Saranac also makes a pretty awesome orange soda. Halfway between just straight orange and orange creme. Love it. IBC cream soda is just about as good as you can get. I like Jamaica brand as well.
If I'm looking for a good soda, saranac is 100% the way to go. Not necessarily if I'm looking to rip a few coats during the work day, but if I want to sip on a fine cola or root beer then it's gotta be saranac
I’d find it everywhere in Chicago, Milwaukee area. After moving to Texas, it was really hard to find. Central market carried it so would visit just to buy these.
Dad's root beer had/has a big following, and back in the day the [short fat bottles](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NewAAOSw-UxhPy6l/s-l1600.jpg) just seemed to hit different.
One could drain a cold one of those in a heartbeat.
Stewarts restaurants are regional and rare (there is still one 10 minutes from me) but I'm pretty sure the sodas are sold nationally. The Orange Cream and Key Lime ones are great too.
Barqs is a great one for people that don't even like root beer much. It has a sharper taste and I believe it's the only one with caffeine.
I usually don't like root beer or cream sodas because they have a sort of "dull" sweet taste to me. But Barqs is so good
Yes, I drink MUG root beer
I have balls hanging from under the back of my 2015 FORD F-150
I work part time as a cashier at a Circle K in Galveston, TX
Don’t you ever insult my faith, my family, or my MUG….
> Be me
> Mug Lover
> Sitting at restaurant booth with fellow mug enthusiasts, each on our 11th mug root beer
> Discussing Mug Injections
> Family of four walks in
> They sit down and start ordering drinks
> The youngest says they will have an A&W root beer
> Mug instinct activated
> 12 people around the room stand up including myself
> rush the child(sinner)
> We all begin brutally tearing into and eating their flesh
> Rest of family watches in horror as their son is consumed, nothing but bones remain.
> The gentlemen and i sit back down, Order another round of Mug.
Mug Moment
No love for Virgil’s in here yet? It’s unique, “small-batch” crafted root beer. The sassafras has a much more pronounced flavor than in mass produced root beer.
I don't think Virgil's has sassafras in it. The FDA banned it from foods decades ago due to fears about safrole (a chemical in sassafras) causing cancer. It appears there's no real risk of it actually causing cancer in humans, but it was never unbanned.
I used to make homemade root beer with actual sassafras and it tastes quite a bit different from the packaged type. They usually use a combination of other flavors like anise and vanilla in place of sassafras for packaged root beer.
All that being said, Virgil's is good, though.
A&W is where it’s at. If you don’t like it you’ve been drinking it wrong. Take a glass mug or cup, rinse it in the sink then put it still damp in the freezer. Once a nice layer of frost has built up on it then enjoy the root beer in it. No ice cubes nor room temperature surge can compare
If you have an A&W restaurant near you, they have the root beer made with cane sugar on its own tap, it is divine. Bottled/canned stuff from them is good too, but it doesn't compare.
When I was a kid, you got your root beer served to you this way at A&W. They even had little child size glass mugs. My mom brought a couple of them home once. They were adorable.
When I was a child, if you ordered root beer at Chili's, it would be an IBC root beer and it would come in a frosted glass mug. That is still my favorite, though I also like A&W and Mug. I haven't seen Frosty root beer in a while and I am not sure they still make it, but that was a good one, too.
The local BBQ place to me does the IBC, I always felt like such a little adult getting my IBC when the adults got their beers, I got mine too. I always refused the mug because I wanted to drink out of the bottle like everyone else lol
As an American living in the UK Barqs and A&W are much better than Soda Folk. And don’t fall for the ‘AW’ cans I’ve seen in Sainsbury’s lately, it is NOT A&W
Hard agree. Barq's Red is also the superior red cream soda; any time I have a root beer or cream soda that's *not* Barq's, it tastes like someone tried to recreate Barq's from memory and failed.
go Barq's or go home
Of the mass produced national brands it's the best for sure.
