With an invitation to become an owner of one of their stores adorning the label, this might be the grassrootiest of all root beers.
From Durango, Colorado comes an independent brew with probably the weirdest name yet. Like the other Colorado brew we sampled (Barrel Brothers), Zuberfizz fancies itself a creamy, draft-style root beer. Let's see what else these Rocky Mountain beers have in common.
From the Jackson Hole Soda Co. comes another old west saloon staple: Snake River Sarsaparilla. Will it be pleasing, or will we flush it down the hole?
A small batch, small town, independent brew out of San Luis Obispo, CA, Pithy Little Root Beer is the creation of the Pithy Little Wine Company, who discovered that at their wine tasting events, there was invariably one "pour soul" who didn't drink wine and was stuck drinking water...until they invented their root beer, that is. So let's see how these small time vinters do in the Big Boy world of Root Beer.
In the root beer world, three letters send waves of awe and admiration through thirsty enthusiasts' bones: I... B... C! Dating from the same year as the preeminent and iconic two-lettered brew A&W, in 1919 the Independent Brewing Company out of St. Louis, Missouri, crafted an American brew that is still the darling of legions of fans. We, however, are objective, critical, and as cold as a frozen mug in our reviews, so we'll give you a straight shot of truth when it comes to IBC's true quality.
Arrrrgh, Mateys, we've unearthed us some Pirate Brew. Claiming a vintage from 420 years ago (which is interesting considering root beer was only invented about 130 years ago), this is one of the newer, gimmicky root beers that is trying to sell to the younger crowd by including guarana and caffeine in their brew--two ingredients notably absent from virtually every other root beer on the planet, but ubiquitously found in energy drinks like Red Bull. We're willing to walk the plank and try some.
From West Lafayette, IN, the home of the Purdue Boilermakers, comes a root beer with a tantalizing and intriguing name: XXX, which claims to "make thirst a joy." Will they get three stars from us to match their moniker?
Dad's is an old-time Chicago root beer that dates from 1937. Could this be the brew to redeem the windy city for its slew of disappointing root beers? (e.g. Berghoff's and Filbert's).
Brewed with pure Wisconsin honey right from the combs, Sprecher is gas-kettle fired and ready to drink!
Originally brewed during prohibition, Henry Weinhard's is a gourmet root beer with foam, foam, and more foam to spare! Brewed with sassafras, vanilla, and wild honey, this just might be the tasty treat we've been waiting for!
Thomas Kemper root beer dates from only 1990, but already enjoys a reputation as belonging to the upper echelon of root beers. Brewed with honey, this should be "one honey of a root beer."
We already know that Sioux City root beer is a good, solid beverage...is their sarsaparilla even better? Continuing with the old west theme on the bottle, this claims to be "the grandaddy of all root beers." Let's taste and see if quality is handed down in the Sioux City family tree like a cherished Winchester '77.
It's time to get into the Christmas spirit, and what better way than to enjoy a nice frosty glass of Frostie root beer! With snow and Santa adorning the artwork on the front of the bottle, this is sure to be a delicious yule tide treat!
From the rocky mountains comes a modern root beer that announces what it's shooting for right on the label: "creamy vanilla." So, if you don't like creamy vanilla, stay away. We like all stripes of root beer, so we drank it.
Something about New York root beers makes me hesistant, waiting to expect the worst. Maybe it's the legacy left by Dr. Brown's, but I had to steel myself for Olde Brooklyn and put my prejudice in the back seat. Who knows, maybe I'll be surprised and it'll be great!
Dating from 1926, Filbert's is a Chicago brew from the prohibition era, when George Filbert delievered milk, ice, and coal in a horse-drawn wagon to local homes. Evidently George figured that brewing root beer would be profitable during prohibition, and his secret recipe endures to this day! Let's hope that it's an improvement over that other Chicago brew, Berghoff's, which is disgusting (see review below).
A root beer that dates from 1891, this may be the olde-tymiest root beer on the market! The secret weapon on the ingredients label this time around is Yucca extract, a desert plant used to make soap. So I'm ready to wash my hands clean of my old root beer loyalties and try a taste from centuries ago!
