For the past centuries, root beer has been a popular beverage, and its popularity has grown through time. It can be harsh at times and sweet at others, but good root beer has its own kick to it. According to various reports, root beer has maintained its popularity, and businesses have been able to produce significant sales. This great achievement deserves to be recognized, which is why we’ve compiled a list of the best root beer brands and glass bottle root beer brands.
What Brand Is the Original Root Beer?
Hires Root Beer was the first root beer sold to the public. It was made by Charles Elmer Hires in 1875. Hires first wanted to call the drink “Root Tea,” but he changed it to “Root Beer” to make it more appealing to coal miners in Pennsylvania.
Best Root Beer Brands
Root beer is strangely referred to as “beer,” despite the fact that it is mainly a children’s drink with neither alcohol nor caffeine. To keep it afloat, it’s served with (vanilla) ice cream. The sugary component in root beer appeals to children, but it also appeals to adults.
Traditional teas and “little beers” were safer and healthier than untreated water, thus it’s classified as a “beer.” Roots, berries, barks, herbs, and a little booze were used to make root beers. Hence, many individuals thought it was medical. However, things have changed, so let’s take a look at the best root beer brands.
1. A&W
Roy W. Allen, the founder of the A&W brand, founded it in 1919. In 1922, he formed a collaboration with Frank Wright to develop the existing A&W, whose products were largely available in Canada and the United States at the time.
Keurig Dr. Pepper in the United States, The Coca-Cola Company in Canada, and A&W Canada currently possess the rights to its products. The US-style brew is also available in Italy and Asia, as well as Chile and Australia, where A&W has locations.
The perfect balance of frothiness and sweetness, with a frothy fizz that rocks your taste senses, is A&W root beer. It has just the proper amount of sweetness without being too sweet. When this delicacy is on the verge of freezing, it tastes even better.
Read Also: POTATO CHIP BRANDS: List of the Oldest Potato Chip Brands (Updated)
2. Sioux City Root Beer
Morgan Beverages purchased the company in 1952 and began making soft drinks. To date, Sioux Root Beer is one of the brand’s best-selling products. It also comes in seven flavors and each bottle contains 160 calories (43g of cards and another 43g of sugar, totaling 14 percent ). As a result, it’s a substantial beverage. Pure cane sugar is used to sweeten this root beer. It has a creamy vanilla flavor with a lot of fizz.
3. Barq’s
Barq’s on our list of best root beer brands is a root beer from the United States. This brand is known for having a high caffeine content, which is why it has become a popular choice among root beer drinkers.
Edward Barq found the Barq brand in the year 1898. Meanwhile, the Coca-Cola Company manufactures and bottles the brand, which is currently owned by the Barq family.
4. Mug Root Beer
Mug Root Beer is a world-renowned root beer brand known for its distinct taste and flavor. Belfast Beverage Company in San Francisco, California, created this American origin brand product as Belfast Root Beer in the 1940s.
Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer was later added to the product name. Meanwhile, New Century Beverage Corporation currently makes this root beer, which is a part of PepsiCo’s parent company. Further, the Mug Root Beer’s mascot is a bulldog carrying a mug of root beer.
5. IBC Root Beer
IBC Root Beer is one of the most well-known root beer brands in the world. It was discovered in 1919 and was held by IBC, which later went out of business. After a few ownership changes, the brand was sold to its present owner, Keurig Dr. Pepper, in 2008.
In 2016, the root beer was modified, with cane sugar replacing high-fructose corn syrup. Originally, the bottles came in a six-pack, but that has now been replaced by a four-pack.
6. Dad’s Root Beer
One of the most popular root beer brands in the world is Dad’s Root Beer. It was first introduced in Chicago in 1937 by Barney Berns and Ely Klapman. However, Hedinger Brands LLC currently owns the root beer brand, which is marketed and sold by Dad’s Root Beer Company LLC.
The copper/brown premium root beer is made in the United States and is a favorite among root beer experts. The fundamental ingredients in this one-of-a-kind product are vanilla, licorice, and wintergreen.
7. Hires Root Beer
One of the first commercial root beer brands was Hires. It was first marketed as a medical “root tea” by pharmacist Charles Hires. He initially sold it as a powder that could be mixed with water to make tea. Later on, it was offered as a water-dilutable liquid concentrate. Root beer was marketed as a cure-all tonic and sold in pharmacies and pharmacy stores by hires.
It was popular as a “healthy replacement” during the Prohibition era, and it was often counterfeited. The Hires Root Beer brand has been sold and resold several times throughout the years. It now resides in Canada, where it is blended with vodka. Further, it has a 5% ABV, don’t drive or operate heavy machinery while drinking it.
8. Virgil’s Root Beer
Jill Fraser and Edward Crowley, who were co-owners of Crowley Beverage Co. at the time, created Virgil’s Root Beer in 1994. However, Reed’s Inc. purchased Virgil’s Root Beer in the year 1999.