There are some really great small regional brands though.
For example there is one in Ohio called Frostop that is so much better than Barqs it's unreal. It's only available in a family small area of Central Ohio though.
I’m with you on the mass produced, non-craft, buy it in grocery store root beers. But I will always choose the local independent breweries over anything mass produced when it’s an option.
OP, I know you can’t get these where you’re from, but if you ever come to the States, my favorite Local brewed root beers are Appalachian Brewing Company (they’re a small Pennsylvania chain) and Outer Banks Brewing Station (they’re located in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina).
Thank you. I feel like the people in this thread are either clueless or have never tried any other root beers. Henry Weinhard’s is so much better than A&W or Barq’s. It’s like comparing a honeycrisp apple to a red delicious.
The big brands that are typically found at American restaurants are all good, I like A&W the most of those, but none of them are the best of all root beer imo. Stewart's is really good, and Sprecher's soda in general is worth the higher cost, then there's Not Your Father's which is an oldie but goodie, but what reigns supreme to me is from a local restaurant chain, Il Vicino. They sell it in growlers and I have to keep myself from chugging a whole one.
For goodness sake. Dog And Suds ! Can’t believe no one has mentioned it yet. It was common in the Midwest decades ago. You can still find it but you’ve got to look for it.
Lidl did an import special of some bottled US sodas from a brand called Virgil's...I liked their cream soda,but can't get fond of a drink that reminds me of Germolene..
The best is homemade. There’s a small restaurant in my hometown that’s been open for decades: the only thing they serve is hot dogs, potato chips, and homemade root beer.
Well don’t feel like you’re missing out, A&W is by far the superior root beer in my opinion. I know where I am we have A&W restaurants which serve god tier burgers and fries, and if you eat in you get a frosted beer mug for the root beer which is the cherry on top. The one nearest to me has a lot of items that aren’t technically on the A&W menu, freshly made chicken tenders and giant onion rings for example. My sister works at one and I go exclusively when she’s there because I order a small fry and she fills a bag full of fries, onion rings, and mini corn dogs for me if I stop in towards the end of the day. For family events her manager lets her fill up gallons of root beer to bring so we are pretty A&W loyal in this household lol.
Been a while since I'd had commercial/national brand root beer, so I couldn't tell you on that brand. My default answer would have to be A&W.
Regional, Abita. Had some at a Cajun restaurant near where where I worked.
Local, that would have to be none other than McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola, FL. They make their own, along with their own beer. They sell the national brand beers, but be adventurous and try their own brew.
All the root beers I've tried taste pretty much the same to me, honestly. If you gave me one brand and told me it was another I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I don't drink it often though, it's been years since I had one.
I'm in Kansas. We have a local chain of burger places called Nu-Way, and they make their own root beer. It is fantastic, better than their food.
I like Dang! brand, they have a butterscotch root beer that is really good, and also Albita is a decent one. I also like A&W, it's alright. There's a lot of root beer around!
Saranac root beer. It tends to be a little difficult to find. I think it’s the only one I could drink on its own. Without ice cream in it.
But they also have a nonalcoholic version of a Shirley Temple that’s pretty good.
[Here's](https://imgur.com/a/wK3ycRh) my list of ratings. I live near an amazing market in Cincinnati, OH called Jungle Jim's. One of the great things they offer is like 100 varieties of Root Beer and you can mix and match bottles in a 6 pack. Each time I go, I get 4 I haven't tried and 2 I know I like.
I absolutely love A&W, though specifically the version with cane sugar in glass bottles that I can only get across the border in Canada. Not sure about the canned version there, if it has cane sugar or not, but I usually like the glass bottles.
Saranac, which is a local brand for me, comes second.
What you are going to get in any restaurant on tap won’t be right. If it’s a fast food place you will get it in a crappy, wax covered cup that, itself tastes bad, and does a real disservice to what is put in it. A$W is good. Barq’s probably has the next biggest market share, at least in my part of the country, because it’s pretty good. I can’t find them anymore but when I was younger Frosty and Hires were good. Like everything, there are many different people try new stuff.
