Root beer

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:25 pm

Personally I'm fond of Barq's. I love their tagline: "It's Good!". Reminds me of Moxie's, "DRINK MOXIE." A&W is okay, Mug is tolerable.

In the range of microbrewed root beer, Virgil's is IMO the best you can ever find. Go to your local Trader Joe's or co-op or other upscale or community-minded or hippie grocery store and find some if you're a fan of root beer, because it is the greatest, ever. Henry Weinhard's is good too, but Virgil's is superior.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:33 pm

i drink more root beer than any other beverage.

i'm stuck in dorms until the end of this semester, so i'm still on dining hall food. at lunch it's barq's from the fountain. at dinner i often have a&w in a bottle.

barq's is definitely goo. it's crisp and smooth. a&w is more sweet, i think. it's more syrupy. they're both great.

not much of a mug fan. ibc makes some pretty good root beer.

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:05 pm

Tommyknocker.

Bjam · Post by **Bjam** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:51 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer

Root beer is a fermented beverage made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark, nutmeg, anise, and molasses among other ingredients.

Sounds tasty.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:22 pm

or if you drink a&w (or probably any other brand) it's made from carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, caramel color, sodium benzoate (preservative), natural and artificial flavors.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:50 pm

I personally can't drink much out of a can except pepsi, but root beer is incredible if you pour it on ice cream and make it a float. Good stuff. Root beer doesn't have caffeine either.

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:03 pm

Bjam wrote:Root beer is a fermented beverage made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark, nutmeg, anise, and molasses among other ingredients.

Sounds tasty.

What's bread made out of? Ground wheat, water, salt, and a particular strain of single-celled fungi. There's nothing innate about the name of any ingredient that makes it sound good.

jolly roger wrote:Root beer doesn't have caffeine either.

Allegedly, Barq's has caffeine in some markets. Idaho doesn't seem to be one of them. Anything can have caffeine, you just have to add it.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:07 pm

mkilly wrote:
jolly roger wrote:Root beer doesn't have caffeine either.
Allegedly, Barq's has caffeine in some markets. Idaho doesn't seem to be one of them. Anything can have caffeine, you just have to add it.

They lied to me. I've been told so many times that all root beer is caffeine free, so I drink it before I sleep all the time ... but I guess I don't drink Barq's so I might be okay.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:01 am

barq's has caffeine in indiana.

Eric Y. · Post by **Eric Y.** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:04 am

here barq's has caffeine and i'm pretty sure a&w does too. most root beers are indeed caffeine free though. off-topic, i recently discovered that unlike all other orange sodas (that i am aware of), sunkist also has caffeine.

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:15 am

tviyh wrote:here barq's has caffeine and i'm pretty sure a&w does too. most root beers are indeed caffeine free though. off-topic, i recently discovered that unlike all other orange sodas (that i am aware of), sunkist also has caffeine.

not only that, but it has more caffeine than pepsi and nigh on as much as coke.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:37 am

My dad's favorite root beer is:

Dad's

He can't find that brand where he lives and has been obsessed with this root beer so badly that he now orders it by the case from websites and over the phone.

http://www.easycoffee.com/dadsrootbeer.html

He swears by it. He gets IBC to sort of 'cut' his Dad's consumption.

Make it last Dad, make it last.

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:39 am

I love root beer.
I don't think I have any brands to add to the current list, though.
IBC may be my favorite of the "big brands."
-bill

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:02 am

Root beer is so syrupy and sweet it really grosses me out.

But sometimes it's the best thing on a hot day, so go figure.

the Jazz · Post by **the Jazz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:38 pm

IBC all the way. Barq's is the only root beer I've ever found to have caffeine. Ever wonder where they got there original catch phrase, "Barq's has bite?"

jack · Post by **jack** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:59 pm

you want bite, drink a real beer.

a bebop a rebop · Post by **a bebop a rebop** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:32 pm

We're badass now, I guess.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:27 am

jack wrote:you want bite, drink a real beer.

Beer tastes gross and root beer is good. What would you drink?

jack · Post by **jack** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:43 am

a bebop a rebop wrote:We're badass now, I guess.

what do you mean we?

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:47 am

I'd recommend The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten. He explores all sorts of foods, researches social histories, chemical makeup, origins of recipes, and then taste tests current varieties. It's really quite a hoot. There's a chapter on bottled water, and to sum it up, everyone's opinion is shaped mainly by the chemical makeup of our saliva. Water that compliments the salts, acids, etc. in our mouth will taste more "pure" or natural. This changes from person to person, so for instance, I really can't stand Evian, but Poland Spring is mighty fine.

So, arguing in this way over what's the best root beer, or beer, or whatever is sort of...pointless.

a bebop a rebop · Post by **a bebop a rebop** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:13 am

jack wrote:
a bebop a rebop wrote:We're badass now, I guess.
what do you mean we?

I mean basically just you.

the Jazz · Post by **the Jazz** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:19 am

It is a fact that Poland Spring is the only good bottled water that has ever existed. Away with your science and your numbers.