Brew Your Own Root Beer or Soda

Let's say you just got out of rehab and joined a twelve-step program. Or maybe your date has kids and you want to do a family type of activity. Try brewing your own soda instead of beer. It's cheaper and easier than brewing beer, and the kids—as well as the kid in you—will find it an enchanting treat.

COST

A complete root beer-making kit should cost around $55. Or if you already have the bottling equipment, you'll only be out $5 for the ingredients kit. You can also make ginger ale, strawberry or cream soda, orange pop and who knows what else.

WHERE TO ORDER WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Any beer-making homebrew store has what you need to make root beer and soda. See page 18 page for full information.

BEFORE THE DATE—MUST HAVE

You can purchase everything you need at a local homebrew shop or you can order a kit by phone or on the internet. Here is what you will need:

• Bottling Equipment
• Ingredient Kit (flavoring, champagne yeast, sugar)
• Bottles (from the brew store, or collect your own, but not the kind with twist-off caps)
• Water (if it's got a lot of chlorine, use a counter top water fillter, store-bought water or get it from one of those big dispenser machines that are often in front of a supermarket)

TIME LINE

Date 1—Allow 1 hour to get the stuff in the bottles and to cap them.

Date 2 (two weeks later)—They're ready to drink!

BREW TIP

In addition to fillling the glass bottles, fill a one-liter or two-liter plastic pop bottle. When you feel the sides of the plastic container swelling (in about two weeks) you'll know the pop in the glass bottles is ready to drink. Also, soda does not necessarily stop fermenting like beer, so check with the brew store on when you should drink the pop before the lids start popping.