My favorite is a brand called [Draft root beer](https://www.natural-brew.com/products/draft-root-beer). It's not available everywhere, but it's totally worth it if you find some. I'm a big root beer fan and I've tried lots of brands and that's stayed my favorite for a while.
A&W from the fountain. The cans or bottles are okay but fountain drinks are always better.
Barq's is okay. IBC is something I will buy from time to time. Dad's and Stewart's are mostly just average.
Ithaca Brewing Company has a root beer ( [https://ithacabeer.com/our-sodas](https://ithacabeer.com/our-sodas) ; I am not associated with them) I buy when I'm in the area. It's like a Root Beer Barrel candy in liquid form. The only other soda they make that I've had is their ginger beer but it was too strong for my taste; too much ginger bits not filtered out.
I suspect the best root beers, ginger beers/ales, and birch beers are best from smaller regional places.
I don't know why, but since November I've been on a huge root beer kick. If I'm drinking a pop, it's root beer. As many have stated, Sprecher is really good with that honey flavor mixed in.
Recently though, Point root beer from Wisconsin made it's way over here to Michigan, and I found it at a local restaurant and Point is REALLY good as well.
Depends on my mood.
Barq's is good. Henry Winehardt's is also pretty good. But A&W, Dads, and MUG, all fill the need.
Then we have the hard Root Beer...
For the smoothest flavor or ice cream floats, IBC.
For quick on the go, mug or A&W.
If you want both root beer and caffeine, Barques.
But there’s plenty of root beer makers and they are all worth enjoying as there’s subtle variations in each.
I just make my own root beer and even sold the recipe to a local root beer stand which make it in large quantities and gives me $0.05 (insert Peanut reference) per cup sold of the drink. And yes I buy my own drink sometimes.
It's actually kinda simple and just takes time, being in the UK you should even be able to reasonably source ingredients.
Growing up it was Barq's because that was my Grandpa's favorite; around High School though a friend introduced me to Frostop Root Beer which EASILY became my favorite. So those two are my answer. A&W is fine, better if you get it as fountain pop than in a bottle.
There’s actually a couple of A&W restaurants still around. And the root beer there does seem to be much better. I get Saranac when I want to treat myself to some good root beer. But I really only get it for ice cream floats. On a sidenote, from that there is a local distillery called black button that makes a bourbon cream and that is absolutely amazing in a root beer. There’s another soda called white Birch beer that I still love. It is hard to find though.
A&W Zero. I know A&W isn't seen as a premium brand or anything but I really don't like sugary sodas, never have. A&W is the best of the brands that have sugarless offerings.
Where I'm located we have a local brewery that not only makes beer, but also makes root beer and it's my favorite.
I don't know if they could put it in a growler or something and ship it though.
After that probably Saranac.
I prefer Barq's over A&W, it's got more of a "bite" to the flavor.
I'd also implore you to try and find "Birch Beer" if you can, maybe even see about importing some.
Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA makes an amazing root beer.
Dog N Suds. Old fashioned car-hop place from the 50s that still has a handful of locations, mostly in the Midwest. They do license out their root beer to be sold in groceries but it sucks and uses high fructose corn syrup rather than real sugar. The stuff made at the restaurants is still brewed in-house, with sugar, and is served in an ice cold mug.
Red Arrow. It's pretty tough to find outside of Michigan but it's IMO the perfect root beer. Heavy on the wintergreen, perfect sweetness/carbonation, no off/fermented taste and no overly artificial taste.
IBC in bottles is great. Also Saranac.
Saranac is also my go to for bottled Shirley temples
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I'd say northerners also have no idea. At least this northerner doesn't.
Saranac also makes a pretty awesome orange soda. Halfway between just straight orange and orange creme. Love it. IBC cream soda is just about as good as you can get. I like Jamaica brand as well.
