Root Beer

My love for root beer runs deep. As proof, behold my great root beer collection! On this subsection of my blog, I keep a log of every root beer I have tried. It’s a work in progress (I’ve been collecting since the mid 90s and have a lot to retry) and as of 6/16/2026 I have tried 327 different types of root beer so far.

This experiment of posting photos and my critiques was prompted after snagging 43 new bottles all at once in Seattle, hence the lack of reviews/ratings for many that I tried prior, but more are being added as new ones come into my possession so check back again soon! I also have a slew of root beer recipes if you’re interested in more than drinking it.

Looking for recipes that use root beer? Check out my growing list HERE.

MY BIASED RATING SCALE:

1 – Not finishing and pouring down the drain (bad)

2 – Okay but would not buy again (okay)

3 – Pretty good, classic root beer, but nothing exciting (standard/good)

4 – Delicious and worthy (great)

5 – Get your hands off my root beer! (excellent)

Listed in alphabetical order:

# / A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M / N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z

#

1919 Root Beer (can)

• Sweet, vanilla, foamy, mild root beer flavor, flavor doesn’t hang to the end.
• Rating: 3

3 Dachshunds Root Beer

• Slightly dry, zesty, vanilla flavor, like a smoother Barq’s (similar flavor profile).
• Rating: 4

50 West Brewing Company Root Beer (Cincinatti, OH – draft)

• Good amount of carbonation, good fizz and foam, creamy with medium flavor profile, good standby.
• Rating: 3

A

A&W Root Beer

A&W Root Beer Float

Abita Root Beer

AJ Stephans Root Beer

• Mild root beer flavor, vanilla, good foam.
• Rating: 3

AJ Stephans Butterscotch Root Beer

• Nice butterscotch flavor, creamy and smooth, sweeter than normal root beer but not too sweet, not too fizzy.
• Rating: 4

AJ Stephans Sarsparilla

• Dry, low bubbles, no foam, true sarsparilla flavor.
• Rating: 3

Always Ask for Avery’s Root Beer

Always Ask for Avery’s Sarsaparilla

• Flat, can taste cane sugar, sharp tang at the tip of your tongue, mild flavor, kind of watery.
• Rating: 2

Americana Root Beer

• Really sweet, good balance of sasafrass and licorice flavors, caramel and vanilla.
• Rating: 3

Anchor Ginger Root Beer

• More prominent root flavor, tangy, creamy.
• Rating: 4

Antiqology Root Beer

• Kind of fake flavored, vanilla, creamy, medium root beer, mild carbonation.
• Rating: 3

Appalachian Brewing Co.

• Wintergreen is the strongest flavor, mild vanilla, can taste cane sugar, not very root beer-y, fizzy.
• Rating: 3

Archer Farms Sarsaparilla

Ashland-Wooster Drive In (Ashland, OH – draft)

• Make their own, creamy and very vanilla, low carbonation, not a complex flavor, baseline solid root beer.
• Rating: 3

B

Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden Root Beer (Austin, TX – draft)

• Creamy but with a bite, zesty fizz, rich flavor, bit of a nasal anise.
• Rating: 4

Baron’s Sassparilla

• Resembles creamy cola, no foam.
• Rating: 4

Barq’s Root Beer

Barrel Brothers Root Beer

Baumeister Root Beer

• Bite, seltzer water undertone.
• Rating: 3

Bawl’s Root Beer

Bedford’s Root Beer

• Creamy and a bit sweeter due to strong caramel flavor but not too much. Vanilla and a little anise. Fizz on the front but not too fizzy and smooth on the end.
• Rating: 4

Belkin Family Lookout Farm Root Beer

Benny’s Pizza Root Beer (Marysville, OH – draft)

• Creamy, hint of anise, low carbonation
• Rating: 4

Berghoff Root Beer

• Sweet but not too sweet, good root beer flavor with caramel, creamy, smooth.
• Rating: 4

Bickford’s Sarsparilla

F

• Strong anise flavor, taste like cough syrup. Very fizzy.
• Rating: 1

Big Ben’s Root Beer

• Full flavored, tastes like a classic root beer. Fizzy but not foamy.
• Rating: 4

Big Muddy Root Beer

• Sweet but not too sweet, fizzy, good body, not strong vanilla, slightly honey, just a good balanced root beer flavor.
• Rating: 5

Big Top Soda Fountain Root Beer (Austin, TX – draft)

• Creamy vanilla, medium root beer flavor
• Rating: 3

BJ’s Root Beer

• Foamy and fizzy, medium root beer flavor, weak ending.
• Rating: 3

B-K Root Beer Stand (Troy, OH – draft)

• Creamy, kind of reminds me of A&W so a baseline root beer.
• Rating: 3

Black Bear Root Beer

• Little bite, fizzy, medium root beer flavor, weak finish, tastes like Sprecher.
• Rating: 4

Blue Ghost Brewery Root Beer (Asheville, NC – draft)

