Malta Soda

Malta is a unique soda that is popular in the Caribbean and parts of Africa. It is thick, malty, sweet, and kind of medicinal tasting. Many people hate it but those of us who like it REALLY like it. There is no other drink quite like Malta. It can be tricky to find in some places and it is often expensive. Luckily it isn't too hard to make.

Although this recipe uses fermentation, the amount of alcohol will be negligible. In fact, due to its rich malty brewed flavor, Malta makes a great substitute for beer for those who can't or don't drink alcohol.

By the way, if you have never made homemade soda before, I recommend starting with something easier like Root Beer or Ginger Beer before moving on to Malta, since it is a little more challenging.

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Step 1: Supplies & Ingredients

Malta is made of water, malt, molasses, sugar and yeast. Any kind of malt should make something similar to Malta, but ideally you want a dark, rich drink. I am indebted to askthebeerguy.com for his recipe, which I modified slightly but used as a guide. Here is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1. About two pounds of Malt, processed.
2. 1 gallon of water
3. 0.6 pounds of molasses
4. 0.3 pounds of sugar (White sugar will work. Brown or Piloncillo sugar are even better.)
5. 1/8 teaspoon of ale yeast (bread yeast will work almost as well.)

Supplies:

1. Large stockpot (not aluminum)
2. wooden spoon
3. kitchen thermometer
4. Large meash strainer
5. bottles and capper

For the malt quantities, I used 1.6 pounds of Pale Malt, 0.3 of Carahell Malt, and 0.1 of Chocolate Malt. The homebrew store near my house measured the quantities and processed them all for me.

See step four for choosing bottles.

manonegra says: Nov 21, 2012. 10:09 AM

Excellent instructable! I am a homemade brewer, and I will try this! In order to stop the fermentation process and avoid bottles explosions you can pasteurize them. This means to put them in a big pan, fill with water (cover the bottles) and heat to boil. Let it boil for 10 minutes or so, and voilá, the yeasts are dead and wont be a trouble for you anymore. After this process you can refrigerate if you like, but in a dark, cold and dry place you can store them for at least 6 months with a reasonable amount of confidence.