Guide to Making Old-Fashioned Root Beer

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PHOTO: FOTOLIA/AZURELAROUX
The colonial root beer was a mild brew containing 1/2% to 1 3/4% alcohol. Non-acidic, it was recognized as a healthful drink flavored by roots and barks considered to have certain medicinal values.

Reprinted with permission from the Minnesota Earth Journal.

Root Beer has been a popular soft drink since colonial days when it first appeared among such concoctions as birch beer, ginger beer, spruce beer and sarsaparilla beer. Contrary to present methods of production, the colonial root beer was a mild brew containing 1/2% to 1 3/4% alcohol. Non-acidic, it was recognized as a healthful drink flavored by roots and barks considered to have certain medicinal values.

There are many variations in the formulas and proportions used in making “old-fashioned” root beer.

Here is a Typical  Root Beer Recipe:

A mixture is made by adding 1 1/2 gallons of molasses to 5 gallons of boiling water. This is allowed to stand for three hours.

  • Published on Nov 1, 1971
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