Well a little off topic but this will be fun. My daughter has wanted to make a batch of root beer for a long time. We are putting together a recipe list and trying to make a real good one but I have a question. I have seen some of them with champaigne yeast. Is this needed? any ideas?

Ok, called my LHBS and found out that if we bottle then yes but we are going to keg it. She wants to be able to play like an adult next weekend lol. The recipe that we are going to use looks very simple but it should taste pretty good ( and sweet ).

5 gallons water
5 cups white table sugar
7 1/2 cups brown sugar
5 tablespoons rootbeer extract

Wish us luck!

Yes, my dad used to make it and apparently with the wrong yeast. It was very volatile in the bottle and would explode at the drop of a hat.

I can second the volitility. I have tried two batches of root beer. The first tasted like a swamp and in the second, all the bottles burst. It was frustrating. On the other hand, I've heard of it working. I don't think I kept sanitary enough conditions on that first batch.

Apparently a sister of a friend of a friend of mine is quite succesful with it, so it must be able to be done somehow. But I have heard far more stories of one bottle exploding and making the next one go off, and so on in a chain reaction, and like you said, destroying a whole batch!

If you bottle it you have the use the proper amount of yeast. Then after a few days(says in the kits i sell but i cant remember) the you have to cool it to make the yeast drop out before they overcarbonate it.

Kegging just mix without yeast & toss it in the keg & slap some co2 on it!!

Good luck & let us know how it turns out.