• Sweet, but not overly so, strong vanilla flavor, slightly caramel, bold, rich flavor, slightly licorice undertone.
• Rating: 5

Blue Sky Root Beer, zero sugar (can)

• Smells like cola, tastes like tonic, pretty much no root beer flavor, and dry awful aftertaste.
• Rating: 1

Blumer’s Root Beer

• Sweet creamy vanilla, flavor mostly on the front weaker on end foamy rather than fizzy, not a strong cane sugar flavor but a slight aftertaste.
• Rating: 4

Boots Beverages Sarsparilla

• Cough syrup undertone, vanilla, weak finish.
• Rating: 2

Boston Tower Root Beer

Boylan Bottleworks

• Can smell the cane sugar, good flavor and creamy vanilla on the front, weak finish
• Rating: 3 (would have been a 4 if the flavor lasted)

Braum’s Root Beer (can)

• Weak flavor, nothing stands out, watery aftertaste, medium fizz.
• Rating: 2

Brewing Tree Beer Co Root Beer (Afton, VA – draft)

• Strong wintergreen, mild vanilla, fizzy not foamy, hard to tell on ice.
• Rating: 4 on ice

Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer

• Strong caramel flavor to start, reminiscent of Werther’s. Sweet, trails at the end.
• Rating: 4

Buckeye Lake Brewery Root Beer (Buckeye Lake, OH – draft)

• Creamy and bold vanilla flavor with a little bite.
• Rating: 4

Bull Dog Root Beer

• Vanilla, sweet, creamy, medium flavored.
• Rating: 3

Bull’s Head Root Beer

• Tastes medicinal. Can’t figure out what it is but something smells/tastes like manure fertilizer. That back of your throat tang. Can’t get past the flavor, bleh no.
• Rating: 1

Bundaberg

Butchertown Soda Root Beer

• Weak flavor, dry, not very sweet. Cane sugar gives a chemical taste.
• Rating: 2

C

Caldera Root Beer, low sugar

• Fake sugar flavor, bitter, dry finish.
• Rating: 2

Capone Root Beer

• Strong root beer flavor, tangy start, creamy finish.
• Rating: 5

Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer

Cardullo’s Root Beer

Caruso’s Legacy Robusto Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, a hint of sharpness mostly from the carbonation, but flat on the end, and kind of leaves behind the flavor you get when you just finished a glass of milk. I’m not crazy, others confirmed.
• Rating: 3

Chansky’s

Cheers Boston (w/o cap)

Cherry Republic Cherry Root Bear “Boom Chugga Lugga“

• Definitely cherry, like cherry cream soda mixed with root beer. Not much carbonation but a little zesty on the tongue.
• Rating: 3

Chili St Road Trip Root Beer, with caramel

• Definitely caramel, fizzy, smooth, little bite.
• Rating: 4

Chowning’s Tavern Root Beer

• Smells like sweet vanilla but doesn’t taste too sweet, standard smooth root beer flavor but more robust, little bite.
• Rating: 4

Chumlee Be Awesome Root Beer

• Spiced root beer, real vanilla, creamy, smooth, foamy, good strong root beer flavor.
• Rating: 4

Cicero Beverage Co. Salted Caramel Root Beer

• Strong caramel smell, very sweet from salted caramel, creamy, like butter beer and root beer had a baby.
• Rating: 4

Columbia Soda Works Sarsaparilla

• Creamy, bit of licorice flavor.
• Rating: 4

Commander Rowe Root Beer (can)

• Flavor somehow does not linger beyond anise, flavor otherwise mild and flat.
• Rating: 2

Coney Island Hard Root Beer

• Dislike the licorice flavor.
• Rating: 2

Cool Mountain Root Beer

Cosmic Dave’s Root Beer Soda

• Little bite/zest but creamy and vanilla at the same time.
• Rating: 4

Cott (w/o cap)

Crater Lake Root Beer

• Bite, hint of vanilla, creamy.
• Rating: 4

Crim City Soda Renegade Root Beer

• Mild, generic flavor. Nothing exciting but not bad.
• Rating: 2

Cult Craft Root Beer (can)

• A little bite, aromatic, wintergreen, caramel, if it were smoother/creamier it would have been a 5.
• Rating: 4

D

Dad-Gum-It! Butterscotch Root Beer

• Creamy, not too fizzy, but weird after taste.
• Rating: 3 (because of the after taste, without it would be a 4)

Dad’s

• Smells spicy, zesty but smooth, stronger wintergreen than most, less vanilla, little dry on the end probably due to the cane sugar
• Rating: 4

Daily Growler’s Too John’s Root Beer (on tap – Columbus, OH)

• They say it’s like Barq’s but without the chemicals which is a fair assessment. Low carbonation, vanilla, medium flavor, anise nasal aroma.
• Rating: 3 (but would have been a 4 if it weren’t so flat)

Dang! Butterscotch Root Beer

• Butterscotch, smooth, creamy.
• Rating: 4

Dang! Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, not too fizzy, good mouth feel.
• Rating: 4

