I know it is a relatively new kit, but has anyone tried the new Bastard Son Root Beer extract kit on NB? Im curious to how it compares to the Not Your Father’s Root Beer. My wife loves that beer and wants me to make it, but I thought I would check first to see if anyone has made it yet & what their opinion is.
Thanks!
I haven’t brewed that kit but I’ve had a couple people ask me about making a Not Your Father’s Root Beer clone since they know I’m a brewer. Most of what I read about that drink seems to indicate it’s not really a beer. It’s a flavored alcoholic drink. Admittedly I only spent about 15 minutes researching it so I’m no authority.
It’s actually called Bastard Stepson and yes it’s a true beer but with 4 oz of root beer extract added. I doubt this would taste like the “Not your fathers root beer” I do believe Danny is correct and the NYFRB not a really beer but rather a actual root beer with alcohol added. I’m curious about this as well but would hate to brew it and have 5 gallons of something that tastes like a 1/2 a beer that someone poured a 1/2 a root beer into 
Haven’t brewed it yet, but just received “Your Uncle’s Root Beer” from NB. I’m guessing they had another rename issue… The kit contents seem identical.
After a couple years of die-hard AG brewing, this one intrigued me enough to go back to extract. I never had Not Your Father’s but my wife raved after having one while on business travel.
My 5 minutes research seems to indicate the original at least was a traditional beer with flavor added. The creator claims it still is, but since it got popular, it’s now made in the same plant that makes Mike’s Hard Lemonaid, and is associated with the company behind Four Loko. So maybe soda with booze added, maybe not. If that’s all it is though, I’d almost rather take a shot, and chase it with a Barq’s. At least the NB kit is definitely real beer with soda concentrate.
[quote=“jmck, post:4, topic:6955”] I never had Not Your Father’s but my wife raved after having one while on business travel.
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Exactly. No matter what is decided please understand that I never met a person who could drink more than ONE of these. It’s good but SWEET. It might be around for awhile. Maybe look into a half batch…
Can’t remember per se but I thought I read somewhere that it was beer brewed with root beer spices.
I second this. My buddy picked up a six pack and we each had one, and it was ok. Never had another and I believe my buddy still has the two remaining from the original sixer in the fridge months later. I feel like making a 5 gallon batch would be risky just because I feel like a lot would go to waste.
Someone gave me one and it’s been in the fridge for about eight months. I’m aging it. If I want root beer I’ll have root beer. I suggest just buy a six for your wife.
Yup totally agree. It’s just root beer with alcohol added if you ask me. It tasted great but 1 is all I can drink. I made a root beer float with it once and it was just OK.
IMO there is no way the Bastard Stepson root beer could possibly be as sweet as the Not Your Fathers RB…there’s just not enough sugar.
The kit has 6 grams of Sucralose. Which should make for nearly kool-aid levels of sweetness. Then there’s the pound of lactose.
Oh well. If she likes it, it’ll be worth it,
nuff said
The recipe says “6 grams sweetener”. Lactose (as in what I just added to my Choc Milk Stout) isn’t that sweet. The NYFRB is just sicky sweet, tastes exactly like an overly sweet root beer to me. I still think this RB from NB won’t be that sweet.
The kit I ordered was delivered yesterday. There is 1lb Lactose (15 min addition) AND the 6 gram package of “sweetener” intended to be added when racking to secondary along with the root beer syrup.
The 6g packet in my kit is labeled “Sucralose” which depending on which site you read is cited anywhere from 300x to 1000x more potent than sugar. It’s the main stuff in Splenda, only Splenda is cut with another, less potent sweetener. Dextrose, maybe; I’m not as sure on that point.
I’m really interested to see how it turns out compared to the Not your fathers RB…please let us know.
Thanks for the insight guys. I went ahead and ordered the kit a few days ago, mainly to experiment with this recipe. I personally like NYFRB, mainly because I don’t view it as a beer itself, but as a sweet alcoholic drink that tastes good. Im interested to see how it turns out.
I’m curious to know how this turns out as well. I have a question on the sucralose. It says 6 grams. I’m not knowledgeable on using artificial sweeteners in brewing. From research I’ve done, sucralose and splenda are one and the same? Each packet of splenda is 1 gram and is equivalent to 2 tsp of sugar in sweetness. So 6g of splenda=12 tsp of sugar. That doesn’t seem like a lot of sweetener for 5 gallons if it is to approach the sweetness of the hard root beers on the market. The reason I’m asking is that I have all the ingredients on hand except for the root beer concentrate and the sucralose. Just wondering if anyone knows how much splenda I would need to use. NB sells the root beer concentrate but I don’t see sucralose listed other than in the kit. Thank for any help.
Not quite. Splenda is only 5% Sucrolose. The other 95% is Dextrose and Maltodextrine. Straight Sucrolose is 320-1000 times more potent than sugar, so they need to cut it with less potent sweeteners in the packets to give a usable volume. Depending on which end of the exteme you believe, 6g of uncut Sucralose is equivalent to 1-5 pounds of sugar. I’m not sure if the bastard has uncut Sucrolose though.
Thanks for the reply. That makes a whole lot more sense. With more searching, I found pure sucralose on amazon. Does anyone know if the sucralose included in the kit is pure?
Thanks
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?
