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 rootbeer? 
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 – (re-taste 3/11). Pure cane sugar. Slight ginger taste? Very good. “The Granddaaddy of All Root Beers”. Purchased from Fred Meyer. (www.siouxcitybeverages.com)
2. Steelhead
3. Henry Weinhard’s
4. A&W (on tap)
5. Tommyknocker
6. Sprecher – (re-tasted 4/16/12) Glucose syrup and WI raw honey (27g). Very good. Honey and vanilla add nice flavor. (www.sprecherbrewery.com) Glendale, WI. Purchased at Market of Choice.
7. Sioux City – (re-tasted 11/10) Pure cane sugar. Slight vanilla flavor. Good. (www.siouxcitybeaverages.com). Purchased @ Fred Meyers.
8. Thomas Kemper
9. Stewart’s
10. Bulldog – (re-tasted 3/3/12) Cane sugar and honey (41g). Smooth taste, with very slight licorice/vanilla after taste. Bought in a soda shop in CA by Curtis and Melissa Gant. “Unleash the Taste.” www.bulldogrootbeer.com
11. Teddy’s – (re-tasted 4/13/12) High fructose corn syrup (31g). Average taste. Unique Beverage Co., Everett , WA. Purchased at WinCo. www.teddyspremiumsoda.com
12. IBC
13. Dad’s – (re-tasted 4/11) High Fructose corn syrup. Very slight spicy taste. Good. “America’s Premium Root Beer.” Purchased at Fred Meyer. (www.dadsrootbeer.com)
14. Root 66 – Pure cane sugar.
15. Frostop
16. Kirkland – I was surprised by how good it was
17. Hansen’s
18. Briar’s Premium
19. Frosties – (re-tasted 12/10) High fructose corn syrup. Good. Purchased at Fred Meyer.
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. Bundaberg Australian Root beer – (11/09) Purchased at World Market in a four pack. Made with cane sugar and sarsaparilla. Very sweet with definite sarsaparilla taste. Okay taste.
40. Old Town Rootbeer Company Premium Micro-brewed Root Beer – (11/09) Purchased at World market. Made with cane sugar. (www.oldtownrootbeer.com) Good taste.
41. Old Town Rootbeer Company Sarsparilla Premium Vanilla Cream – (11/09) Purchased at World Market. Made with cane sugar. (www.oldtownrootbeer.com) Good taste.
42. Esteban’s Oogavé – (3/10) “the original agave soda™”. Ingredients include organic agave nectar. Certified organic. Purchased at Market of Choice. (www.oogave.com)
43. Rat Bastard – (4/10) Ingredients include high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and other strange herbs. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.skeleteens.com)
44. Barrel Brothers – (4/10) Ingredients include high fructose corn syrup. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.applebeer.com)
45. Faygo – (4/10) Cane sugar sweetened. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.faygo.com)
46. Americana – (4/10) Cane sugar sweetened. Purchased @ Pear Delicatessen at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (www.orcabeverage.com)
47. Maine Root – (4/10) 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. Mug – (5/10) High fructose corn sugar. (www.Mugrootbeer.com) No distinct flavors. Plastic bottle, purchased at Fred Meyer.
49. Buckin’ Rootbeer – (11/10) Real sugar. (www.jhsodaco.com) Slight molasses or licorice taste. Okay, not great. Purchased at Fred Meyer.
50. Triple XXX – (11/10) Real sugar. Slight vanilla flavor – no strong flavors. Very good – I like it. Yellow bottle = cool. Purchased at Fred Meyer. “Makes Thirst a Joy”.
51. Snake River Sarsaparilla – (11/10) Real sugar. Licorice flavor, slight mediciny (Lori says I should say “medicinal”) taste. Okay, not great. Green bottle = cool. Purchased at Fred Meyer.
52. Tubz – (1/11) High fructose corn syrup. Okay, tho not good. Purchased at Save-A-Lot (store brand).
53. BigK – (2/11) High fructose corn syrup (30g). Okay, soda-type root beer. Purchased at Fred Meyer (Kroger store brand).
54. __ Hop Valley on tap root beer – (3/11) Good but not spectacular.
55. Trader Joe’s Vintage – (3/11) Cane sugar. Purchased at Trader Joe’s. Actual wintergreen, birch, anise, sassaphras, and tahitian vanilla for flavoring.
56. River City – (1/12) Sugar cane (46g sugars). Purchased at Fred Meyer. Good root beer taste. (www.bluedogbeverage.com). “River City Root Beer brings back memories of a time bone by. When the sky was bluer and the clouds whiter and the breeze off the river kept you cooler. Enjoy doggone good soda pop the way it used to be!”
57. Red Arrow – (3/2/12) Cane sugar (43g), with extract of wintergreen and licorice. No strong flavors. Good tasting rootbeer. From “Michigan, known for authentic root beer flavor. Folklore says the brand was a tribute to the Red Arrow Brigade.” Bought in a soda shop in CA by Curtis and Melissa Gant. www.orcabeverage.com
59. Filbert’s Old Time Quality Draft – (3/2/12) Sugar and or corn sweetner [sic] (41g). Very slight vanilla taste. No strong flavors. Good tasting root beer. From Chicago. Bought in a soda shop in CA by Curtis and Melissa Gant.
60. Bedford’s – (3/3/12) Pure cane sugar (44g). From Port Angeles, WA and bottled by www.orcabeverage.com. Very interesting taste, different, sweet, tasty and good. However, I could not figure out the added flavor. The ingredients list is lacking, there must be more to it. Definitely would drink again. Bought in a soda shop in CA by Curtis and Melissa Gant.
61. Rochester – (4/7/12) On tap at Wallery’s Pizza in West Salem. Last time we ate there they had Frostie’s on tap. Average taste.
62. Crater Lake – (*re-tasted 4/15/12) Pure cane sugar (41g). Okay, nothing special. No head at all — Maybe because it’s made with “sparkling water”? Purchased at Market of Choice. www.craterlakesoda.com. Portland, OR. *We’ve had this before at some point, but forgot to record it.
63. Nice! – (5/3/12) High fructose corn syrup (29g). Just alright. Slight licorice taste. Plastic bottle. Third root beer from the Walgreen Co. Purchased at Walgreens. www.walgreens.com