Das Nub’s Belch Krieg Root Beer

• Creamy and smooth, not too fizzy, medium flavor, good not great.
• Rating: 3

Dead World Zombie Soda Root Beer

• Smooth, medium flavor. Tastes like a basic root beer.
• Rating: 3

Dead World Zombie Soda Vanilla Root Beer

• Creamy but very strong syrupy flavor that is a bit much.
• Rating: 2

Death Valley Root Beer

Deerfield Trading Company

Devil’s Foot Root Beer (can)

• Semlsa like medicinal ginger-lemon, tastes like a lemon ginger ale or tea, quite gross.
• Rating: 1

Dog n Suds Root Beer

• Vanilla forward, creamy, a little fizzy, smooth finish.
• Rating: 4

Dominion Root Beer

Dorothoy’s Isle of Pines

Dougie Dog Butterscotch Root Beer

• Caramel, crisp yet creamy due to caramel.
• Rating: 5

Dr. Brown’s Root Beer

• Not a strong flavored root beer.
• Rating: 3

Druthers Black Cow Vanilla Crème Root Beer

Dublin Texas Root Beer

• Very creamy, flavorful, good mouth feel, fizzy bite.
• Rating: 5

E

Earp’s Original Sarsparilla

Elevator Brewery Root Beer (Columbus, OH – draft)

• X
• Rating: 5

Ellicotville Brewing Co. Root Beer

• Definitely taste the cane sugar, zesty bubbles, anise undertone and smells too, mild vanilla,
• Rating: 3

Empire Root Beer

• Tangy with a slight after taste from the cane sugar.
• Rating: 4

Eric’s Famous Energy Root Beer

• Butterscotch, creamy soda flavor, bits floating around (ginseng).
• Rating: 3

F

Fanta

Faygo

Fent’s Old Fashioned Root Beer

• Classic creamy vanilla flavor.
• Rating: 4

Festival Root Beer

• Mild flavor, little bit of vanilla, cant taste cane sugar which is good.
• Rating: 3

Fest Pecan Root Beer

• Definitely pecan flavors paired with vanilla, sharp fizz.
• Rating: 3

Filbert’s Root Beer

• Caramel-vanilla flavor.
• Rating: 4

Filbert’s Pumpkin Root Beer

• Orange color like orange soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, very milk root beer flavor.
• Rating: 2

Fireman’s Brew Root Beer

• Bite like Barq’s with a creamy but dry flavor at the end.
• Rating: 3

Fitz’s

• Creamy vanilla, sweet but smooth, milkd root beer flavor
• Rating: Solid 3

Fiz Root Beer

Fiz ROC City Root Beer

• Is indeed fizzy, medium flavor, medium zesty, you can definitely taste the cane sugar but not too bad.
• Rating: 3

Fizzy Izzy Root Beer

Flathead Lake Monster

Flat Top Pizza Sarsparilla

• Vanilla up front with a licorice finish. Creamy flavor coats the tongue.
• Rating: 4

Food Lion Root Beer

• Mild. No gross aftertaste from sugarcane. Can’t really taste the wintergreen or clove so it has a classic flavor.
• Rating: 3

Foxon Park Root Beer

• Full bodied flavor, rich, creamy, smooth.
• Rating: 5

Freddie’s Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, slightly malt flavor, good body, smooth and not too fizzy
• Rating: 4

Frost Creek Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla and caramel, not too fizzy, great flavor and body.
• Rating: 4

Frostie

• Vanilla and caramel, medium flavor only on the front.
• Rating: 3

Frostie Vanilla

• Much sweet than regular, strong vanilla flavor, caramel, fizzy, like a root beer float in a bottle, or cream soda vibes.
• Rating: 3

Frostop Root Beer

• Anise, creamy, very vanilla, foamy, little sugarcane aftertaste, medium body.
• Rating: 4

Frostop Root Beer (Huntington, WV – draft)

• Flat, caramel, vanilla, creamy, medium flavor. Weird that it’s better bottled.
• Rating: 3

Frostop Imperial Root Beer

• Strong root beer flavor, nutty (like nutmeg), mild vanilla but still creamy, mild honey, good spice level, if flavor lingered more on the end it would be a 5.
• Rating: 4

G

Gale’s Root Beer

Gene Autry Root Beer

• A little bite, very foamy, but less of a root beer flavor.
• Rating: 3

Gene’s Root Beer (IL – draft or cans)

• sweet vanilla, creamy, float vibes, medium flavor.
• Rating: 3

Gene Simmons Money Bag Root Beer

• Dry due to cane sugar but not too overpowering, one of the better ones with cane sugar, creamy vanilla with a slight bite, decent foam.
• Rating: 4