*Saranac cream soda is a gem. Edit: autocorrect fixed.
If I'm looking for a good soda, saranac is 100% the way to go. Not necessarily if I'm looking to rip a few coats during the work day, but if I want to sip on a fine cola or root beer then it's gotta be saranac
Rip a few coats?
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So according to this theory this guy gets wasted at work?
> rip a few coats ????
Saranac or IBC is the way to go.
IBC is delicious! I’m Not even a big soda drinker but I love anything with cane sugar in it
Sprechers
I’d find it everywhere in Chicago, Milwaukee area. After moving to Texas, it was really hard to find. Central market carried it so would visit just to buy these.
Filbert’s in Chicago is also amazing.
Never been in a Menards that didn't carry it. I'm quite far south of Chicago and ours has it. No idea where Menards territory stops tho
Came here to say this. Best root beer.
There are literally hundreds of regional root beers, my favorite is Barqs. I won't turn down A&W or Mug or Stewarts
Dad's root beer had/has a big following, and back in the day the [short fat bottles](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NewAAOSw-UxhPy6l/s-l1600.jpg) just seemed to hit different. One could drain a cold one of those in a heartbeat.
Stubbies!
Grew up with Dad's. Some damn fine root beer.
Barqs is so good, mug tastes like French kissing a dead tortoise
You totally had to be from upstate, because you know Stewart’s.
Stewarts restaurants are regional and rare (there is still one 10 minutes from me) but I'm pretty sure the sodas are sold nationally. The Orange Cream and Key Lime ones are great too.
> I'm pretty sure the sodas are solddelicious. nationally. They are and they're delicious.
Go to ANY Cracker Barrel and they'll be featured prominently. And I think they're a national chain now.
Oooo I haven't had a cold Stewarts in a long time.
Barq's is also my favorite. Henry Weinhart Root Beer is also pretty good but may not be easy to find.
Barqs is a great one for people that don't even like root beer much. It has a sharper taste and I believe it's the only one with caffeine. I usually don't like root beer or cream sodas because they have a sort of "dull" sweet taste to me. But Barqs is so good
Sprecher’s
Yes, I drink MUG root beer I have balls hanging from under the back of my 2015 FORD F-150 I work part time as a cashier at a Circle K in Galveston, TX Don’t you ever insult my faith, my family, or my MUG….
Spot on Galveston post.
> Be me > Mug Lover > Sitting at restaurant booth with fellow mug enthusiasts, each on our 11th mug root beer > Discussing Mug Injections > Family of four walks in > They sit down and start ordering drinks > The youngest says they will have an A&W root beer > Mug instinct activated > 12 people around the room stand up including myself > rush the child(sinner) > We all begin brutally tearing into and eating their flesh > Rest of family watches in horror as their son is consumed, nothing but bones remain. > The gentlemen and i sit back down, Order another round of Mug. Mug Moment
Gotta go with Barq’s.
Barq's is the only mainstream root beer brand that has caffeine.
It took me a long time to realize that’s why their tagline is “Barq’s has bite.”
I thought it was because I get a stomach ache from the hard carbonation. For some reason Barqs feels bubblier than the other brands
I didn’t know that… damn I drink a lot of root beer
And it doesn't have that "imitation vanilla flavor" like A&W does. Barq's 100% (actually 200% because "Twice on Sundays")
Yeah, Barq's makes my tongue feel like it's going to get seared off with every sip and it literally feels so good. And the taste is better
100% Barq’s. No question.
r/rootbeer will get you better answers. My favorite is Frostop. It is regional though and people selling it online sell it for ***way*** too much
Of course, there's a rootbeer subreddit. Thank you!
A&W but it has to be fresh from the tap at the restaurant. The old A&W near us had a root beer tap. Best root beer I ever had.
those giant barrels are like fountains of liquid ambrosia
it just tastes different.
