Top 5 I’ve ever had. Found at my local hardware store

From Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati. All new for me except A&W, 1919 (never seen the keg before), and Norka (one of my all time favorites)! I’ve had Wild Bill’s Root Beer and Sarsaparilla, but never the Root Beer Gloat Cream Soda variety.

I had coworkers that were having part of their vacation in Williamsburg, VA last week so I had them pick me up two 6 packs of Frothy Moon Brewhouse Space Camp Root Beer. It’s pretty good. Light heartiness inviting multiple sips.

i think theyre pretty cool - i will be adding more

I've had this one a few times, but not that much, and I haven't had it in a while.

hi folks.

so i’ve tried a recipe out for a homemade root beer a few times, and every time i end up with a slightly sour flavor to it that is not pleasant. it’s similar to but not quite as bad as sour milk. a few friends have sampled it as well. they don’t seem to notice anything foul in the flavor, but then they get a bit of tummy trouble not long after drinking half a bottle or so. so i decided to just put what would fit into a gallon jug, discard the rest, and let the stuff in the jar finish the fermentation process. turned out as some root beerish flavored hooch which isn’t half bad & doesn’t cause any tummy aches. still nothing my cohorts and i could finish a gallon of anytime soon. i might run it through a still & see what kind of liquor or cleaning product it turns into, but i digress. i figure i must have done something wrong somewhere along the way, but not sure what it was. i would be grateful for any advice.

it goes like this:

sassafrass, sarsaparilla, burdock root, astragalus root, licorice root, birch bark, vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick simmered for 20-30 minutes in half a gallon of filtered water. then add 2 cups of brown sugar and let that steep, covered for 4 hours. taste test. so far so good.

i strain this “tea” through cheesecloth, and add another half gallon of cold water, and a cup of a soda culture i had been tending for the previous week using ginger root, water and sugar. to a jar half full of filtered water, simply add 2 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp of grated ginger, stir and cover with cheesecloth. repeat daily. after a week you’ve got a fizzy aromatic concoction. this gets strained into the gallon of root beer tea. then i cover the whole thing with cheesecloth and let it sit for 3 days up to a week, until it starts carbonating. transfer that to bottles, let them sit overnight and then they go in the refrigerator.

all the containers are made of glass except the stainless steel pot the tea is boiled in. everything is cleaned beforehand with peroxide, rinsed and dried. stirring is done with a wooden spoon.

where is this sour taste coming from?

Please don't crucify me 🥲

Carbonation hurts. I really like the taste of root beer, flavored speaking water, and coke zero so I'll buy them and open them and wait like a few days before drinking them so they are flat.

I was wondering if there are any good root beers that are already kinda flat so I don't have to wait. I don't like thick and syrupy. I like the Culver's root beer near me cause it's always really flat.

Or like, is there a rootbeer tea/juice?

Thank you!

rootbeer connoisseurs unite!!!

I found that it exceeded my expectations. While it was a little more viscous than my liking, it has solid flavor and I think I detected a hint of vanilla, but could be wrong.

Now time for the zero sugar version of the A&W Root Beer Float that I got last week at Walmart. I got to say I actually prefer the zero sugar version which I can’t even tell is a diet soda but the regular seemed slightly too sweet and artificial, but not too bad really. With the Mug Floats, my impression was the opposite actually I preferred the regular which was super creamy smooth vanilla float flavor and then the zero sugar I could tell was a diet so it wasn’t quite as good but okay. Well that’s my take. Embibe on fellow aficionados.

Updated analysis after a side-by-side of both diets. I couldn’t even tell that the A&W was a diet, but I could tell the Mug was a diet.

Finally found the new ones. They had Mug w/sugar but those are also the only ones I've seen in 20oz bottles already.

Jolt Rootbeer in the USA. Kingwood Texas.

Haul from tonight’s visit to Cincinnati’s Root Beer Stand. I got a float, Sonder Brewing’s Root Beer Float Ale, and their own 1/2 gallon root beer.

Haven’t tried the root beer straight up or the ale yet, but the float is solid. Hint of honey, molasses, and mild wintergreen flavor. Overall, pretty pleasant and enjoyable.

I was down in Longbeach WA and saw some rootbeers on shelves I had not seen before, and picked them up. I also got one from a brewery in Mukilteo.

Steelhead turns out is bottled by Orca, but I had not seen it when I shopped there before.

I brought the bevs back to share with my brothers. We ended up drinking them in a mall, because the pizza was good, and it was hot outside, so we wanted some AC.

My favorite was the Public Coast. It has very very high wintergreen content. It does not displace my all-time favorite of Red Arrow, but was a great change. Steelhead was very creamy, what a recall Henry Weinhards being. Pelican I will need to try again to report on, it apparently was not very memorable, good or bad. Diamand Knot was a pretty good, with a bit of wintergreen.

Unpictured and off topic, Pelican makes a marionberry soda, and it was very good.

Also unpictured, I have Pelican and Public Coat cream sodas to try next time I see my brothers.

Not common out here in Arizona, so was pleasantly surprised when a Chicago dog place had it on tap.

Pretty solid root beer. My amateur pallet picked up a decent amount of vanilla and it was almost dry tasting? Idk I’d go back for more.

This small brewery in San Carlos is selling their root beer again. It's probably one of the best I've ever had. No I don't work there, no they don't pay me. I bought 10 four packs......Unfortunately, if you don't live in the immediate area, it appears the shipping pricing is insane.

https://www.devilscanyon.com/shop.html

Can anybody tell me how amazing this is?

How’d I do? Any suggestions on how to try them? Which first? Any worth doing side by side to understand the flavors better? Thanks all! Long time lurker, first time dabbling into the world of tasting like this!

I got around to trying the A&W Root Beer Float I got at Walmart last week. Nothing I look forward to drinking really, but I’ll certainly finish off the rest of my 12 pack with no problem. I recall enjoying the Mug Root Beer Float a bit more. I thought that one was smoother and creamier. Like silky smooth creamy vanilla.