Gianni’s Root Beer

Giant Eagle Market District Premium Craft Soda, root beer flavored soda

• Medium flavor, fizzy, vanilla, no cane sugar after taste.
• Rating: 3

Gibbs Butcher Block Old Fashioned Root Beer

• Fizzy bite but creamy, good body, flavor lingers.
• Rating: 4

Ginseng Up American Classics Root Beer

• Mild ginseng and vanilla flavor, fizzy.
• Rating: 3

Gold Mine Root Beer

• Creamy, medium flavor, with a water after taste.
• Rating: 3

Gold Mine Sarsparilla

• Creamy with a slight bite.
• Rating: 4

Goose Island

Grandpa’s Cheesebarn Old-Fashioned Root Beer

• Good flavor, creamy, mild, and smooth. Tastes like a classic root beer.
• Rating: 3

Grandpa Joe’s Sarsaparilla

• Zesty, taste like sarsaparilla, vanilla finish.
• Rating: 4

Grand Teton Brewing Co. Root Beer

• Classic flavor.
• Rating: 4

Gray’s Brewing Company Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, fizzy, little bite.
• Rating; 4

Gus Dry Root Beer

• Root beer flavored sparkling water, bite, slight after taste, not very sweet (although stated on bottle).
• Rating: 1

H

Hank’s

• Foamy, creamy, medium flavored, little bite.
• Rating: 4

Hansen’s Natural Root Beer (can)

• Vanilla, medium flavor, kind of creamy but a weird tangy aftertaste, ends dry.
• Rating: 2

Health Valley

HEB Root Beer (plastic bottle)

• Very creamy, strong vanilla flavor, rich, fizzy, good balance of creamy and fizzy.
• Rating: 4

Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer

• Creamy, smooth, full flavor with a little bite and foamy (old formula – new formula isn’t as creamy and slightly weaker flavored = 4)
• Rating: Perfect 5

Hippo Size Jumbo Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, great flavor, but a little less carbonated that I would prefer.
• Rating: 4

Hosmer Root Beer

• Rich, creamy, smooth, and a heavy root beer flavor.
• Rating: 5

Hosmer Mountain Sarsparilla Root Beer

• Rich flavor with molasses from the brown sugar, caramel, slightly tangy aftertate.
• Rating: 5

Hummingbird Hill Root Beer

• Flat, smells better than taste, creamy with a little bite.
• Rating: 2

Hummingbird Hill Sarsaparilla

• Flat, tangy, lacking overall (Peabody thought it had a barleywine flavor).
• Rating: 2

I

IBC Root Beer

• Slightly creamy, vanilla-caramel, mild flavor, no bite.
• Rating: 3

Il Forno Root Beer

Indian Wells Brewing Co Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, good body, foamy, mild wintergreen, medium flavor.
• Rating: 4

Iron Heart Root beer (mini can)

• Aromatic, flavorful, strong anise, vanilla, little bite/zest, balanced start to finish.
• Rating: 4

Iron Hill Brewery Root Beer

• Very creamy, smooth, vanilla flavor, rich but not too strong. Not a bitey carbonation
• Rating: 4

Iron Horse Root Beer

• Sweet, fizzy, creamy, vanilla.
• Rating: 4

Ithaca Root Beer

• Medium creaminess with a zesty/anise bite. Flavor doesn’t hang on at the end. Close to my ideal if it stuck around longer.
• Rating: 4

J

J&E Root Beer Stand (Middletown, OH – draft)

• Creamy, kind of reminds me of A&W, so a solid baseline root beer.
• Rating: 3

Jack Black’s Dead Red Root Beer

• Mild licorice flavor, like a Barq’s with bite but a little more flavor.
• Rating: 4

Jackson Hole Buckin’ Root Beer

Jackson Hole Snake River Sarsaparilla

• Creamy vanilla but mild flavor.
• Rating: 3

Jacksonville General Store Root Beer

Jason’s Deli Root Beer

• Mild, sweet, creamy flavor with sharp bubbles.
• Rating: 2

Jimi’s Hey Joy Root Beer

• Mild anise flavor, sharp bubbles, tastes like root beer candy or a vanilla version of Barq’s.
• Rating: 3

Jobs Joe’s Root Beer Float

• Vanilla, not very complex flavored.
• Rating: 3

Joe Wold’s Root Beer

Johnnie Ryan Root Beer

• Strong cane sugar flavor, organic solvent taste on tongue/nose, almost like fake sugar qualities
• Rating: 2

John Wayne Root Beer (Rocket Fizz)

• Strong wintergreen, creamy vanilla aftertaste, mild root beer flavor, fizzy.
• Rating: 4

Jolly Good Root Beer (can)

• Bite, fizzy, medium body, sweet, vanilla.
• Rating: 4

Jolly’s Drive-In (Butler County, OH – draft)

• Good carbonation, medium flavor profile
• Rating: 3

Jones Soda Company Root Beer

• Super sweet, caramel, medium root beer flavor
• Rating: 3

Jones Sunset Sarsaparilla

• Fizzy, cane sugar forward, tangy and a little creamy.
• Rating: 3

Judge Wapner Root Beer

• Slightly flat, creamy, flavor on front but not end.
• Rating: 3

Jugtown Root Beer (NH Private Label Specialties)

