Diet Root Beer?

TronCarter · 08-17-2008, 07:12 PM

I am diabetic so I try to stay away from regular soda. Has anyone had any success making root beer or any other soda without using sugar (sucrose) but have used an artificial sweetener of some sort? Do the soda pop bases that Midwest and others sell contain sugar?

Tron

**BigKahuna** · 08-17-2008, 07:14 PM

Some actually come with a NO Sugar Recipe.
Do you keg...that's easy...you just use Splenda.

To bottle carb....try the recipe in the box....I don't have it in front of me...but I know it's there.

**david_42** · 08-18-2008, 01:58 PM

Soda extracts (the ones in 4 ounce bottles) do not contain any sugar. To bottle carb, prime with just enough sugar for the yeast to generate CO2. One plus, since most of the sweetening can't be fermented, there's little danger of bottle bombs.

One minor problem, which all diet sodas have in common, is reduced mouthfeel.

SiB57 · 08-18-2008, 02:01 PM

I keg and use the Gnome extracts from morebeer and Splenda. Super easy, boil a bag of splenda (10 cups I think) and the package (supposedly you can use half but I like using the whole thing, I think it tastes better) for like 5 minutes, dump in the keg, top off with water and carb. Drinking in about 2 weeks and it's pretty yummy.

It's the only think I make that my wife likes, she doesn't like beer. So one of my 4 taps always has root-beer so that she lets me continue to have the other 3 taps

TronCarter · 08-18-2008, 06:20 PM

So if I understand correctly, it takes 10 cups of splenda? Where do you get such a quantity and how much does it cost?

SiB57 · 08-18-2008, 06:59 PM

I got mine at the grocery store. Walmart had it one time. I think it was 10 cups, it's whatever the big bag of granulated is.

G_Reichow · 08-19-2008, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiB57

I got mine at the grocery store. Walmart had it one time. I think it was 10 cups, it's whatever the big bag of granulated is.

Right, I use the bag marked "equivalent of 5 lbs of granular sugar", easy measure, easy use
1bag splenda
1bag gnome rootbeer
1/2 to 1 lb of honey
1tbsp of vanilla

keg, carb, enjoy, repeat

**david_42** · 08-19-2008, 02:22 AM

How's the mouthfeel with Splenda? Since it's modified sugar, it should be good.

TronCarter · 08-19-2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G_Reichow

Right, I use the bag marked "equivalent of 5 lbs of granular sugar", easy measure, easy use
1bag splenda
1bag gnome rootbeer
1/2 to 1 lb of honey
1tbsp of vanilla

keg, carb, enjoy, repeat

Just curious if you have tried it without the honey. I would like to cut down on sugar / calories as much as possible and still have something that is drinkable.

Hokie · 10-07-2008, 07:06 PM

I rarely browse the soda forums, but when I saw this thread, I had to mention an awesome production called Sweetzfree One drop of the stuff is equal to 1.5 teaspoons and it is the same sweetener as Splenda (sucralose?).
The problem with Splenda, aside from cost, is that they bulk up the sucralose with a couple different carbohydrates (dextrose and something else) which definitely adds calories, especially at the levels we're talking about here (1 cup of Splenda is 96 calories from what I understand). At the teaspoon level, they can claim 0 calories because the FDA lets them label anything under 5 calories as having no calories.
I use sweetzfree all the time in everything from drinks to baked goods and the sweetening power is amazing. I know I sound like a salesman for the stuff...I'm not, I promise.
To solve the mouthfeel issue, maybe you can use xanthan gum or gum arabic? I use xanthan gum all the time in homemade dressings to thicken without using lots of oil, but I've never used gum arabic.