The Results of the Homemade Root Beer Are In!

   I followed the directions to make homemade root beer from 'Wellness Mama's recipe on her blog. This isn't the type of recipe where you just buy some root beer extract and add it to club soda, like I had been doing. This recipe ends up being a fermented drink, and the carbonation comes from the fermentation.

   Of course, I am skeptical about how fermentation can lead to such great carbonation, but we will see, as this recipe unfolds in my kitchen.

   I filled 2 bottles and a half of another bottle with this probiotic mixture which would lead to authentic root beer, and had it sit on the bottom of the pantry for 2 days. I opened only one bottle to check on the fermentation. I was definitely beginning to ferment, but not much carbonation was there yet. My husband and I tasted it, and he didn't care for the taste. Of course, he is used to the store bought kind, over ice, with a lot of sugar in it. I thought it tasted different, but had potential.

   Two days later, I opened the other two bottles and was surprised at the amount of carbonation in them. It was a good thing I opened them then, because if I would have waited another couple of days, the bottles may have exploded!

   It made a mess which I had to clean up (by the way, if you ever open fermenting bottles, you might want to take them outside). Root beer was everywhere in the area of the kitchen where I opened the bottles. Even the one I opened in the sink was surrounded by root beer covering the counter tops!

   The verdict is in (if I am the judge of the final product!). The root beer tastes authentic, but it must be chilled before you can experience the real root beer test. After it was well chilled, it tasted good, with a lot of other flavors which enhanced the root beer flavor, but it was not very sweet. I cured that by adding some liquid Stevia to it. Now, I take a glass with ice in it, pour some liquid Stevia on the ice, then pour the root beer onto that. Now that is some drink!

   Now, onto learning how to make Ginger Ale, or Ginger Beer. Stay tuned!

* For those interested in the recipe for homemade root beer, go to this site: http://wellnessmama.com/11392/homemade-root-beer/
* There is a problem with the link that goes to making the 'Ginger Bug' so here is the link for that: http://wellnessmama.com/8942/ginger-bug/

Note: You can find many of the ingredients on amazon.com and are listed on the right side of this page. Amazon.com also carries liquid Stevia, which doesn't contain the malto-dextrine or dextrose that the dry Stevia products contain.

Homemade Root Beer. Recipe From 'Wellness Mama'