• Smells wintergreen but doesn’t taste overly so, vanilla, like creamier Barq’s, medium flavor on the front, mild on end.
• Rating: 3

Jungle Jim’s Root Beer

• Not very fizzy, a little bite/crisp on the front end, creamy vanilla.
• Rating: 4

Junior Johnson

K

Killebrew Root Beer

• Smooth, milder root beer flavor.
• Rating: 3

Kiss Army Root Beer

• Strong vanilla flavor, creamy, not very fizzy.
• Rating: 3

Kroger Private Selection Creamy Ginger Root Beer

• Taste more like ginger ale with a root beer aftertaste – but not a good one. Should be called root beer ginger ale.
• Rating: 1

Kutztown Root Beer

• Mild, tastes like a diet root beer, sweet.
• Rating: 2

Kutztown Sarsparilla

• More fizz than flavor, flat with no finish.
• Rating: 2

L

Labrador Butterscotch Root Beer

• Creamy caramel with a mild butterscotch flavor.
• Rating: 3

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer

• Very sweet, not a strong maple flavor, mild root beer, creamy, vanilla, like a better cream soda.
• Rating: 3

Lift Bridge Root Beer (can)

• Strong black licorice/anise smell, flavor strong but not too much, mild tang aftertaste, foamy.
• Rating: 4

Local Craft 62 Root Beer (Sexton’s Burger Bar Columbus, OH – draft)

• Fizzy not foamy, very flavorful on the front but weak on the end, vanilla.
• Rating: 3

Lost Trail Root Beer

Lost Trail Sarsaparilla

M

Maine Root Beer

Maine Sarsaparilla

Manhattan Special Sarsaparilla

• Smells and tastes like sarsaparilla with a little wintergreen.
• Rating: 4

Marblehead Soda Co. Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, not a bad cane sugar flavor, low carbonation, but still a little bite, good root beer flavor, but finishes weak. Would be a 4 otherwise a solid choice.
• Rating: 3

Margo’s Dark Root Beer

Mason’s Root Beer

• Strong smell, first seems to be caramel but may actually be wintergreen, smells much stronger than it tastes, kind of like cola, slightly fruity, mild root beer, flat (but might be an older bottle from my stash).
• Rating: 2

Mercury Brewing Company

Meyers Ave Red Root Beer

• Bitey, dry, not a typical root beer flavor. Weird after taste, reminds me of a cane sugar after taste.
• Rating; 2

Minnesota North Draft Root Beer

• Mild flavor with vanilla and a slight bite.
• Rating: 3

Minnesota Voyageur Butterscotch Root Beer

• Smells good but tastes burnt and funky.
• Rating; 1

Mission Hard Root Beer

• Tastes like burned caramel or malt.
• Rating; 1

Mom’s Root Beer

• Zestier, bite.
• Rating: 3

Monticello Root Beer

• Tangy and kind of weird cane sugar-flavor but says honey, definitely honey flavor in there too, not a strong root beer flavor.
• Rating: 2

Mug n Bun (IL – draft)

• Vanilla, medium root beer.
• Rating: 4

N

Napa Valley Soda Company

Natural Brew

Natural Bridge St Park Root Beer

• Vanilla forward, creamy, pretty standard, dry end
• Rating: Solid 3

Nello’s Café Root Beer

New Creation Soda Works Root 42 Old Time Root Beer (can)

• Slight anise flavor, fizzy on the tongue but not very carbonated, a little flat. Rich depth of flavor, blend of caramel and vanilla.
• Rating: 4

New York Seltzer Root Beer

• Mild but nice, kind of impressed it’s only seltzer.
• Rating: 3 (for a root beer, 4 as a seltzer)

Norka Root Beer

• Strong caramel flavor, rich, slight anise but just enough to be a good flavor without being gross, creamy end flavor.
• Rating: 4

North Star Craft Soda Root Beer

• Very vanilla, very syrupy sweet like candy, flat no fizz, tastes more like cream soda or a diluted melted root beef float.
• Rating: 3

Not Your Father’s Root Beer Ale

• Creamy vanilla, smooth with spice.
• Rating: 4

O

O-So Butterscotch Root Beer

• Oh so very butterscotchy! Like butterscotch candy melted into root beer. Mild root beer in contrast, cream soda flavor more than root beer, more fizzy than foamy.
• Rating: 3

Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer

• Slightly sweet and mild, flavor does not linger. Kind of leaning towards a cream soda.
• Rating: 3

Oasis Diner Butterscotch Root Beer (IL – draft or bottles)

• Creamy, strong butterscotch flavor, very sweet.
• Rating: 3

Oasis Diner Root Beer (IL – draft or bottles)

• Like a less flavorful Barq’s, fizzy, wintergreen bite, weak finish, if the flavor stayed it would be a good classic.
• Rating: 2

Ohio History Connection Root Beer

• Creamy, smooth, vanilla, good foam, medium flavor. Like a better version of Mug.
• Rating: 3

Ohio Pop Bigfoot Root Beer

• Bites the tongue, but a bit flat for flavor. Not a traditional root beer taste. Dlavor does get more enjoyable as it warms a little.
• Rating: 3

OKC Soda Co Root Beer

• Creamy with a little bite, good bodied flavor, kind of vacant at the end/flavor does not linger on the tongue.
• Rating: 3, but 4 if the flavor had not vanished.

