Ello Poppet and Root Beer

On Friday I got a "Contact Us" email from a new fan of the blog inviting me over for his second ever home brew-day. Well, he did not ACTUALLY say he was a fan of the blog, I made that assumption because he did not say anything negative. That, and I am a complete legend in my own mind. Everyone who read the blog must be a fan. Right?

I will try not to let it go to my head when he asks me for my autograph. (That was a joke ... I will TOTALLY let it go to my head)

Getting that email reminded me that I have not brewed in a long time. It happens some times. Things get busy and you just don't get a chance to brew.

I knew that I would have a challenge getting time this weekend as well, but I came up with a scheme (sounded good at the time) that I could wake up at 4 and get a whole all-grain brew day before 10.

Root Beer and Pretzels

We have had the 2nd part of a Mr. Root Beer kit for quite some time without a whole lot of interest from the kids about making it. In fact, I think the last time we did make root beer, I think was back in June of 2009.

But, for some reason, recently Tyler has been asking to make root beer, and this past Sunday, he and I finally did.

Mr. Root Beer Part 2

So, this past weekend, we tried the Mr. Root Beer that we mixed up the previous weekend.

It was good. It was really really good. If you like root beer, you would really like this stuff. I think even if you do not like the mass-produced-soda-company root beers, you may like this one. It is much more flavorful. It is just better than most root beers.

I cannot get Connor to try it. He tells me he does not like root beer. The boy has never tasted root beer. Connor quite frequently says he does not like various foods. Usually, this is before he tries the food. I sort of want him to try the root beer, but not enough to try real hard to convince him. Root beer is, after all, mostly sugar water.

Tyler says he like the Root Beer, really has no point of reference as to how good it is compared to other root beers. And, he is not nearly as excited about drinking the root beer as I thought he would be. He says he prefers Sprite (can you imagine that?)

But, we shared with some people we had over on Saturday for grilled brats and burgers. Everyone who tried it thought it was just awesome. So, the root beer was a success. Too bad the boys do not quite appreciate what good stuff they made. But, maybe that is a good thing. As I mentioned, root beer is mostly sugar water.

Mr. RootBeer

My boys and I mixed up some Mr. Root Beer this weekend. My dad sent us a Mr. Root Beer kit awhile back. We tried to make our first batch back then, but somehow one of the kids (Connor would be my guess) misplaced the actual Root Beer Flavoring bottle. We did not discover this until it was time to add it, and we ended up trying to make it without the root beer flavor. It turned out pretty bad. Basically, root beer without the extract is white sugar and brown sugar water. As it turns out, the extract is the worst part to lose, because the kit came with 2 of everything EXCEPT the extract bottle (one bottle of extract is good for 2 batches).

Since then, I ordered a refill, and we finally got around to "brewing" another root beer batch, this time with the actual Root Beer Flavoring. Carbonation involves a little wine yeast for a couple of days (which means our root beer will have a little alcohol in it, but not much I think). Today, we felt the plastic bottles and decided that they were hard enough to indicate a good amount of carbonation, so we put them in the fridge.

We will probably chill them until this weekend and see how home-made Root Beer (with actual Root Beer Flavoring) tastes.

I'll keep you informed.