So I was reading in my Root Beer book and I am very, very afraid. It says that the fermentation will continue indefinitely, meaning that once my desired amount of carbonation is reached, I must refrigerate it inderinitely. Is there any way to stop the continued fermentation? I would like to be able to store my root beer and drink it over the months. Why do they say I cant do that when IBC and those manufactured root beers do? Are they carbonated without yeast? Does using yeast mean that I will have to refrigerate it forever? Please help! Im pullin my hair out over this!

Thanks.

That is not true. Yeast fermentation continues until either all the sugar is consumed or the alcohol that the yeast produces kills it (around 12%). I think commercial beer is pasturized to kill the yeast at 3% alcohol.

Name one reason to use yeast instead of using a seltzer bottle. Another option is to add flavor concentrate and sweetener to club soda, which is nothing but carbonated water.

How do I go about pasturizing the root beer?

Commercial root beer is force carbonated in large tanks. No fermentation ever takes place. You can do the same thing yourself at home using a seltzer bottle with a C02 cartridge.

rootbeermonger wrote:

How do I go about pasturizing the root beer?

The definition of pasteurization of beer that I have seen online is this:

Quote:

Pasteurization -- Heating of beer to 60-79(°C/140-174°F) to stabilize it microbiologically. Flash-pasteurization is applied very briefly, for 15-60 seconds by heating the beer as it passes through the pipe. Alternately, the bottled beer can be passed on a conveyor belt through a heated tunnel. This more gradual process takes at least 20 minutes and sometimes much longer.

I haven't tried this (but I'm considering it), but heating my finished root beer in a water bath (stovetop, I'm thinking) to a temperature of about 150°F to 160°F for a half hour or so should pasteurize the root beer. The yeast will be effectively killed off and won't be able to ferment any more of the sugar.

Things that worry me:

1. Most believe that pasteurization of finished beer alters the flavor negatively. I don't know if this will be the case with root beer or not, but I could easily find out by chilling one bottle of carbonated root beer, pasteurizing, then chilling another bottle of carbonated root beer, and then comparing them in a side-by-side taste test.
2. As temperature increases, so might pressure increase. If my bottles are already under pressure, might I encourage them to burst if I put them in a hot water bath on top of a stove?
3. I don't have any real scientific method of determining whether or not my pasteurization process has actually killed the yeast in my homemade brew.
4. I don't know if the bottle caps I'm using will hold a good seal if they're heated to 150°F for a half hour.
5. How will heating my brew affect the flocculation of the yeast? If the flocculation diminishes, will I end up with a yeastier-tasting concoction?

If I become sufficiently brave, I may give this a shot and answer these questions. If it makes it easier to store and enjoy fully-sugared homemade root beer, it might be worth the risk. But until I become brave enough to try this, I'll stick with my Splenda-sweetened variety.

Then again, I don't have a huge pot to put a bunch of bottles of root beer in, so five gallons of root beer might take a good long time to pasteurize. Is it REALLY worth the effort? Maybe, maybe not.

de_boer_man wrote:

rootbeermonger wrote: How do I go about pasturizing the root beer? The definition of pasteurization of beer that I have seen online is this: Quote: Pasteurization -- Heating of beer to 60-79(°C/140-174°F) to stabilize it microbiologically. Flash-pasteurization is applied very briefly, for 15-60 seconds by heating the beer as it passes through the pipe. Alternately, the bottled beer can be passed on a conveyor belt through a heated tunnel. This more gradual process takes at least 20 minutes and sometimes much longer. I haven't tried this (but I'm considering it), but heating my finished root beer in a water bath (stovetop, I'm thinking) to a temperature of about 150°F to 160°F for a half hour or so should pasteurize the root beer. The yeast will be effectively killed off and won't be able to ferment any more of the sugar. Things that worry me: 1. Most believe that pasteurization of finished beer alters the flavor negatively. I don't know if this will be the case with root beer or not, but I could easily find out by chilling one bottle of carbonated root beer, pasteurizing, then chilling another bottle of carbonated root beer, and then comparing them in a side-by-side taste test. 2. As temperature increases, so might pressure increase. If my bottles are already under pressure, might I encourage them to burst if I put them in a hot water bath on top of a stove? 3. I don't have any real scientific method of determining whether or not my pasteurization process has actually killed the yeast in my homemade brew. 4. I don't know if the bottle caps I'm using will hold a good seal if they're heated to 150°F for a half hour. 5. How will heating my brew affect the flocculation of the yeast? If the flocculation diminishes, will I end up with a yeastier-tasting concoction? If I become sufficiently brave, I may give this a shot and answer these questions. If it makes it easier to store and enjoy fully-sugared homemade root beer, it might be worth the risk. But until I become brave enough to try this, I'll stick with my Splenda-sweetened variety. Then again, I don't have a huge pot to put a bunch of bottles of root beer in, so five gallons of root beer might take a good long time to pasteurize. Is it REALLY worth the effort? Maybe, maybe not.

I used to work at a brewery (Labatts) in Canada.

As this thread states, the finished bottles are heated to about 150 degrees F to pasturize. This was done in a tunnel and took about 20 min to get through the tunnel. This process also weeded out weak bottles since they broke, often breaking other bottles around them.
Note, in the breweries, the beer has been filtered before bottling so no yeast remains. If you do this with your root beer there will be yeast present.
Also, back in the day, you could drink at Breweries. I have tasted bottled beer before and after it was pasturized. The unpasturized beer was definately better and I am comparing the same batch taking a bottle before and after the pasturization tunnel.

You can't really heat the carbonated root beer or you will drive off the CO2, defeating your purpose. You might be able to open the bottles, filter, and re-bottle. But it's easier just to make what you need and keep it in the fridge.

If you use ale yeast the fermentation should effectively stop once you put it in the fridge.

If you are still worried about it, my understanding from my wine making friends is that adding potassium sorbate or potassium metabisulfate will kill the yeast and prevent it from continuing to ferment. They use it in wine making to kill the yeast so they can keep some of the sweetness in the wine without the yeast continuing to ferment, and so they can bottle it for long periods without worrying about it.

I am planning on trying this as an experiment at some point, since my wine friends have given me packets of these chemicals to use to try, but right now I have been force carbonating until I get my recipes right. You can get them at any brew store. If someone here has tried it they may be able to offer advice on this as well.

You're right about the ale yeast. Mine precipitates to a sediment at the bottom of the bottle... kind of a thin layer of yeast snow. I'm sure kids might think it was icky, but if you pour the root beer into a frosted mug like I do, nobody would be the wiser.

Parsa

you cant filter it ,you will loose all youre carbonation.if you use plastic bottles and put them in the fridge you shouldnt have any problems.if you want to use glass and are woried you could fement it put it in fridge or ice bath(the colder it is keeps carbonation in) pop the lids (relieves pressure but you are still carbonated)put a new lid on and it will only slightly repressurize keeping youre carbonation. but you must keep refrigerated. if you use the right amount of yeast and heavey bottle you shouldnt have a problem either,(sparkling juice,or champaine bottles)