Old Town Root Beer Company Sarsaparilla

Old Town Root Beer Company Root Beer

Olde Brooklyn

Olde Heritage Root Beer

• Bland and no foam.
• Rating: 2

Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer

• Mild but creamy vanilla-molasses flavor with good foam.
• Rating: 3

Ole Red Eye Root Beer

• Smooth vanilla flavor.
• Rating: 4

Olipop Root Beer, sparkling tonic water (can)

• Too much of a fake sugar flavor combined with mostly anise/birch, weak finish
• Rating: 1

Oogave Root Beer

Oogave Sarsaparilla

• Very mild flavor but does linger, fizzy, kind of tangy, dry.
• Rating: 2

Otto’s Root Beer

• Creamy, flavorful, strong vanilla flavor but not too much, just right.
• Rating: 5

Ozark Mountain Root Beer

• Full flavor, creamy with a little bite.
• Rating: 4

Ozell Root Beer Float

• Tastes like a vanilla coke.
• Rating: 2

P

Parlor Root Beer

• Medium root beer flavor, sweet but not too much, strong vanilla.
• Rating: 4

Parlor Butterscotch Root Beer

• Definitely creamy butterscotch and it linger, aromatic, sweet with a little bite.
• Rating: 4

Parson’s Brewing Root Beer (Columbus, OH – draft)

• Tangy, lighter, dry, not creamy.
• Rating: 2

Pearson Brothers Root Beer

• Smells sweet but doesn’t taste super sweet, fizzy, mild root beer flavor, kind of like a faintly root beer flavored coke that had ice melt in it.
• Rating: 2

Pinehurst Brewing Co Root Beer

• Tastes like Barq’s. Kind of tangy, more carbonated than foamy, not a robust flavor.
• Rating: 3

Pirate’s Keg (w/o cap)

Point Premium Root Beer

• Creamy with a little bite, a little malt.
• Rating: 5

Polar Classics Root Beer

• Full flavored, caramel, very creamy, and not too fizzy.
• Rating: 4

Polar Classics Diet Root Beer

Polly’s Pop Root Beer

• Bubby not fizzy, vanilla, slightly tangy maybe from cane sugar, mild root beer flavor.
• Rating: 3

Poppi Prebiotic Root Beer (can)

• Everything about it tastes fake: fake sugar, fake vanilla, fake root beer.
• Rating: 1

Porky’s Drive In (Mansfield, OH – draft)

• Vanilla, creamy with some zest, medium flavor, would prefer a bit strong root beer flavor.
• Rating: Almost a 4

Potosi Root Beer

• Foamy, vanilla, can taste cane sugar more than honey which isn’t great, good body, medium flavor, tiny bit of spice on the end.
• Rating: 3

Q

Quaker Steak & Lube (w/o cap)

R

Rambling Butterscotch Root Beer

• Definitely butterscotch and vanilla but mild otherwise.
• Rating: 3

Rambling Butterscotch Root Beer

• Definitely maple smell and taste, like buttermilk pancakes and maple syrup in a bottle, weak finish, not root beer flavor.
• Rating: 2

Rat Bastard Root Beer

• Sharp but creamy on the end, very fizzy but no foam, cane sugar taste, good classic root beer flavor but nothing special.
• Rating: 3

Reading Draught Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla with a little bite.
• Rating: 4 (Bob said “Like Homer Simpson at a football game it gets a high 4)

Reading Draft Sarsparilla

• Vanilla, medium bodied.
• Rating: 3

Red Arrow Root Beer

Red Ribbon Root Beer

• Tasted good at first but the more I drank it was just okay. Flavor only on the front, dies on the end.
• Rating: 3

River City Root Beer

• Bite, full bodied flavor, rich, creamy, smooth.
• Rating: 5

Rivertown Brewery Root Beer (Middletown, OH – can)

• Creamy, caramel, slight anise flavor, medium body of flavor, medium carbonation.
• Rating: 4

Robust Root Beer

• Mild flavor but good
• Rating: 4

Rock It

Rocket Fizz Root Beer Float

Rocket Fizz Root Beer with Nutmeg

• Definitely nutmeg spiced root beer, creamy, smooth, foamy, good mouth feel/body.
• Rating: 4

Rocky Mountain Root Beer

• Flat, hint of vanilla and anise, smooth, dry cane sugar after taste.
• Ratings: 3

Rohrbach’s Root Beer (Rochester, NY – draft)

