14 Brands of Root Beer You May or May Not Have Heard Of

Want to find your next favorite bottle of root beer? Check out my list of 14 brands that you may or may not have heard of before!

What could be more refreshing than a tall glass of root beer! Sure you could go with the more common brews like A&W or Mug, but I prefer to source my root beer from the best regional sources. Some of these you have heard of before and some you may be discovering for the very first time.

Here is my list of root beers I have tried that you should be on the lookout for. All of these root beers are either 4 or 5 stars in my book:

Jump to:

• Northwood Soda Root Beer
• Maine Root Root Beer
• River City Root Beer
• Sparky's Fresh Draft Root Beer
• Thomas Kemper Root Beer
• Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer
• Dang! That's Good Butterscotch Root Beer
• Sprecher Root Beer
• Blumers Root Beer
• Saranac Root Beer
• Gale's Root Beer
• Frostop Root Beer
• Boom Chugga Lugga Cherry Root Bear
• Zia Root Beer

Northwood Soda Root Beer

A while back I wrote a post celebrating the pop (or soda) that is made in Michigan. While doing research for that post, I read about a soda called Northwoods Soda. It is made up in the Grand Traverse area of Michigan. I

Whenever I trying out a new brand of soda pop, I tend to select root beer first. I figure if your root beer isn't good, then it's likely the rest of your flavors aren't going to be good either. Northwoods Soda called their root beer "Wild Bill's Root Beer". "Wild Bill" is company founder, Bill Fosdick. I said called their root beer that is because they were forced to change the name now.

The recipe for this brew has been perfected over a twenty year time period. The bottle boasts the claim "A Rare, Smooth Beverage". So I keep that in mind as I took my first sip

No false promises on this bottle, it is definitely a smooth root beer. Not over carbonated. It has a nice, bold, but not too bold root beer flavor. It's not overpowered by vanilla or any other flavoring. It's pure root beer. It's as close to getting it right out of the tap as you probably can get. So I will be giving their other flavors a try.

Maine Root Root Beer

What does the phrase "all nautral" mean to you? Does it mean that you are getting something that is more pure or is it a bunch of buzz words without any real meaning. I can tell you what all natural means to the makers of Maine Root soda. It is about creating a drink that is made with ingredients in their most natural state possible with the most minimal of processing. They use carbonated purified water, certified organic evaporated cane juice, natural extracts, spices, and botanicals in all of their sodas.

Maine Root uses evaporated cane juice as their sweetener of choice. In order to make evaporated cane juice, a whole sugar cane goes through some rollers. Then the extract is dried into crystals. Nothing is added and no further processing is done.

How does Maine Root's Root Beer taste? Here is how Maine Root describes their root beer: "Organically sweetened handcrafted soda made with the extracts of wintergreen, clove and anise. Our recipe combines these ingredients to allow the flavor of each of these extracts to come through."

This is a delicious brew. It's a great all around root beer that has a good root beer flavor with a bit of spice, foamy head, and is nicely carbonated. I don't think it's the best root beer out there. Don't get me wrong it's good but my taste buds tell me there are better tasting ones. Still it is one of the better all around root beers that I think has mass appeal.

River City Root Beer

It's fun to read what companies place on the side of a bottle of soda pop. I have read all sorts of things, some made me want to rip off the cap as quickly as possible, some left me scratching my head. A bottle of River City Root Beer says "River City Root Beer brings back memories of a time gone by. When the sky was bluer and the clouds whiter and the breeze off the river kept you cooler. Enjoy doggone good soda pop the way it used to be!" That paints a beautiful picture.

But does this root beer live up to this beautiful scene? By the way, this root beer was made by Blue Dog Beverages. River City Root Beer is their own creation.

This is a deliciously sweet brew. It is wonderfully carbonated and has a creamy mouth feel. It has a great root beer taste as it first hits your tongue. Then there is something more there. I can taste a licorice flavor and it almost seems that there is a molasses taste to it. This is one of the top 5 root beers I have ever had. This is one I would search out to buy again.

