Old Fashioned Root Beer

In a cup of warm water, dissolve yeast (you can use wine or beer yeast and even bread yeast but champagne yeast gives a better taste). Let stand for 5 minutes or longer to dissolve.

Combine extract with warm water, sugar, and Simply-Stevia Pure Stevia . Stir well to dissolve sugar and Simply-Stevia Pure Stevia . Add yeast mixture. You can taste the mixture to make adjustments to sweetness and flavor.

Sterilize bottles in boiling water. Gently pour mixture into each bottle until 1-2 inches from top. Cap each bottle with caps (follow manufacturer's instructions for preparing caps).

Place bottles in a warm area, 75 to 85°F, for 3 to 4 days. Check carbonation. If carbonation is satisfactory, place in refrigerator to stop carbonation process and to chill the drink. If carbonation is not yet satisfactory, allow to sit in a warm area for another day or two, check carbonation, and if okay, chill. When serving, try not to disturb the yeast that will have settled to the bottom of the bottle. Most people do not like that "yeasty" taste in their beverage.

Experimenting: Most soda pop flavorings can be purchased at any home brewing supply store. This will allow you to try different flavors

and mix them. One favorite is cherry-cola, which is simply a mixture of the cola extract with the cherry extract.

Caution: depending on the temperature, the carbonation process may be faster or slow; so be careful because the bottles could pop if it is too fast. Since the sugar content is low, the carbonation process is limited due to a lack of food for the yeast.

Makes 24 servings.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER SERVING:
4 CALORIES;
TRACE FATS;
TRACE PROTEIN;
1G CARBOHYDRATES

*If you are wondering why there is a need for sugar, the answer is simple. Carbonation is achieved when the yeast turns the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Fortunately, due to the low sugar content and the short carbonation period, the beverage will have virtually no alcohol and lots of bubbles. Also, the yeast will consume the sugar during the process of carbonating the water. Since stevia is not a sugar, the yeast will ignore it and when all of the sugar is consumed, the yeast will die off.