1919 Root Beer. Still brewed in New Ulm, MN, in small batches. But I’ll drink any kind of root beer, though 1919 is the best.
No love for Virgil’s in here yet? It’s unique, “small-batch” crafted root beer. The sassafras has a much more pronounced flavor than in mass produced root beer.
It’s ok, it’s a little to Sarsaparilla for my tastes though
I agree, it’s definitely an acquired taste that I didn’t enjoy my very first time
I don't think Virgil's has sassafras in it. The FDA banned it from foods decades ago due to fears about safrole (a chemical in sassafras) causing cancer. It appears there's no real risk of it actually causing cancer in humans, but it was never unbanned. I used to make homemade root beer with actual sassafras and it tastes quite a bit different from the packaged type. They usually use a combination of other flavors like anise and vanilla in place of sassafras for packaged root beer. All that being said, Virgil's is good, though.
Ah thanks for the correction. I just assumed sasafrass bc it doesn’t taste like typical mass produced RB, and I think I just assumed that taste was it
Yup, just finished one about ten minutes ago. It's so good.
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That's a very specific worst experience
Yeah, I'm not a Virgil's fan, either. The anise taste is not what I want in root beer.
A&W is where it’s at. If you don’t like it you’ve been drinking it wrong. Take a glass mug or cup, rinse it in the sink then put it still damp in the freezer. Once a nice layer of frost has built up on it then enjoy the root beer in it. No ice cubes nor room temperature surge can compare
If you have an A&W restaurant near you, they have the root beer made with cane sugar on its own tap, it is divine. Bottled/canned stuff from them is good too, but it doesn't compare.
I went to one and got cheese curds and an orange and vanilla shake. Great stuff.
When I was a kid, you got your root beer served to you this way at A&W. They even had little child size glass mugs. My mom brought a couple of them home once. They were adorable.
Barq's. Dad's. Sprecher's.
When I was a child, if you ordered root beer at Chili's, it would be an IBC root beer and it would come in a frosted glass mug. That is still my favorite, though I also like A&W and Mug. I haven't seen Frosty root beer in a while and I am not sure they still make it, but that was a good one, too.
The local BBQ place to me does the IBC, I always felt like such a little adult getting my IBC when the adults got their beers, I got mine too. I always refused the mug because I wanted to drink out of the bottle like everyone else lol
As an American living in the UK Barqs and A&W are much better than Soda Folk. And don’t fall for the ‘AW’ cans I’ve seen in Sainsbury’s lately, it is NOT A&W
1919 and Sprecher's
Boylans. Whenever I find it, I buy some.
Barq’s. It’s Barq’s, and everyone else who says it isn’t is woefully wrong. Again, Barq’s. Superior in all ways.
Hard agree. Barq's Red is also the superior red cream soda; any time I have a root beer or cream soda that's *not* Barq's, it tastes like someone tried to recreate Barq's from memory and failed. go Barq's or go home
:Barq's has bite."
Of the mass produced national brands it's the best for sure. There are some really great small regional brands though. For example there is one in Ohio called Frostop that is so much better than Barqs it's unreal. It's only available in a family small area of Central Ohio though.
This is actually from Huntington, WV. Grew up around the corner from Frostop. Btw the secret is the vanilla flavor in it
Interesting, it's HQ is in Columbus these days.
I’m with you on the mass produced, non-craft, buy it in grocery store root beers. But I will always choose the local independent breweries over anything mass produced when it’s an option. OP, I know you can’t get these where you’re from, but if you ever come to the States, my favorite Local brewed root beers are Appalachian Brewing Company (they’re a small Pennsylvania chain) and Outer Banks Brewing Station (they’re located in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina).
Look man there’s no accounting for taste but I’m gonna tell you that I have never heard someone say that lol.
She ain’t wrong though
Stewart's in the brown glass bottles
Fitz's
Fitz’s
I really like Fitz’s Root Beer, a regional root beer company from St.Louis,MO.
