New recipe

when last we left i had made the below (insert down arrow graphic) recipe - but found it had too much of a leafey taste (wintergreen) and not enough licorice (star anise actually - licorise root tastes like tree...) and a bit too much sugar - so here's what we did.

1 oz Licorice root
2 oz Indian sarsaparilla
1 oz Star Anise
1 oz Wintergreen leaves
1.25lbs pure cane sugar
2 GAL water
1tsp champaign yeast

steep 45 min at 180/190

and let me tell you - this one is a winner - i am going to let it steep a little bit longer with the everything except for the wintergreen next time - do 10 min, add wintergreen then 45 min - but man - this one rocks.

Brewing Beer - with a little more root than traditional...

Ok.

So - i like root beer - the microbrew 8$/4pack stuff - and well that's too much money to spend.

sooooooooooo i decided to try to brew it myself - since i used to brew real beer - i thought - hey i'll brew some root beer instead.

well - i didnt want to use an extract because that's just cheating - so i set out to find the perfect root beer recipe...i searched far and wide (ok - i googled it) and got nothing...so i went to my local brew supply store and together me and Random Brewmaster Dude came up with a recipe.

first try...well - it was the first try - we need try again...this time without the boiling - apparantly boiling herbs changes their chemistry and makes them taste like ass.

here's the recipe - the second try went better - but still needs some tweaking (posting the "Tweaked" version without trying it)

1 oz Licorice root
2 oz Indian sarsaparilla
.5 oz Star Anise
2 oz Wintergreen leaves
1.5lbs pure cane sugar
2 GAL water
1tsp champaign yeast

bring water to 180 degrees

throw in all stuff except for the yeast

let it sit on the stove right around 180 for 30 minutes

meanwhile...you need ot re-hidrate the yeast - take 1/2 cup warm water, add 2 tbsp sugar and yeast - mix well and cover lightly - you should see some bubbles appear in the water after 20 minutes or so - if you dont -try different yeast.

once the 30 minutes is up, remove from heat and let cool to anything less than 100 degrees.

add yeast water mixture

stir and let sit for 15 minutes

add to bottles.....

let sit for 36 hours at room temprature - PUT IN REFRIGERATOR.

a word about bottles...i use glass - i am a crazy man.

as the yeast eats the sugar, it produces C02, which is absorbed by the liquid inside (carbonation yippee!!!) problem is, the yeast will keep on truckin - it doesnt care if your bottle is too pressurized, eventually your bottle will explode in a rain of glass shardes if you FORGET TO PUT IT IN THE REFRIGERATOR.

if you're forgetful, use plastic bottles.please.

the coolness of the fridge slows down the fermentation process so no more (or at least a lot less) CO2 is produced.

i'll repost when its ready to drink.

Feature Requirements

Ok. So in light of the obvous issues with the 2008 NCAA bracket i am building out an interactive version for next year so we dont all have to do thins like use the US Post Office (or FedEx for those late comers.

so - i need feature requests so we can develop a project plan.

I will be hosting the applicatoin off of roweprogramming.com.

if its good enough you may invite your friends to use it.

any thoughts on features?