in a solution of water and chlorine bleach before brewing again.”

So, those rings could very well be sassafras, especially given how fine some of the bark that I added was. We’ll just have to wait until to tonight to see when I open the first bottle to check carbonation. I’ll keep my fingers crossed just in case though.

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