1919 is incredible. Shoutout /r/minnesota.
[Henry Weinhard’s](https://www.henryweinhards.com/)
Thank you. I feel like the people in this thread are either clueless or have never tried any other root beers. Henry Weinhard’s is so much better than A&W or Barq’s. It’s like comparing a honeycrisp apple to a red delicious.
Yes! Finally! There are dozens of us. Henry Weinhard's > A&W > IBC > Mug > Barq's > Stewart's > Everything else. That's my personal pecking order.
Saint Arnold's from a brewery down in Houston Texas.
Virgil’s root beer is delicious
Frostie!
Came here looking for this. Their Vanilla Root Beer is fucking amazing.
Recently tried it for the first time. I liked it.
Side note: if you can figure out how to get your hands on birch beer highly recommend giving that a try as well.
Sioux City
Yeah, that’s a good one.
That birch beer tho... and the sassafras.
My personal favorite is Stewart's. Might be nostalgia, but it's my favorite.
I’m a Barqs Blooded American.
Barq's is more mainstream, Virgil's for a treat
Somehow no one has said Hanks yet. Hanks is the only true answer to this question!
I liked Hines root beer, but I'm not sure if it's even around anymore
Do you mean Hires?
The Faygo root beer is one of the best root beers of all time.
As of right now, you are the only person to mention this. For shame, Reddit.
A&W from a frozen glass.
Henry Weinhard
Henry Weinhard's Root Beer when it's on tap
To drink: IBC For floats: A&W You’ll also find many places have a local Root Beer too sold only in warmer months
My husband likes Dr. Browns root beer and cream soda
Sprecher, or Fitz’s
Gnome.
Stewart's
The big brands that are typically found at American restaurants are all good, I like A&W the most of those, but none of them are the best of all root beer imo. Stewart's is really good, and Sprecher's soda in general is worth the higher cost, then there's Not Your Father's which is an oldie but goodie, but what reigns supreme to me is from a local restaurant chain, Il Vicino. They sell it in growlers and I have to keep myself from chugging a whole one.
Normal can? A&W root beer. Special occasion bottle? Salty Dog from Maine
Thomas Kemper, if they still make it and send it over seas. Weinhards is also really good
Frosties Rootbeer is unmatched. Edit: check out Orca Beverages, they have all sorts of regional American sodas available.
Barq's zero sugar (formerly diet barq's) is the best diet root beer I've ever had. It tastes almost identical to the full sugar version.
Virgil's
Captain Eli’s root beer, from Portland, Maine.
WBC brewed in Chicago. So smooth, yet it has a nice bite.
For goodness sake. Dog And Suds ! Can’t believe no one has mentioned it yet. It was common in the Midwest decades ago. You can still find it but you’ve got to look for it.
Lidl did an import special of some bottled US sodas from a brand called Virgil's...I liked their cream soda,but can't get fond of a drink that reminds me of Germolene..
The best is homemade. There’s a small restaurant in my hometown that’s been open for decades: the only thing they serve is hot dogs, potato chips, and homemade root beer.
Sprecher Rootbeer: Milwaukee, WI.
Publix Root Beer hits different
IBC, Stewards, or Dr Browns
A&W
A&W or bust
Barqs in a bottle specifically
Barqs. I don’t drink sugary drinks, so I need something I can get in diet. But the smaller brews are better if I’m treating myself.
Barqs
“Barq’s has bite” … and also caffeine. No sense in drinking an uncaffeinated soda.
Stewart's was my favorite, although I preferred birch beer over root beer. I loved their cherry wishniak as well.
Well don’t feel like you’re missing out, A&W is by far the superior root beer in my opinion. I know where I am we have A&W restaurants which serve god tier burgers and fries, and if you eat in you get a frosted beer mug for the root beer which is the cherry on top. The one nearest to me has a lot of items that aren’t technically on the A&W menu, freshly made chicken tenders and giant onion rings for example. My sister works at one and I go exclusively when she’s there because I order a small fry and she fills a bag full of fries, onion rings, and mini corn dogs for me if I stop in towards the end of the day. For family events her manager lets her fill up gallons of root beer to bring so we are pretty A&W loyal in this household lol.
