It is definitely pure sucralose.
Thanks for confirming. I said earlier in this topic, that the packet was labeled Sucralose, but I double checked and the packet actually just says “Sweetener.”
I knew I read sucralose somewhere though. As it turns out, It is the label on the kit’s box that indicates Sucralose. Of course, my box also indicates the kit is called “Your Uncle’s Root Beer” so changes happen… 
It sounds like a bad Jeff Foxworthy joke. “If your uncle and your bastard stepson are actually the same…”
Brewed it yesterday. I forgot how simple extract brew days can be.
My worry now, is the root beer flavor penetrating my fermenter. I seem to recall people who keg complain after tapping a root beer keg, everything that gets run through the lines after tastes like root beer. This beer’s root beer flavor gets added after fermentation is complete, so I got a couple of weeks to think. I’m wondering if it would be best to actually transfer this batch to my one glass carboy for the flavor addition. Thoughts?
It certainly wouldn’t hurt. What type of material is your fermenter? If its PET plastic (better bottle, bubbler, et. al.) I wouldn’t worry about it but if its a bucket, which is more porous, I could see it possibly being an issue.
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Primary is a bucket. So it looks like I should transfer. For secondary I have some choices. My one glass bottle is a big mouth, but it’s one heavy sumbitch. (My one beer gear purchase regret) I do have some better bottles, and plastic big mouths.
What would it taste like if you bought the Sprecher Root Beer Soda Syrup and added some grain alcohol when you kegged it? I assume you boil and cool that and simply keg it once it cools? You could just add a 5th of GA…
I’ll bet you if the truth was known that is how they make that “Not Your Father’s Root Beer”
I’ve had plenty of them, as my wife likes them and I’ll drink anything 
It does taste very sweet, but only has 12g carbs in a 12oz serving…I guess that’s because it’s mostly artificial sweetener. Weird thing is I’m diabetic, and it seems like it affects my blood sugar more than 12g of carbs should, so who knows.
The other thing I notice is that it has a strong vanilla flavor, which is unlike regular root beer as I see it.
I’d be interested to hear feedback from anyone who brews it!
I’ve got a batch ready to be bottled this weekend. Unfortunately, being January my house is 62-65 so I’m probably looking at another month before reasonable carbonation.
I’ll post back when it’s ready.
Try a 20 watt light bulb in a cardboard box for a higher conditioning temperature.
I use a heating pad on low. Works great
I brewed this as soon as the kit was available. It is conditioning in bottles right now but I had to try it. My sample bottle wasn’t quite carbonated yet but It is very good and compares to NYFRB. I didn’t taste them side by side but I’m surprised that is doesn’t taste at all like a beer, even though it starts out as a stout.
Glad to hear the initial reviews are promising. I currently have my batch in secondary and it wont be ready to taste for another 3 weeks. I’m hoping it turns out well, I have friends practically lining up waiting to try this one.
Life got in the way of bottling last weekend. Snowmageddon 2016 meant I couldn’t do much else today, so we bottled.
The flat sample tasted just like a root beer, a DIET root beer.
I’m going to follow this discussion and see what others think of it (i.e. taste, flavor, and ABV) before I think about getting a kit. I’d rather brew AG, but if it’s only available in extract, I guess I’d try it. One question I have, so far, what if you left out the ‘sweetener’ or only use half of what was in the 5 oz pkt? Has anyone tried this to get a less-sweet brew?
TIA
When I was in Billings a couple of months back, I bought a NYFRB, not my favorite, but tasted a lot like the old original root beers (think Triple X, A&W, Dad’s in the '40’s '50’s and '60’s) only sweeter. Those root beers had a distinctive taste and flavor, unlike so much of the root beers of today.
Just recently the truck stop where I’ve been getting my favorite porter, quit ordering my porter and now has something in it’s place called “Best Damn Root Beer” that is soooo sweet it’s like drinking root beer flavored cough syrup! Out of the six that I bought, there are 5 left - not even the wife likes it!
I think I know why it’s so bad, it’s root beer flavored Ale, made in St Louis (probably by guess who??). I’d rather make a hard root beer than have a root beer flavored ale which tastes like it’s been overly backsweetened. Just my 2 centavos
Two weeks in bottles at 67F. Beer is still completely uncarbonated. It’s not unsurprising given the time and temp, but I was hoping we could bring some to a Super Bowl party, and figured no harm in popping one early.
It’s not going to the Super Bowl party.
I drank most of the bottle, but ended up putting the last few swigs down the drain. I then switched to drinking low-grade, boxed pinot grigio,for the evening. It’s now almost two hours later and the nasty “diet soda” aftertaste still lingers in my mouth. To put it into perspective, I switched to Diet Coke years ago, and have reached the point where I now prefer Diet Coke over regular Coke. So I’m very used to diet soda, and this is still an unpleasant level of aftertaste. If you can’t stand diet soda, this recipe is not for you.
I know carbonation bitters sodas so maybe the flavor will improve, but for now I’ll say 6 grams is way too much Sucralose, and perhaps Sucralose is the wrong sweetener. I’m not sure how to fix this recipe, but I will not be brewing this kit again without modification.
Good call
Last night I opened up my first bottle as well. This batch had only been sitting for a week, so I didn’t expect it to be fully carbed, but I was surprised at how flat it was. It tasted good, but like you I found it to be a little too sweet. I plan on letting them sit at least a couple more weeks with the hopes that the carbonation will make it not taste so sugary & heavy. Overall I am fairly happy with the results knowing it isn’t a finished product yet.
Follow up question for those who have brewed this one so far. After letting my batch sit for nearly a month in bottles, I tried another bottle this weekend. To me it tastes like a diet root beer with a slight tart-ness and flat taste. It has carbonated fine, so I am curious if something may have gone wrong with my batch or if others are having the same experience?
Mine never did carb. No idea if I screwed up the priming sugar or not. The wife is already talking about what changes to make “the next time we brew this” I’m hoping she forgets.
If any NB folks are reading, the root beer may be a good candidate for a 1- or 3- gallon kit size. 5 gallons of this stuff is just too much IMO.
