Urw Irl?, Real Life Unreal World Activities.

[Ohnanka]

As regards Rowan berries - I find them sharp/tart but not especially bitter. Not sure if it is a palate thing, or just specifics of the tree/soil, etc.
Still, we'll see!

I do like sharp sour tasting things, though...

[erkka]

Yes, most of the rowan berries are edible as such, and become sweeter when naturally frozen.
And I think that their taste varies from tree to another. I don't know if it is question of soil / conditions, or do they have similar "varietes" as for example apples do.

You can find many kinds of commercially breeded apples, some very bitter, some very sweet. So I see no reason why it wouldn't be something similar occuring naturally in rowans as well.

[Qwerty]

Well, my home brewed root beer turned out delicious, so I'll post the recipe here for anyone interested. I highly recommend it if you can come by the ingredients. It does have a taste reminiscent of root beer soda, but you wouldn't confuse the two. Earthier, stronger tasting, and the fermentation adds its own flavor in there.

So in a pot on the stove go:
1/4 ounce each of sassafras bark, birch bark, sarsaparilla root
1/8 ounce licorice root
grated ginger root, small 1" piece
1 vanilla bean, split open to release the seeds
2 quarts water

Bring this up just to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it sit covered for 2 hours.
Then strain out all the solids, and stir in:
2 more quarts water
2 cups molasses
1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

Let it sit 15 minutes or so, giving the yeast time to start its work and mix in evenly, then you can bottle it. You can use a couple plastic soda bottles, but I used glass canning jars. Just leave a couple inches of space at the top of the bottles to keep the pressure from getting too high. Seal the bottles and let them sit at room temperature for about 12 hours. Then refrigerate them for 2-5 days. With more time it becomes more fizzy, less sweet, and more fermenty tasting, slightly alcoholic even with enough time. I tried one after 2 days and it was still pretty flat. 4 or 5 days was perfect.

Good on its own, and even better with a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream.



Hope someone else enjoys this as much as I did.

[Qwerty]

I guess I'll add a note here about the sassafras bark. There are warnings around not to use sassafras because it is carcinogenic, and it's no longer used in commercial root beer for that reason. But from the bit of research I did it seems like it's only the extracted oils that are a problem, or unless you're using huge quantities of the bark. I left it in. People have been using the bark in herbal teas and beverages similar to this for hundred of years, and the 1/4 ounce of it seems a pretty small amount. But I'm sure it could be left out and substituted with a bit more of the other ingredients just fine.