Brewing question on Bastard Stepson Root Beer

Northern Brewer General
1

Hello all,
I’m new to brewing as well as to this forum. I brewed the Irish Red Ale that came with our master brewing kit and my wife and I are having lots of fun. About a month ago I brewed the Bastard Stepson kit. I chose to not rack into secondary. I just sanitized all of my equipment 4 weeks after brew day and saw that I was supposed to add the root beer extract and sweetener pack after primary. I forgot about this step as I skipped secondary. So, there I was prepping to bottle, with my 50-some bottles sanitized and ready to go, when I read that I still needed to add the root beer extract and sweetener. The instructions say to add the extract/sweetener when transferring to secondary, then allow it to sit for an additional 1-2 weeks.

So, my question is, how long do I need to allow the extract and sweetener to sit before bottling?

I’m sure that if the 1-2 weeks were just for secondary fermentation, the instructions would say to add them after secondary. But, I’m curious if the extract and sweetener really need the full 1-2 weeks, or if the instructions say to add the stuff then just to minimize steps? Any thoughts from brewers more knowledgeable than I on when I can/should bottle?

Thank so much!

Nik

2

I’ve never made this kit, or anything like it, but the extract and sweetner are unfermentable. You can add all this to your bottling bucket with your priming sugar and bottle.

1 Like
3

That is what I thought, but wasn’t 100% sure. Thank you for your response!

4

I made the kit when it first came out. Too much artificial sweetener IMO. It tasted like a diet root beer. I’d reco half the package.

5

Man, I wish I got that bit of info prior to dumping all of it in. After bottling, I tasted a bit that was left over and thought the very same thing!

6

Sorry I was late with that.

This kit was only one of two beer kits I couldn’t choke down. – The other I accidentally contaminated.

I generally prefer diet sodas over sugary, but that artificial aftertaste just lingered.
I even tried the root beer as an ice cream float. Didn’t work for me, but YMMV.