• A little anise, caramel flavor, low carbonation but not flat, tiny bite, nice balanced flavor, wish it was a little richer.
• Rating: 4

Rootjack Orange Root Beer

• Doesn’t taste much like root beer, mostly orange and guarana flavor, orange on the front, cola on the back, dry.
• Ratings: 2

Root Naturals Apothecary Craft Soda Root Beer

• Medium baseline root beer flavor with a tiny bit of extra anise, fizzy but not foamy.
• Rating: 3

Route 66 Root Beer

• Fizzy, medium root beer flavor, vanilla.
• Rating: 4

S

Saint Arnold Root Beer

• Good mouth feel, creamy, foamy more than fizzy but still a little zesty bite, dry finish.
• Rating: 4

Sandwich Works

Saranac Root Beer

• Vanilla, creamy, slight tang, balanced root beer flavor, foamy.
• Rating: 4

Sea Dog Root Beer

Serenity Sodas Root Beer & Vanilla Bean

• Sweet vanilla but not too sweet, tastes like cream soda with a hint of root beer, weak on the end,
• Rating: 3

Shasta Root Beer (can)

• Vanilla but with a slight after taste, medium fizz, not sharp, smooth.
• Rating: 3

Shawnee Station Root Beer (Maumee Bay Brewing Co) (Columbus, OH – draft)

• Fizzy, creamy, vanilla, little bite, little anise, good body.
• Rating: 4

Shipwreck Soda “The Nordmeer” Root Beer

Sioux City Root Beer

• Little bite, good carbonation, medium flavor but doesn’t carry to the end, had cane sugar but not a bad aftertaste, vanilla flavor is subtle under the bubbles when cold but more pronounced when slightly warmer.
• Rating: 4

Sioux City Sarsaparilla

• Definitely sarsaparilla, creamy, caramel, full bodied, but medium flavor
• Rating: 4

Sixth City Craft Soda Co Honey Blonde Root Beer

• Tastes like a sweet vanilla cream soda mixed with medium flavored honey root beer, creamy, not much spice.
• Rating: 3

Sky Valley Root Beer

• Mild, crisp, less sweet, slight maple flavor. Taste like root beer that had ice in it but melted.
• Rating: 2

So Duh Rockin’ Root Beer

• Tastes like diet sugar, diet vanilla root beer, foamy.
• Rating: 2

Sparky’s Root Beer

• Mellow wintergreen, creamy, foamy, but with a little bite, good lasting root beer flavor, so good.
• Rating: 5

Sprecher Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, honey. Almost my perfect root beer if it had more bite.
• Rating: 4

Sprecher Caffeinated

• Metallic aftertaste from caffeine, not as vanilla/creamy as the original (sure enough no vanilla on ingredient list), little more anise flavor, still has honey flavor.
• Rating: 3

Sprecher Fire Brewed Hard Root Beer

• Root beer flavor on the front, beer on the end. The transition is strange, sweet to yeasty.
• Rating: 2

Sprecher Maple Root Beer

• Mild maple flavor, creamy, not too fizzy, slight cane sugar after taste, but overall really good.
• Rating: 4

Sprecher Vanilla Root Beer

• Definitely a syrupy sweet vanilla flavor, almost like a strong cream soda was mixed with root beer. Odd flavor on the end, like a candy sweet flavor, maybe the yucca extract? Kind of ruins it for me.
• Rating: 2

Spring Grove Root Beer

Squamscot Root Beer

• Similar bite to Barq’s, no flavor on back end.
• Rating: 3

Steaz Green Tea Soda

Steelhead Root Beer

• Creamy and smooth, not too fizzy. Definitely taste vanilla and a hint of honey.
• Rating: 4

Stewart’s Root Beer

• Fizzy, medium classic flavor, baseline root beer like IBC and Mug,
• Rating: 3

Stone Arch Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla but not a strong root beer flavor, more cream soda.
• Rating: 3

Stone Cellar Root Beer

• Clear color, weak flavor, and a bit flat tasting.
• Rating: 2

Stubborn Classic Root Beer

• Creamy, full flavored, classic (as the name suggests), just the right amount of fizz.
• Rating: 4

Summit Root Beer

• Flat mild flavor with a little bite.
• Rating: 2

Summit (Aldi) Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, medium flavor.
• Rating: 4

Swamp Root Beer

• Tastes like a coke.
• Rating: 2 (as a root beer 3 as a coke)

Sweetie’s Soda Shop Root Beer

• Creamy caramel flavor, slight anise aftertaste, dry finish.
• Rating: 3

Sweetwater Root Beer

• Sweet and creamy vanilla. Good body. Above average root beer.
• Rating: 4

T

The Brew Kettle Root Beer

• Strong dry tangy aftertaste, almost fermented flavor, very weak flavor, could be a bad bottle?
• Rating: 1

