SlashChick's Journal: What's your favorite root beer?

I find myself to be somewhat of a root beer connoisseur. After having tried nearly every root beer on the earth, I have to say that my favorite bottled root beer is probably Henry Weinhardt's. What's yours (bottled or not)? I'm always on the lookout for more good root beer.

gmhowell, I know you brew your own beer -- do you brew root beer, too? If so, I'd love to try some.

Dads.

[irc.goatse.cx troll]

Its been a while since I've had any, So maybe this is the nostalgia talking, but Dads [popsoda.com] rootbeer was always one of my favorites.

Hmmm

[whiteranger99x]

Having only tried a few brands of root beer, I can't really say which one is the absolute best, but if i had to pick, it would be either Barq's or A&W root beer, although Mug is decent.

On that note, can anyone recommend their favorite? :)

IBC

[gmhowell]

IBC rules. Big time.

I've got a few recipes for BYO root beer, but haven't yet tried it. Perhaps this summer? One of the tricks is that carbonation is a little weird. If you toss in yeast, you have to drink it really fast, or the bottles explode. So the odds of shipping some are pretty slim.

Making your own root beer

[Lumpish Scholar]

Look here [realbeer.com] for recipes for root beer, ginger ale, and other non-alcoholic fizzy drinks (plus some alcoholic and super-alcoholic drinks, such as Romulan Ale).

My favorite recipe there (to read, not to follow) is for Nathan's Ginger Beer:

This stuff is dangerous---do not make it. WARNINGS: Use only real champagne bottles, beer bottles will explode. If left out of fridge more than 4 weeks, bottles will explode. Do not leave in fridge more than 4 weeks after bottles start to scare you, otherwise, bottles will explode. Set off outside---corks go 60-70'. Do not let bottles sit around too long---I'm not kidding!

. . . because it has a limited shelf life (after which it explodes), it prompts lots of impromptu ginger beer parties. I call several friends to say "I'm setting off a dozen ginger beers tomorrow afternoon. Wanna come?"

In theory, natural "root" beer is made from sassafras root ... which, sadly, is carcinogenic [google.com]. (There may be debate on the topic, but in any case, sassafras root cannot legally be sold in the U.S.)

Cream Soda

[moncyb]

I'm not a huge consumer of root beer. Though I like A&W. But I love cream soda. It's been a while, mostly because I'm on a tight budget. The best I've had is the real brewed kind. I think the brand name was Steward's.

/me licks lips :-9

Mmmmm... Maybe I should go get some today...and ice cream. :-9

Root beers rated

[willpost]

1. Sioux City Sasparilla - The best root beer i've had. Tastes like you've gone back in time.
2. IBC - A pretty good root beer. Partly because they're only sold in bottles or served in iced mugs at restaurants (Chili's). I only drink the red bottle caps, not the saccharin blue bottle caps.
3. Dad's - has a pretty decent flavor, but don't drink too many. After finishing a case of cans they tasted like wierd chemicals for a month.
4. A&W - Good tasting but can only find in cans or a fast food fountain. If mixed with ice cream it's much tastier.
5. Barq's - In cans they are ok. In fast food fountains it's very difficult to ensure a consistent quality. Might be the lowest rated but is consumed the most since it's found in many fast food places.

Cans, ice, and poorly calibrated fountains will lower the rating and general attitude of the root beer. 1 and 2 stand out the most, the others are kinda mixed together, depending on the quality served.

White Birch Beer

[heliocentric]

I find that that goes really well with chicken, especially hot wings... to me it's just the perfect combo of flavors. However, there isn't a perfect brand I can reccomend other than whatever is on tap at Kauffman's Bar-B-Que chicken north of Rehrersburg, PA.

Can't beat Homebrewed

[Embedded Geek]

Back when I was active in the SCA [sca.org], I had a warband leader who got into homebrewing in a big way (you know the hobby is getting out of hand when you have a kegging system worth more than your car). In addition to a dark that lacked an aftertaste but did cause flashbacks, he crafted what must be the best root beer I've ever tasted. I always thought of it as IBC meets Guiness - but in a good way.

Everyone swore the stuff was at least slightly alcoholic and we actually used that to harass some of our underaged memebers ("No rootbeer for you - have some Stoli's instead"). Naturally, several people claimed this is chemically impossible, but since said "experts" were three sheets to the wind at the time I discount their testimony.

my fav

[agnosonga]

the kind I brew in the basement (or used to)
man I miss our homemade rootbeer, it was good

I have to agree...

[Hal-9001]

...Henry Weinhardt's is the best, but I don't recall seeing it at the grocery store for quite some time now--I'll have to look more closely the next time I go grocery shopping.

You are all mad...

[syrupMatt]

Stewart's root beer (as well as orange creme, key lime, and cherry creme flavors) hands down, #1 best root beer out there. Plus if you are lucky enough to live in a state which has a stewarts restaurant, you can enjoy some of the best chilli chesse dogs this side of an angioplasty.