Can't Find Your Answer?
If you're unable to find the answer to your specific question here, please visit our Knowledge Center located on the MR.BEER® Community website.
1. What's the yeast for?
Yeast eats the sugar in the root beer and makes carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide then gets trapped inside the root beer and gives it its "bubbly" personality. If you did not use yeast, your root beer would be flat.
2. Are my bottles going to burst?
The specially designed safety caps were created to prevent the root beer bottles from bursting. When the bottles build up too much pressure, the caps open just enough to bleed off the excess gas. However, if you ever see a bottle begin to bulge, ask an adult to slowly open the bottle to release the pressure.
3. Some bottles have become firm, others have not. What's up?
First, too much sanitizer residue left in your bottles may kill some yeast, making carbonation very slow or impossible. Follow the cleaning instructions carefully and make sure that the bottles are completely empty before filling them with root beer. Second, an uneven distribution of yeast in the root beer mixture may be the cause. This means that one bottle may not have enough yeast to carbonate. Make sure the root beer ingredients are mixed very well and do not let the mixture settle before adding it to the bottles.
4. Why does the time it takes to carbonate the root beer vary?
The root beer will begin to carbonate sooner if the root beer is warmer than 95°F, and later if the root beer is cooler. Also, the air temperature during carbonation will affect the speed at which the bottles become firm. Root beer will carbonate faster in a warm environment and slower in a cooler environment.
5. Why does My Root Beer taste "strange?"
There are two things that may have caused your root beer to have off flavors. If you did not carefully clean all your utensils with the cleanser, you may have a build-up of bacteria, which can cause all kinds of funky flavors to form in your root beer. Make sure you clean everything very well with the included cleanser. Next, if you do not refrigerate your root beer soon enough, the yeast will eat too much of the sugar and cause the root beer to taste bad. Make sure to refrigerate your bottles as soon as they become firm.
6. Why isn't my Root Beer very foamy?
Store-bought root beer is force carbonated and has chemical additives to produce the foam. Mr.Rootbeer® is more traditional, in that it is naturally carbonated and contains no chemical additives. Mr.Rootbeer's recipe produces less foam and bubbles but gives a much smoother, creamier tasting root beer.
7. What happens if I don't refrigerate my Root Beer at the right time?
Refrigerating at the correct time is the most important step in the root beer making process. In short, refrigerating too soon will give you a flat but good tasting root beer, but refrigerating too late will give you bad tasting root beer or bursting bottles!
8. What is that at the bottom of my root beer bottle?
It is inactive yeast, and may be noticeable in every bottle. This is a normal byproduct of the carbonation process, and is perfectly harmless to drink.
9. Am I supposed to have extra yeast?
Yes, you will have leftover yeast when you are finished making all of your root beer. The yeast can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 30 days. Fold and tape package shut.
10. Does my root beer contain alcohol, caffeine and/or gluten?
Yeast produces a small amount of alcohol as a byproduct of the carbonation process. When the Mr.Rootbeer™ instructions are followed, very little alcohol is created and it cannot be tasted.
Your root beer is naturally caffeine- and gluten-free.