The Chubby Bear Root Bear

• Very creamy with a little tang fromthe sugar cane.
• Rating: 3

The Edge Olde No. 43 Root Beer

The Green Turtle Root Beer

• Fizzy but dies, medium root beer flavor.
• Rating: 3

The Pop Shoppe Root Beer

The Root Beer Stand (Sharonville, OH – draft)

• A lot of vanilla flavor, not very carbonated, classic flavor.
• Rating: 3

The Root Beer Stande (Dayton, OH – draft)

• Medium carbonation but fizzy, vanilla flavor and a bit of birch tang/bite.
• Rating: 4

The Soda Fountain at the Floyd Country Store (Floyd, VA – draft)

• Fizzy, little bite, anise, little wintergreen, hard to tell because on ice.
• Rating: 3 on ice

The Three Stooges Wise Guy Root Beer

• Creamy and smooth, thick flavored, but not too strong.
• Rating: 4

Thomas Kemper

Three Notch’d Brewery Root Beer (VA – draft)

• Bitey, very strong wintergreen, mild vanilla, dry cane sugar, kind of medicinal bitter.
• Rating: 2

Tommy Knocker Root Beer

• Strong root flavor with bite
• Rating: 4

Tommy’s Naked Soda

Tower Root Beer

• Slightly creamy, slightly tangy, hint of licorice
• Rating: 3

Town Club Root Beer

• Reminds me of Mug. Creamy malt flavor with a little tang, but the flavor dies on the end.
• Rating: 3

Tractor Soda Root Beer

• Mild but sweet, kind of dry. Made with birch so tastes more like birch beer. Refreshing due to wintergreen.
• Rating: 2

Trader Joes’ Vintage Root Beer

Tree Fort Root Beer

• Tastes more like vanilla coke than root beer.
• Rating: 1 (as a root beer, 3 as a vanilla coke)

Triple XXX Root Beer

• Creamy, sweet
• Rating: 4

Twin Oast Brewery Root Beer (Port Clinton, OH – draft)

• Aromatic, creamy, a little fizzy/bite, wintergreen, good body
• Rating: 5

Tyler the Kid Sarsaparilla

• Creamy, cinnamon finish
• Rating: 4

U

Uncle Mike’s Maple Root Beer

• Tangy initial taste that I don’t enjoy but goes away, aftertaste is good, mild maple, good body, creamy.
• Rating: 3

Uncle Scott’s Root Beer

V

Villa

Virgil’s Root Beer

• Creamy vanilla, like Barq’s but with less bites, slight anise.
• Rating: 3

Virgil’s Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer

• Tangy, more sassafras-y, nutty, nasal licorice flavor. Not as good as I remember it being when I first tried it years ago.
• Rating: 3

W

Waialua Soda Works

Warped Wing Root Beer

• Creamy, little zest from the bubbles but medium carbonation, medium flavor.
• Rating: 3, almost a 4.

Way 2 Cool

Weber Root Beer

• Creamy, vanilla caramel flavor. Not a lot of fizz/foam.
• Rating: Instant 5

Wellfleet Marketplace Root Beer

Whistler Root Beer

• Very sweet, very vanilla, syrupy medicine sweet or rather tastes like melted root beer candy, not very carbonated.
• Rating: 3 but Bob said 2 because it tastes like root beer flavored syrup.

Whistler Butterscotch Root Beer

• All I get is butterscotch, not very root beer flavored at all, may as well be a butterscotch pop, not very carbonated.
• Rating: 3

Whistler Lemon Root Beer

• Not terrible but not a fan of lemon and root beer together, lemon dominates.
• Rating: 2

Whit’s Frozen Custard Old Fashioned Root Beer (Private Label)

• Smells and tastes like a classic root beer, not too sweet, vanilla, a little anise, creamy.
• Rating: Solid 3

Wild Bill’s Root Beer

• Very creamy vanilla.
• Rating: 4

Wild Spur Sarsaparilla

• Caramel, medium flavor, anise.
• Rating: 3

Wisconsin Dells Root Beer

• Vanilla sweet like root beer candy, little aftertaste from the yucca, medium carbonation, nice flavor on the front but simmers out.
• Rating: 3

Wit Beverage Company Chicago Style Root Beer

• Syrupy sweet, creamy vanilla, like a root beer float.
• Rating: 3

X

Y

Yacht Club Root Beer

• Mild flavor, creamy vanilla, smooth and not very fizzy. Tastes kind of like Mug.
• Rating: 3

Yacht Club Sarsaparilla

Yellow Flag Soda Root Beer (Spire’s Social Brewing Co, Columbus, OH – draft)

• Good aromatics, strong creamy vanilla flavor on the front, smooth, fizzy not foamy, wish it had more bite, bite of a cane sugar dryness, weak finish.
• Rating: 3

Z

Zevia Root Beer, zero calorie (can)

• Smells like root beer, definitely has taste and after taste of fake sugar, like a root beer seltzer.
• Rating: 2

Zia Root Beer

• Definitely licorice, dry after taste, good overall flavor, creamy vanilla.
• Rating: 4

Zuberfizz Root Beer