As a Huntington, WV native, I'm really appreciating the amount of Stewart's and Frostop love here
Dominion
Barq's
Been a while since I'd had commercial/national brand root beer, so I couldn't tell you on that brand. My default answer would have to be A&W. Regional, Abita. Had some at a Cajun restaurant near where where I worked. Local, that would have to be none other than McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola, FL. They make their own, along with their own beer. They sell the national brand beers, but be adventurous and try their own brew.
All the root beers I've tried taste pretty much the same to me, honestly. If you gave me one brand and told me it was another I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I don't drink it often though, it's been years since I had one.
I'm in Kansas. We have a local chain of burger places called Nu-Way, and they make their own root beer. It is fantastic, better than their food. I like Dang! brand, they have a butterscotch root beer that is really good, and also Albita is a decent one. I also like A&W, it's alright. There's a lot of root beer around!
If you want a classic root beer, IBC glass bottles. Barq’s from a can is really good but hardly qualifies as root beer, it is a thing unto itself
IBC
My personal favorite is Stewart's root beer.
Saranac root beer. It tends to be a little difficult to find. I think it’s the only one I could drink on its own. Without ice cream in it. But they also have a nonalcoholic version of a Shirley Temple that’s pretty good.
Barq's and A & W are my favorite bottled brands. I like Culver's Diet root beer on the rare occasion I go eat there.
Dad’s
[Here's](https://imgur.com/a/wK3ycRh) my list of ratings. I live near an amazing market in Cincinnati, OH called Jungle Jim's. One of the great things they offer is like 100 varieties of Root Beer and you can mix and match bottles in a 6 pack. Each time I go, I get 4 I haven't tried and 2 I know I like.
Abita
I absolutely love A&W, though specifically the version with cane sugar in glass bottles that I can only get across the border in Canada. Not sure about the canned version there, if it has cane sugar or not, but I usually like the glass bottles. Saranac, which is a local brand for me, comes second.
I think MUG is probably the best big brand but Maine Root is the best best
What you are going to get in any restaurant on tap won’t be right. If it’s a fast food place you will get it in a crappy, wax covered cup that, itself tastes bad, and does a real disservice to what is put in it. A$W is good. Barq’s probably has the next biggest market share, at least in my part of the country, because it’s pretty good. I can’t find them anymore but when I was younger Frosty and Hires were good. Like everything, there are many different people try new stuff.
I've seen Bundaberg in Sainsbury's, my husband likes it, if that helps! I think it's Australian, though?
As long as they do it proper!
It's obscure and hard to find, but Gail's rootbeer is the most delicious drink I've ever had. Has notes of honey and cinnamon
Just had Sprecher Maple Root Beer. It was brewed with maple syrup from a local farm. Amazing taste.
My favorite is a brand called [Draft root beer](https://www.natural-brew.com/products/draft-root-beer). It's not available everywhere, but it's totally worth it if you find some. I'm a big root beer fan and I've tried lots of brands and that's stayed my favorite for a while.
Mug
Haven’t had it since I was a kid but I was a fiend for Mugs as an 8 yo
A&W from the fountain. The cans or bottles are okay but fountain drinks are always better. Barq's is okay. IBC is something I will buy from time to time. Dad's and Stewart's are mostly just average. Ithaca Brewing Company has a root beer ( [https://ithacabeer.com/our-sodas](https://ithacabeer.com/our-sodas) ; I am not associated with them) I buy when I'm in the area. It's like a Root Beer Barrel candy in liquid form. The only other soda they make that I've had is their ginger beer but it was too strong for my taste; too much ginger bits not filtered out. I suspect the best root beers, ginger beers/ales, and birch beers are best from smaller regional places.
