Jeßus wrote:
>
> About a year ago, I looked into making my own 'root beer', and after
> doing considerable research ended up more confused than when I
> started.
>
> No two recipes are the same - and seem to contradict each other one
> way or the other - then there's the small matter of sourcing some of
> the ingredients!

That's because root beer was originally a tonic made from locally
available roots and which species were available varied region to
region. I've tried recipes a couple of times and I had to go to a few
herbalist shops to gather the roots in those recipes.

> Proper Sassafras is likewise banned here in Australia. Impossible to
> find.

In the US it is banned for human consumption. That means it can be sold
for the aroma so it was available at some herbalists for use in popouri.
When I bought it at an herbalist shop the owner glanced at the other
ingredients that I had and asked if I had read the label that it is not
for human consumption. "Oh yes, I read the warning. I want that
sassafras to make some popouri". Before buying it I had spent several
hours in the botany section of the nearest large state university's
library reading up on each ingredient.

Based on the smell I suggest skipping "spikenard" if it's in your
recipe. Near as I can tell that was responsible for the main wierdness
in the flavor of my second batch.

> I *did* find a couple of sources for Wintergreen - but after
> doing some reading on wintergreen... I'm not so sure I want to use it.
> It doesn't seem to take a lot to reach toxicity levels.

I thought wintergreen was just another type of mint and as such not
toxic? Birch beer is a regional drink in the US that has some national
availability. Souix City brand sells in various stores nationwide and
they have okay Birch beer. Otherwise it's regional centered maybe in
Pittsburg. It was available in Niagra Falls when I was a kid and I get
a few bottles of the Souix City brand per year these days.

> I also really wanted to make a big batch in one of my fermenters -
> much like I do with ginger beer, ciders and plain old beer. All the
> recipes I've seen call for brewing it in bottles.

Somehow its fermentation makes also all CO2 and almost no ethanol. I
don't know how much ethanol is actually produced in the brew but it is
below my ability to detect it.