Root Beer Facts Concepts Demonstrated
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What You Will Learn… Acknowledgement of Major Sources The “Green” Root Beer ! George DeBoer Laboratory ! Scientifically, what is root beer? ! David B. Fankhauser ! How can I take a traditional science laboratory ! David A. Katz activity and turn it into a “green inquiry” activity? ! Charlie Papazian ! What are some “green learning” principles? ! RootBeerWorld.com James H. Wandersee Louisiana State University ! How can we make easy, bottle-fermented, ! Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon “green” classroom root beer? Renee M. Clary Mississippi State University ! Steelhead Brewing Company ! How can we make easy, instantly carbonated, “green” classroom root beer? ! Glen Westbroek ! What are some scientific concepts students ! Worldchanging can grasp via their senses from this activity? ! Zatarains (Emile A. Zatarain, Sr.,1889) http://EarthScholars.com Some Biology, Chemistry, & Physics Beer, root beer and health… Root Beer Facts Concepts Demonstrated ! yeast (Fungi) ! Root beer has its roots in beer . ! Root beer comprises about 3% of the US soft ! Beer has been made for about 6,000 years, beginning in ! cane sugar (from photosynthesis) ancient Sumeria, and continuing in Egypt at the time of the drink market. Pharaohs. ! anaerobic respiration ! At soda fountains and drink stations, it is made ! In the old cities of medieval Europe, people did not pay by on-demand dilution of a sweetened root ! carbon dioxide gas attention to sanitation and water supplies were polluted. ! St. Arnold, a Belgian monk who was also a scientist, studied extract with carbonated water. ! ethyl alcohol why rich people lived longer than poor people, and found that rich people drank beer and wine instead of water! Ethyl alcohol ! It was first produced commercially by bottle ! fermentation killed dangerous microbes. St. Arnold then began a tradition of fermentation using sugar, yeast, and root monastic beer brewing for the poor, which continues to this day extract. ! carbonic acid in Belgium (450 kinds). ! dry ice ! It was important to have a very low alcohol beer for an ! It is now produced commercially by pumping everyday water substitute, especially for children. Small beer CO2 into a sweetened, diluted, root extract. ! sublimation was about 2 % alcohol. Eventually, root beer was devised. Making One’s Own Root Beer The “near death” of US root beer Safety Notes Extract from Scratch is Rare ! You could make your own root beer extract according to the following ! Safety glasses or goggles must be worn during this laboratory activity. ! The main bark in root beer, Sassafras recipe from Papazian, Charlie, The Home Brewer’s Companion, Avon Books, 1994. ! If this activity is performed in a science laboratory, all work surfaces must bark was banned by the FDA in 1976 be clean and free from laboratory chemicals. After cleaning work surfaces, it ! This mixture is best carbonated by artificial means. We did not test this due to difficulties in is advisable to cover all work areas with a food-grade paper covering that is because of its constituent chemical obtaining all ingredients. taped in place. Ingredients for 5 gallons of extract (19 L) compound, saffrole, was found to exhibit ! Use only special plastic labware and equipment, stored away from all 3 quarts (2.9 L) brown molasses 2 oz. (57 g) sassafras bark (US government now regards most sassafras as a carcinogen.) sources of laboratory chemical contamination, reserved only for food carcinogenic effects. 2 oz. (57 g) sarsaparilla (woody, shredded) experiments, and cleaned and bleach-sanitized each time this activity is 2 oz. (57 g) wintergreen (herb) conducted. 1/2 oz. (14.2 g) licorice bark of root (woody, shredded) 1 vanilla bean (chopped) ! Sanitizing rinse: use 2 ounces of bleach in 5 gallons of cold water. ! up to 1 lb. (0.45 kg) honey, corn or cane sugar to taste A saffrole-free variety of sassafras bark is Optional flavorings: teaberry, dearberry, checkerberry, boxberry, spiceberry, clove, cinnamon, star anise, ginger, ginseng, juniper berries, ! Use only sturdy (name brand) soda bottles designed for holding a now used, but it has a somewhat weaker and malt extract. pressurized liquid. Bottles should be inspected before reuse. flavor. Acacia bark is also used. Bring two gallons of water to a boil. Add the ingredients, without any honey or sugar, stir, and immediately turn off the heat. Cover and allow to steep for 2 to 4 hours. Strain the mixture and add cold water to a total volume of 5 gallons. Add honey and sugar to taste. Chill and bottle. 