Sparky's Fresh Draft Root Beer

This root beer is a family affair. The Knox family have been brewing their only root beer since 2000. It started with one man's passion for brewing beer. This eventually lead to root beer for friends who do not drink. Everyone loved their brew. So this is what eventually lead them into creating the Knox Brewing Company, makers of Sparky's Fresh Draft Root Beer. They brew their root beer in small batches to assure the best quality.

This root beer is sweetened by two sources: pure cane sugar and honey. I love the addition of honey to soda pop. Honey adds another dimension of flavor that cane sugar can't.

This is a pretty sweet root beer, so if that is something you don't like avoid this one. The honey is used really well in this drink. There wasn't a lot of foamy head to it. I think I was expecting a lot of foam with the drink carrying the name "fresh draft". I felt it was a little under carbonated. But the slightly spicy taste was enjoyable.

Thomas Kemper Root Beer

The neat thing about traveling the country, is finding products that I cannot find in my own neck of the woods. I was at a Stater Bros grocery store in Southern California when I spotted a 4-pack of Thomas Kemper Root Beer. I have heard a lot about this root beer, but have never seen it in a store in Michigan.

This root beer first appeared on the scene in 1990. Andy Thomas and Will Kemper were looking for an alternative to serve at an Oktoberfest celebration. The root beer was a big hit at the celebration. In 1991, the company was formed in Portland, Oregon. Since then they have created many other flavors including vanilla cream and black cherry.

One of the unique things about this root beer is that is is sweetened with no just cane sugar (which they switched to in 2008) but also honey. The honey comes from local bees in the Pacific Northwest. Here is the full ingredient list: carbonated water, cane sugar, maltodextrin, honey, caramel color, natural flavor ,sodium benzoate (for freshness), gum acacia, phosphoric acid, salt, and vanilla extract.

This is a good root beer with a hint of vanilla and spice. It starts with a foamy head that does not endure very long. The carbonation was good. The honey was a nice touch. It's good, but not great. It has several good attributes but nothing that stands out as being great.

Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer

Some drinks have longer names than others. The one I am reviewing today is a mouthful: Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer. I heard some positive things about this root beer on another website, so I decided to give it a try. I probably wouldn't have tried it based on the label on the bottle itself as it is rather generic and boring. But I was intrigued by what a molasses root beer would taste like.

The positive things said about this root beer turned out to be true. This is a really good root beer. It has a little bit of a foamy head and is a bit spicy, with a genuine root beer taste. The ingredient list doesn't actually contain the worlds "molasses" but it seems that this root beer is a bit thicker than most. Yet it is not syrupy.

Dang! That's Good Butterscotch Root Beer

One day I was watching an episode of Modern Marvels on the History Channel. There was an episode about soda pop. In the hour long show, they interviewed someone who reviews root beers online. He had a bottle of Dang! That's Good Butterscotch Root Beer to do a taste test with during the show. I learned that this root beer was brewed and bottled by Imperial Flavors Beverage Company out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Besides root beer the company also makes energy drinks.

Here is the ingredient list for this root beer: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup sweetener, caramel color, citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, and sodium benzoate (a preservative).

So it this good butterscotch root beer or should the company be sued for false advertising?

They are right, this is good butterscotch root beer. They saved themselves by not calling it Dang! That's the Greatest Root Beer You Will Ever Drink. It has a nice butterscotch flavor, like someone took those candies you use to find in your grandma's candy dish, melted them down and carbonated them. The strength of the root beer is not what I hoped for. Despite that I still very much enjoyed the drink and think it would be excellent with some vanilla ice cream.

Sprecher Root Beer

Oh how I love root beer. There are so many great root beers on the market to choose from. I don't think I will be ever done reviewing root beers (and that's a good thing). Today I am going to review a root beer made by Sprecher, who is a brewery out of Glendale, Wisconsin.

The ingredient list on my bottle reads like this: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, malto-dextrin, WI raw honey, natural & artifical flavors, sodium benzoate (preservative), phosphoric acid, quillaia/yucca extract, sodium chloride, caramel color, and vanilla. This root beer is caffeine and gluten free.

