Editor's Query

A few years ago, I decided I could eliminate the cost of buying a daily soft drink at work by making my own root beer and storing it in the office fridge. I had a bottle of root beer extract, so all I needed to do was add sugar, yeast and water, heat it awhile, then transfer it to bottles. The instructions said to use bottles with cork stoppers, "such as used for fine wine." My family didn't drink fine wine, but we had some empty three-liter glass jugs with screw-on tops. I thought those would do the trick.

The morning after cooking up my batch, I loaded up a box with six bottles of root beer, put it in the back seat and headed for work. I took the other box to the basement for future use. The root beer tasted creamy and good, and I was quite pleased with myself.

The first bottle exploded when I was in the middle lane of Interstate 95 around Dale City, spewing glass and root beer all over me and the car. I frantically took off my sport coat, threw it over the box and waited for the next yeast-induced explosion. Two more went before I got to work. I quickly called my wife and told her not to go to the basement until she had heard six explosions. Thankfully, by the end of the workday the three bottles remaining in the back seat had gone off, and I could drive home without fear of more fireworks.

Gene Botsford, Washington, Va.

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