HOMEMADE ROOT BEER SODA

Steps:

• Slice the ginger into thin sections and add them to two cups of boiling water.
• Simmer this on very low heat for 20 minutes.
• While this is simmering, boil the gallon of water and two cups of sugar for one minute and set aside.
• Pour the ginger and liquid into a blender and blend on high for about one minute.
• Pour this blend into the sugar water, through a strainer.
• With a soup ladle, pour a few cups of the hot brew through the remaining pulp to extract a bit more of the ginger flavor.
• Cool to room temperature. When cool, add vanilla, yeast and stir until dissolved.
• Let sit for about 30 minutes.
• Then bottle and age.
• The simplest, safest and least expensive method of bottling is to use one-liter plastic soft drink bottles with screw caps.
• These can be sterilized by rinsing in a mixture of household bleach and water and then rinsed with clean water.
• After filling, the bottles should be set aside at room temperature for about 48 hours, or until hard (check by squeezing).
• Then refrigerate to finish the aging process.
• Leaving the bottles at room temperature too long will cause over carbonation.
• Using glass rather than plastic bottles can cause shattered bottles.
• Another nice feature of the plastic bottles is that they can be re-carbonated if only partially consumed.
• Just let it sit out over night with the cap on and refrigerate it when hard.