Blumers Root Beer

"Created for kids of all ages in Monroe, Wisconsin". This is the saying on a bottle of Blumers Root Beer (made by Minhas Craft Brewery). Also appearing on the bottle are barrels, one on the main label and several on the label that goes around the neck. That barrel makes me think that this root beer is going to have an old fashion, classic root beer flavor.

This root beer has that old fashion, classic root beer flavor. It has a nice head, nice amount of carbonation, and a touch of spice. It's smooth and creamy. It is a notch above the average root beer.

Saranac Root Beer

Lately I have been seeing a trend of brewing companies coming out with their own soft drinks. The latest soft drink I tried was from the Matt Brewing Company out of Utica, New York. Their line of soft drinks bare the name "Saranac 1888". The first flavor I gave a try to was their root beer. The root beer came in a standard 12 oz brown glass bottle.

Around the neck of the bottle was some information about this root beer. "In 1888, when our small brewery was founded, real rich creamy root beers were not uncommon. Thirty years ago, we brought this tradition back with the introduction of real brewery-fresh root beer on draft in our brewery's 1888 tavern. Our Saranac root beer has been acclaimed by consumers from all 50 states and over 100 countries. We hope you'll enjoy it too!"

I did indeed enjoy it! It has a great authentic root beer flavor with some creaminess to it. It was delicious to the very last drop. I don't think it has the most foamy head, but that doesn't really bother me here. It's still among my top 5 root beers of all-time.

Gale's Root Beer

On the bottle there is a picture of a girl and a dog named Rootie. Above that picture was a word from Chef Gale Gand who came up with this unique root beer. She said "I love root beer. While cooking in England some years ago, my root beer sources dried up and I was forced to do without. So I got a little brown terrier puppy and named him Rootie. When Rootie and I got back to the United States I started making my own root beer to serve in my restaurants. Now I'm pleased to present my best batch ever! Rootie and I know you'll love it. Enjoy!"

The most interesting part about Gale's Root Beer is how she choose to flavor it. She used vanilla, which isn't that uncommon, but also added cinnamon and ginger. I have never seen or even thought about adding cinnamon to root beer.

This root beer is a winner. It is unlike anything else I have tried. You get a nice tasting root beer in your mouth, and then BAM! that cinnamon hits you, leaving you wondering what was that, if you had not read the ingredient list. It took me a couple sips to really grasp w

Frostop Root Beer

Frostop is a chain of drive-ins that began in 1950s. As far as I know there is still one location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but there may be others I do not know about. Their speciality is their root beer. I know about the Baton Rouge location because I visited with my son and had the most amazing root beer float there along with very forgettable food!

Rating
This is my favorite root beer on the market. It produces a nice foam and has a flavor other root beers wish they had. It's the perfect choice for a root beer float.

Boom Chugga Lugga Cherry Root Bear

This root beer is distributed by the Cherry Republic and made by Northwoods Sodas. The sodas have the name "Boom Chugga Lugga" proceeding the flavor on the label.

They had several choices, so it was hard to narrow down a single selection. I decided to try their Cherry Root Bear. Not thats not a typo, I did mean to write bear there. This root beer contains cherry juice from cherries harvested in Michigan. It has been sweetened with cane sugar. I have never seen a cherry flavored root beer before. Everyone knows the relationship cherry has with cola. Why not with root beer as well? Does it work too?

Move over cola, your not cherry's best companion anymore. This was very good. The cherry did work well with the root beer flavor. The cherry didn't overwhelm the root beer, it just added to it. The drink has a nice, light carbonation, that just flowed off the tongue without burning like most name brands do (I am looking at you Coke!). The cherry flavor lingers in your mouth, giving you one of the best aftertastes I have seen in a drink.

Zia Root Beer

Last on this list is the unique root beer out of New Mexico. I found in while visiting the state back in 2021. This one compares to the Gale's Root Beer in terms of unique seasonings added to it:

Filtered carbonated water. cane sugar. anise, licorice, clove, mint, yucca root, Madagascar bourbon vanilla,. citric acid.

If you want a traditional root beer this isn't for you. But if you are willing to expand your horizons and what a root beer can be, then you are going to love this one. It is loaded with flavor and is truly a unique blend among all the root beers I have tried over the years.