1 Affix Printed Color Labels from Old Some Other Botanical Materials Our Brewing Process Root Beers Using Google Image Sometimes Used in Root Beer ! “Dry-funnel-in” 1 heaping cup of table (cane) sugar into a clean 1919 Bundaberg’s Fitz’s ! ginger root cinnamon and empty 2-liter plastic soda bottle (choose sturdy ones). Tommyknockers ! “Dry-funnel-in” Fleischmann’s powdered baker's yeast (1/4 Dad’s A-Treat ! juniper berries honey teaspoon) and swirl/shake it into the sugar for a minute. Frostop ! wintergreen dandelion ! “Funnel-in” Zatarains's Root Beer Extract (1 tablespoon of the Dog n’ Suds Shasta liquid) Old Dominion Saranac ! brown molasses caffeine (Barq’s) ! Add cool, fresh water through the extract funnel to fill bottle, Barrelhead Hires ! birch bark brown sugar allowing a good 1- inch headspace). Abita Mug Frozen Run ! licorice maple syrup ! Cap tightly and swirl for ~2 minutes to mix ingredients well. Hank’s Label. Look at the bottom to see if all the sugar has dissolved. Roundy’s Blue Sky St. Arnold ! vanilla malt extract ! We place the class’ bottles on side within a Coleman plastic Sioux City ! sarsaparilla ginseng cooler. Goose Island Lion Brew ! Store in dark at room temp.(60s-70s F) for 3 to 4 days. (Test Mason’s ! star anise cloves teaberry the bottles--they should resist squeezing—feel “puffy”.) Then, Grandpa Graf’s IBC refrigerate, or ice-down and serve. Frostie Ethyl Alcohol in Root Beer? Dry-Ice-Carbonated Quick Root Beer Yeast is alive! ! You can make and taste this in one period. ! It is good to “proof” your yeast. A WORD ABOUT THE ALCOHOL IN HOME MADE ! This teaches more physical science concepts ROOT BEER than biological ones. ! There are many kinds of brewing yeasts. ! The alcoholic content which results from the fermentation of this root beer was found to be between ! 1 clean, sturdy plastic bucket with tight snap-on Some fermentation-type root beer makers 0.04% or less. It would take 10 bottles to equal 1 bottle cover use champagne yeast! of weak beer. There is actually more alcohol in fresh- ! Add and mix water, sugar, and extract as per squeezed orange juice than in our root beer! the extract bottle directions. ! NOTE: There will be a sediment of yeast ! We would call this amount of alcohol negligible, except ! Add 3 lbs. of dry ice. at the bottom of the bottle, so that the last for persons with metabolic problems who cannot ! Sit on bucket-top for 16 minutes—releasing bit of root beer will be turbid. Decant metabolize alcohol properly, or who follow religious pressure every 4 minutes (“burping”). prohibitions against any alcohol. We recommend the carefully if you wish to avoid this ! Remove top and serve in cups using a dipper. dry-ice method of carbonation for these cases. sediment. Water from the Earth has Inquiry as the touchstone Three Green Principles distinctive, distinguishable qualities for science teachers Water can affect root beer flavor. 1. KNOW THE BACKSTORY: A big part of making good consumer choices involves ! If a single word had to be chosen to knowing where things come from, what's VARIABLES (land waters) describe the goals of US science inside them, and how they got to point of use. educators during the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, ! Balance™ (carbonation) “If you make it, you know it.” it would have to be INQUIRY. (DeBoer) ! Virginality™ (nitrate) 2. THE FOOD LESS TRAVELED…the 100 mile diet, which began with two people setting out ! Minerality™ (tds) to eat only local food for a year to save the ! If there is not an INQUIRING MIND, ! Orientation™ (pH) carbon-based fuel involved in transport and reduce their “ecological footprint.” seeking an answer, solution, explanation, ! Hardness (Ca & Mg) 3. “USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, MAKE IT DO, or or decision, then there is no authentic DO WITHOUT” --a green lesson from our science investigation or meaningful Source: Finewaters website grandparents. Reduce, reuse, recycle. learning. (DeBoer) 2 Some Student Questions More Student Questions… Even more student questions… ! Do bottlers reuse the PET plastic in soda ! What effect does the carbonic acid in ! How can we use sensors to monitor the bottles? carbonated beverages have on tooth enamel— since that’s even in diet drinks? fermentation process in the bottle? ! How are the bottles made? ! Is root-beer-making an example of ! How does the sugar in carbonated beverages biotechnology? ! Does the quality of the water in root beer cause tooth decay? matter? ! Are there other foods besides root beer in ! What is a reasonable serving size for root beer? which we ingest plant bark? ! Are we really drinking an acid (albeit weak) ! Is there alcohol released in making bread too? ! Do bottlers add a preservative to root beer when we drink soda? to extend its shelf-life? Where does it go? Oldest Extant ! Is root beer shelf-life a good thing for a ! Why are the bottles getting thinner? ! How much energy does making your own root Root merchant? For the consumer? ! How do glass bottles compare with plastic for beer save over buying commercial root beer?