ROOT BEER LIST
My wife and I enjoy taste-testing root beer. There are 100s of root beers brewed in the US. I have a collection of glass root beer bottles representing most of the brands we have tasted.
If you ever come across a unique root beer (especially in a glass bottle) pass it along … thanks. What is your favorite?
At one time, I had a description of many of these, however it was lost in a PDA computer crash. Descriptions are starting over in 2010.
I enjoy most of them. However, birch beer, a close cousin of root beer can be painfully spicy. And some of the “soda” company root beers are really just soda … not really root beer. And for your information … Barq’s is not root beer – so there Coca-cola!
The biggest debate is in the sweetening – high fructose corn syrup vs. pure cane sugar. Of course we should avoid high fructose corn syrup but for me some of the cane sugar root beers have too strong of taste (or after-taste).
Other ingredients to look for in “real” root beer are: sarsaparilla root, ginger root, licorice, molasses, and vanilla. I am a fan of vanilla and, for me, the licorice flavoring can be too strong in some brands.
As I re-taste-test the root beers on the list I will attempt to keep track of the before mentioned aspects.
1. Sioux City Sarsaparilla
2. Steelhead
3. Henry Weinhard’s
4. A&W (on tap)
5. Tommyknocker
6. Sprecher
7. Sioux City
8. Thomas Kemper
9. Stewart’s
10. Bulldog
11. Teddy’s
12. IBC
13. Dad’s
14. Root 66
15. Frostop
16. Kirkland – I was surprised by how good it was
17. Hansen’s
18. Briar’s Premium
19. Frosties
20. Sparky’s Fresh Draft
21. Briar’s Premium Red Birch Beer
22. Trader Joe’s Organic Soda Rootbeer
23. Boylan Brand
24. Steaz Green Tea Soda Rootbeer
25. Mt. Angel
26. Virgil’s
27. Blue Sky Organic
28. Deerfield Trading Company Old Fashioned –Walgreen’s
29. Walgreen’s Classic – surprisingly good.
30. Etna - from Etna, CA.
31. Sarsaparilla Rootbeer
32. Natural Brew
33. Jones Soda Rootbeer - just soda.
34. Stewart’s Ginger Beer
35. Frosties (on tap) at Wallery’s Pizza in West Salem
36. A&W – in a bottle, available at many stores. Good, but nothing close to the on tap variety
37. Robinson’s (on tap) at Robinson’s Restaurant in Tigard, OR
38. Stealhead (on tap) at Stealhead Brewery in downtown Eugene, OR
39. 11/09 Bundaberg Australian Root beer – purchased at World Market in a four pack. Made with cane sugar and sarsaparilla. Very sweet with definite sarsaparilla taste. Okay taste
40. 11/09 Old Town Rootbeer Company Premium Micro-brewed Root Beer – purchased at World market. Made with cane sugar. (www.oldtownrootbeer.com) Good taste.
41. 11/09 Old Town Rootbeer Company Sarsparilla Premium Vanilla Cream – purchased at World Market. Made with cane sugar. (www.oldtownrootbeer.com) Good taste.
42. 3/10 Esteban’s Oogavé – “the original agave soda™”. Ingredients include organic agave nectar. Certified organic. Purchased at Market of Choice. (www.oogave.com)
43. 4/10 Rat Bastard – ingredients include high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and other strange herbs. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.skeleteens.com)
44. 4/10 Barrel Brothers – ingredients include high fructose corn syrup. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.applebeer.com)
45. 4/10 Faygo – cane sugar sweetened. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.faygo.com)
46. 4/10 Americana – cane sugar sweetened. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.orcabeverage.com)
47. 4/10 Maine Root – organic cane sugar and spices, Fair Trade Certified? Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.maineroot.com). Good taste, smooth, sweet, and all natural.
48. 5/10 Mug – high fructose corn sugar. (www.Mugrootbeer.com) No distinct flavors. Plastic bottle, purchased at Fred Meyer.