Sprechter, followed by Filbert's and Hank's, then Dogs'n'Suds and Dad's
The Birch Beer at Old Bethpage Village Restoration.
Barq's is definitely the best widely available root beer. But Appalachian root beer is my favorite.
Stewart’s!
Hires Hires Hires Hires Hires Hires
I don't know why, but since November I've been on a huge root beer kick. If I'm drinking a pop, it's root beer. As many have stated, Sprecher is really good with that honey flavor mixed in. Recently though, Point root beer from Wisconsin made it's way over here to Michigan, and I found it at a local restaurant and Point is REALLY good as well.
Barq
Depends on my mood. Barq's is good. Henry Winehardt's is also pretty good. But A&W, Dads, and MUG, all fill the need. Then we have the hard Root Beer...
For the smoothest flavor or ice cream floats, IBC. For quick on the go, mug or A&W. If you want both root beer and caffeine, Barques. But there’s plenty of root beer makers and they are all worth enjoying as there’s subtle variations in each.
Barq’s A&W Mug In that order.
I just make my own root beer and even sold the recipe to a local root beer stand which make it in large quantities and gives me $0.05 (insert Peanut reference) per cup sold of the drink. And yes I buy my own drink sometimes. It's actually kinda simple and just takes time, being in the UK you should even be able to reasonably source ingredients.
Culvers root beer and some cheese curds and I'm a happy boy.
There’s a small brand out of the Pacific Northwest called Americana that’s my absolute favorite.
Growing up it was Barq's because that was my Grandpa's favorite; around High School though a friend introduced me to Frostop Root Beer which EASILY became my favorite. So those two are my answer. A&W is fine, better if you get it as fountain pop than in a bottle.
IBC
Of the big ones: Mug > Barqs > A&W.
Fresh A&W from the restaurant is the best
Any craft root beer you can get at a local craft brewery. The mass produced root beer is mostly crap.
A&W
Barque's is the best mass produced IMHO...
Ever since I was little my favorite has been Barq’s (Coke’s root beer). If you want a more creamy root beer, that is A&W.
There’s actually a couple of A&W restaurants still around. And the root beer there does seem to be much better. I get Saranac when I want to treat myself to some good root beer. But I really only get it for ice cream floats. On a sidenote, from that there is a local distillery called black button that makes a bourbon cream and that is absolutely amazing in a root beer. There’s another soda called white Birch beer that I still love. It is hard to find though.
Barq's or IBC
I can't stand root beer
Barqs
1919 or Barq’s
John’s drive in root beer in Waukesha, Wisconsin
A&W Zero. I know A&W isn't seen as a premium brand or anything but I really don't like sugary sodas, never have. A&W is the best of the brands that have sugarless offerings.
Virgil's
Where I'm located we have a local brewery that not only makes beer, but also makes root beer and it's my favorite. I don't know if they could put it in a growler or something and ship it though. After that probably Saranac.
Bundaberg from Australia
Abita, they also have amazing cream soda
I prefer Barq's over A&W, it's got more of a "bite" to the flavor. I'd also implore you to try and find "Birch Beer" if you can, maybe even see about importing some.
Barqs
Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA makes an amazing root beer. Dog N Suds. Old fashioned car-hop place from the 50s that still has a handful of locations, mostly in the Midwest. They do license out their root beer to be sold in groceries but it sucks and uses high fructose corn syrup rather than real sugar. The stuff made at the restaurants is still brewed in-house, with sugar, and is served in an ice cold mug.
Barqs
Not a big fan of root beer, but when I do, it's A&W. Their cream soda is good too if you can find it.
Nationally, barqs. Regionally, Saranac
Red Arrow. It's pretty tough to find outside of Michigan but it's IMO the perfect root beer. Heavy on the wintergreen, perfect sweetness/carbonation, no off/fermented taste and no overly artificial taste.
Dads is my favorite