Yeeee Haw! Jackson Hole Soda Co. has delivered a root beer with a kick! Will it kick our love for root beer up a notch, or will we kick it to the curb?
Few root beers brag as much on their label about the quality of their brew as does River City--and they play the nostalgia card big time: "River City Root Beer brings back memories of a time gone by. When the sky was bluer and the clouds whiter and the breeze off the river kept you cooler." etc. etc. Since this stuff is made in Sacramento, their pitch sounds like pure P.R. The test is in the taste.
G'day mates! Today we're sampling a brew from down undah! Can those Aussies compete when it comes to America's national beverage?
Boasting "pure Louisiana cane sugar" on its label, Abita may be the last word in southern comfort.
Rat Bastard root beer encourages its drinkers to "spread your lips and ingest." That's just what we did. Was it a fulfilling experience? Or did we do the walk of shame back to the refrigerator?
John: Unlike other root beers we've tried, Hanks had a very subtle cherry bark flavor that was mild and pleasing. Hanks is not thick and rich, but pleasantly light with fizzy carbonation. Refreshing and tasty, subtle all the way around. ***
With pure cane sugar, organic honey, and extracts of licorice and sassafras root, this promises to be a top notch brew. We need a good root beer to break our losing streak, is this it?
Berghoff's was a famous old time Chicago restaurant that among other things was known for its fresh draft, homemade root beer! While the restaurant is now defunct, the brew survives and is rated highly among many root beer enthusiasts. Today, we see if we can break our losing streak of reviewing medicore bottles and find something to celebrate for a change!
Mason's is an old time Atlanta brew that dates from 1947. We know those southern boys like their tea sweet. What about their root beer?
The first and probably only Hawaiian root beer to make our list, Waialua is a pure Hui tonic marketed to Haolis like us! Brewed with Hawaiian sugar cane and Hawaiian vanilla extract, there's only one thing left to do: Drink it, Kook!
Faygo sodas have enjoyed success and popularity in the midwest for over 100 years. But more importantly to us, in 2009 Bon Appetit magazine named Faygo the best tasting American root beer, profiling it as "dry and crisp, with a frothy head, a good bite and a long finish." This stuff must be good! Let's find out if those food snobs know what they're talking about.
Let's take a moment out from our busy lives to say hello to Whiskey (Boobers), the official Root Beer Cat of routebeer.blogspot.com! 
Dog n' Suds talks a good game, but underneath the facade lurks a thoroughly mediocre root beer. 
So is sarsaparilla root beer or isn't it? Some sarsaparillas are indistinguishable from root beer, and some (like today's subject) don't really taste like root beer at all! In fact, my associate on this blog didn't even want to review it because he didn't think it qualified as root beer. But I convinced him that our legion of fans deserved every shred of information we could provide in this survey, and that view carried the day. 
Okay, back on track after that Dr. Brown's debacle. Sioux City presents itself like something that might be found hiding in an old west saloon, cradled gently in the palm of Doc Holliday or Wyatt Earp as they play a friendly round of Jick, Jack, Jenny, and the Bean Gun. Now we'll tell you what we think, shooting straight from the hip.
Dating all the way back to 1869, Dr. Brown's is a famous New York city root beer! The soda's creator--a pediatrician--originally treated the children in his neighborhood with his own celery-flavored soda before branching out into brewing root beer. But enough of the history lesson, we're concerned with only one issue: How does it taste?
The one. The only. The classic. Two earth-changing events happened in 1919: The Versailles Treaty, and the creation of what would become the most celebrated and famous root beer of all time: A&W. But does it stand time's test? Can it hold its own against the armada of gourmet root beers we have been surveying on this blog? Now is the time to find out.
Sarsaparilla is the afficianado's root beer. And since we're root beer afficianados, we'll sample any sarsaparilla we can find. Today we're going after a Boston Brew: A.J. Stephan's.
An old time root beer that boasts an original recipe from 1947, Fitz's is a classic from a bygone era!
a heavy, black, full-bodied root beer. Allegedly made from "an old New England recipe," you can imagine this being consumed by hearty fishermen along with a bowel of thick clam chowder after a long, hard day at sea. Dense and syrupy, the beverage more closely resembles a hefty stout beer than a root beer.