i have a penchant for a well crafted root beer and keep an eye out for anything obscure or differnt. World Market and Thriftway have been pretty good in my area, aside from the mass quantities of diet, but the pickings are usually pretty slim.

recently i happened on Bundaberg Ginger Beer, imported from Australia. this my friends may be the best non-alcoholic brew out there. this is not soda pop but a stout and smooth ale with a very pleasant bite.

i see on the Brundaberg site that they also do a root beer, none at the World Market, but i will be making a request.

If you get some, put my name on your list for a taste -*test*-('"). I miss the A&W of old.

I was recently in Canada and there were A&W's everywhere with the rootbeer served in frosty glass mugs. My wife and i were ecstatic

The first A&W restaurant was opened in Lodi (about 30 miles from here) in 1919.
I've been there a few times, but the one in Modesto was closer, so we went there more often. SWEET!!!

I'm a big fan of the Root Beers too.

I love Virgil's-

http://www.virgils.com/about.shtml

It's made by Reed's, who makes my favorite (so far) Ginger Beer-

http://reedsinc.com/front.htm

Here's the Ginger Beer link-

http://www.reedsgingerbrew.com/index.html

I really enjoy the Ginger beer, but after being forced to move out of the city, I can't find it out here in the 'burbs.

I also dig Hank's Root Beer and IBC.

This summer, I brewed my own root beer along with my 5 year old niece. She loved that!

for root beer, Henry's is hard to beat, smooth and creamy. Boylans is another very good one, not too sweet but almost like drinking candy with a nice minty aftertaste. if you can find it, Frosty has a real good bite and would be my pick for a thirst quencher.

i havent seen the Reeds Ginger Beer (Virgils root beer is readily available out here though), but i'll keep an eye out. i dont know who makes it but my other favorite Ginger Beer is called "Cock and Bull". doesnt have the flavor of Bundaberg but has the best bite i've come across.

if you want to try something really different, go for a Fentimans (any flavor). spendy but worth the experience at least once.

Paul, i just looked at the Reeds site and i have tried it once a few years ago. all i remember is the bite, which was quite good. i'll have to revisit it soon as it is in most groceries out here.

It comes in extra ginger too- I recommend trying all the offerings. I could mail you some if you can't find it for some odd reason, but I am totally relient on the goodwill of others since my accident. There's no place close by who carries it.

I myself haven't had it in ages.

I'll keep you in mind though if I'm lucky to score some!

Have you tried the excellent seasonal Virgils yet? At $5 a bottle, it's a treat only...

as it happens, i just found a good source for Cock & Bull at Wally's Wine. i ordered the C & B along with some Boylans root beer, the Dry Kumquat, Raspberry Lime Rickey, Journey Vanilla Twisted Bean, and the Reeds Spiced Apple Brew.

in order to make it worthwhile you need to order enough to make the shipping reasonable.

the Reeds Ginger Beer is available out here in many varieties, but i've never seen the Apple Brew so i had to grab it.

never heard of the seasonal Virgil's, i'll have to seek it out too.

I've got nothing to add except I like Root Beer. And Cheerwine. New stuff to look for. Thanks guys.

Don't forget Coconut soda.

Goya makes it.

Mmmmmmmm....

http://www.sodapopstop.com/products/detail.cfm?link=323

And I also like the Blue Bubblegum flavour frome Jones Soda Co.

http://www.beveragesdirect.com/detail-137-...Gum_12_Pack.asp

http://www.jonessoda.com/

Jones soda makes a seasonal Turkey And Gravy flavour too, as well as Green Bean Casserole, Mashed Potato with Butter, Cranberry, and Fruitcake...

http://www.jonessoda.com/files/turkey04.html

Harpoon Beer Brewery makes some good stuff too...

http://www.bevnet.com/reviews/harpoon/

And for reviews of lots of Root Beers, and sodas, check out this site!!!

http://www.rootbeerreviews.com/


Enjoy!!! Glug-glug!!!

Please tell me you were able to get it in refillable gallon jugs, sold right there at the A&W. We had one here in town when I was little and to this day I've tasted no root beer better than that stuff. The place burned down and instead of rebuilding it, the guy turned it into a diner that lasted one year. It's now a parking lot.

over the past week, i've been going through all the soda's i ordered. none displaced the Bundeburg Ginger Beer as my favorite (none can match it for flavor and bite), but i found some really good stuff. in order of worst to first:

the Dry Kumquat was a dissapointment. its basically tonic water with kumquat essense. the "Dry" name should have tipped me off but it does say its a soda.

Raspberry Lime Rickey has a very good flavor. upfront the raspberry is in full force, which moves slowly to a slightly tart, very pleasant and very sublte lime aftertaste.

Reeds Spiced Apple Brew. think apple pie with a ginger chaser. has a good bit of ginger, but i dont know if the base is the same as their Ginger Brew. i liked this one alot.

i am still new to Boylans Root Beer and havent got a good fix on where to place it among other root beers. it is quite good (opinion given above) but i'll have to have a few more before i can give a solid ruling. in this arena it came in third.

Cock-n-Bull. the first time i had one of these, it nearly knocked me on my butt. i had never experienced this kind of bite and power from a soda and the flavor is very good too. its still the same great ginger beer that i remember, very strong with a good slow burn.

the star of this group was the Journey Vanilla Twisted Bean. not your typical creame soda, the vanilla flavor is nice and strong on the first taste. the second taste starts to reveal the other flavors like licorice root and maple syrup - yes maple syrup. halfway through the bottle, the rest of the mix comes into play (coriander seed and passion flower among them), but these are a supporting cast that never overshadows the vanilla bean headliner. i'll be getting more of this soon.

You see, as much as I love my mountains, this is when it sucks. The only root beer/cream soda I can get locally is IBC. Good, but I'd like to be exposed to the variety you guys have! I'll check out some the links posted above (Thank You Very Much!) and see if there's anything I can talk the SO into ordering...

The backcountry does not always mean bad rootbeer. In a visit to West Plains, Missouri, where I used to live, I made a stop at Roy's Store in the nearby town of Dora. There, I rediscovered Dog & Suds Rootbeer, and meant to pack a case of it back to Kansas City, but was deterred by a very sudden downpour. Had to break camp fast, and though I stopped at Roy's on the way out, the rain distracted me, and I forgot to load up the RB...not RV.

Laz