I'm throwing Henry Weinhard's Rootbeer in the race for a great longneck bottle of rooty beery goodness. Any others for the top spot...we can vote with the proper nominations...by the way Birch Beer is NOT Rootbeer!

I like root beer you can find in a vending machine.

Bargs for example.

I grew up in England where root beer is pretty uncommon. Having been in Chicago these last 6 years though, I think my fave is the ol' A&W stuff.

Where can I get some of this Henry Weinhard's concoction?

Not necessarily root beer, but I love Dodge City sarsaparilla - it's got a great bite!

I don't drink it very often, but Old Dominion Brewery's "Dominion Root Beer" is pretty good. It comes in a long-neck, brown bottles which sound great when they clang together on the inside of your refrigerator door.

http://www.olddominion.com/

Cheers!

Fitz's root beer from St. Louis. You can order it online at www.fitzsrootbeer.com - we first tasted it at Blue Smoke in NYC and nothing else will do now.

Fitz's is good, but the next time you are in STL, go to a little hamburger joint on Manchester in Brentwood called Carl's. They hand make their own root beer in an old A&W barrel. Nothing like it.

Try the small root beer float and a double cheeseburger. Eat standing until a seat at the counter opens up. Best lunch in town.

The root beer from Nu Way Cafe in Wichita, Kansas...which they make fresh each day. But to be honest, it was always a big decision when I went there whether to get the root beer...or their hand squeezed cherry limeade.

Finding a favorite Root Beer depends on your likes and tastes IMO. I prefer a higher carbonation with a full flavor and less sweetness. My choice is Red Ribbon Root Beer, but there are quite a few other good ones to check out and some other easier to find such as Dad's or A & W will work to quench a craving.

Here in Los Angeles, we have a nice little place that you can stop by for a visit to check things out, or just surf the web and they will ship to you. Beware that they only deal in bottled sodas, which have a better flavor profile BTW.

Galco's Soda Shop

My vote is for IBC Diet Root Beer. Brought it with me to Galveston with my friends 16 year old girl and her two friends and twin 14 year old boys, all said it was the best root beer they had had. We all like it better than then the regular root beers, and in children this is rare. Now bring a six pack with me when I go to my friends house for dinner and the children usually have one before dinner and one with dinner.

Our favorite is Barq's Diet Root Beer. It has a great spicy taste, and over ice has an unmistakable "bite". We took it to our recent family reunion, and it was the first soda we ran out of (and quickly, too!).

The taste of A&W root beer changed sometime in the late 60's or early 70's. As a kid, I recall it being somehow more creamy and richer tasting.

I know it's not just me because this opinion is shared by many people I've discussed this with (and it's not a case of changing taste because so many other soft drinks have the same memorable flavor).

I've longed for something similar and have tried numerous other varieties. I'm glad this post has started so I can do some follow-up research.

This spring I visited a bar in St. Augustine FL that advertised they made their own root beer. I took my first sip with great anticipation only to be seriously disappointed. When I asked about how they made their root beer, the server told me they just added soda water to the syrup. Sheesh! Contrast this to my experience in Amish Pennsylvania. I bought a mug of real root beer at a shop that sold it by the jug. It was the real stuff, but too sweet for my taste.

A+W is by far the best. They make the best black cows and the restaurants have some wonderful curly fries. The chain seems to be popping up again in gas stations / truck stops in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Here's another vote for IBC.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

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I happen to like Virgil's quite a bit.

as i googled, found that some guy has his own root beer themed blog wherein he samples and rates several root beers. it's a fun read!