It is one of the most popular root beer brands in the world, having won the prestigious “Outstanding Beverage” Award at the International Fancy Food and Confection Show in 1997, 1996, and 1994. Moreover, cane sugar, licorice, anise, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and cloves are the combined natural spices used to make this root beer.
9. Frostie Root Beer
Frostie Root Beer is a brand of American origin that is distributed in the United States of America. It was first released in 1939, and it was created by George Rackensperger’s Frostie Beverage Company. The brand was last sold to Intrastate Distributors Inc. in 2009, after changing hands multiple times.
Frostie Root Beer comes in caramel color and is produced entirely of pure cane sugar. Carbonated water, citric acid, artificial flavors, and sodium benzoate are also necessary ingredients. Hence, the long-neck bottles have a pleasing appearance.
10. Stewart’s Root Beer
Stewart’s Fountain Classics is one of the most well-known American brands for root beer and soft beverages. Frank Stewart founded the company in 1924 in Mansfield, Ohio, with a chain of root beer stands.
However, In the year 2000, Cadbury Schweppes PLC bought Stewart’s brand and began promoting it all over the world. Stewart root beer was named the best root beer brand in the World Cup of Root Beer of the Year in 2006.
Some of Stewart’s root beer bottles are amber, while others are clear. The drinks come in a twist-off glass bottle with a 355 ml capacity.
Is Root Beer Coke or Pepsi?
Mug Root Beer’s mascot has been a bulldog named “Dog” clutching a mug of Mug Root Beer since the firm was acquired by PepsiCo in 1986.
What Root Beer Does McDonalds Use?
They use Barq’s Root Beer.
What Is the Healthiest Root Beer to Drink?
If you want a root beer with a distinct flavor and no calories, Virgil’s Zero Sugar root beer is the drink for you. This bottled root beer is sweetened with Stevia, which helps to eliminate all calories while maintaining the deep and earthy flavor of Virgil’s brand.
Glass Bottle Root Beer Brands
Many people are unsure if root beer is an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage. It is made from the root bark of the Sassafras tree and is classified as a non-alcoholic, carbonated, caffeine-free beverage by specialists. Meanwhile, let’s take you through the glass bottle root beer brands.
1. Sprecher Root Beer
To acquire that rich color, flavor, and aroma, the best root beer brands add molasses or cane sugar. Sprecher adds a subtle touch to the recipe by substituting honey straight from the comb for the sugar. The honey is unprocessed and raw, resulting in a natural, wholesome texture and flavor. Honey is also non-perishable, so you can reduce the use of preservatives as a brewer.
In comparison to molasses, honey gives the root beer a gentle sweetness. Moreover, this glass bottle root beer brand is made with fire. The mixture is then aged after being ‘cooked’ in gas-powered kettles. The brand has won two golds and a silver for this magical formula. Sprecher has a rich, frothy head and is velvety and creamy. Vanilla and Wisconsin’s “wild fragrant botanicals” are also added to the root beer.
2. Oak Creek Blonde Root Beer
Blondes, on the other hand, are known for having the most fun. So why don’t you go for the gold? Root beers are dark, malty, and chocolate-colored beverages. This one has a yellowish tint to it (though they do have a standard-colored version). In addition, the Oak Creek glass bottle Root Beer brands are always aged in oak barrels for taste.
Both the blonde and brunette beers have matured for at least a year. They don’t ferment, so there remain zero-proof and safe for kids after a year. The root beer is made in tiny amounts by hand. Both flavors are smokey and spicy. The blonde beer is sweeter and has a hue that comes from 25% brown sugar. Vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice are all present.
3. Abita Root Beer
The Abita glass bottle root beer brands pride themselves on using real cane sugar for their product. There’s also yucca (for that delicious, sudsy froth), vanilla, spices, and spring water in this root beer. Abita Spring provides the water.
This Cajun root beer is a popular drink in Louisiana. It’s not especially hot, but its flavor complements the bayou’s severe seasoning preferences. The root beer is made from a hot mix, which means it’s made using hot liquids (as opposed to brewing over fire or brewing with cold water). It’s available all year and has no caffeine but contains caramel.
4. WBC Goose Island Root Beer
This root beer can’t seem to decide on a name; it keeps adding the WBC, dropping it, and then re-adding it. Wit Beverage Company is abbreviated as WBC. However, whatever they call themselves, they’ll keep the winning formula for their famous root beer. It’s brewed in the 1920s style known as “Chicago Style” WBC was the first to do so in 1988.
For that wonderful fizz, their secret is ‘triple carbonated water.’ It isn’t as sweet as similar brands. It’s also not syrupy because it’s not pasteurized. With a vanilla front and a wintergreen finish, it’s nevertheless deliciously rich and creamy. It contains 45g of carbs, including 43g of genuine cane sugar.
5. Saranac Root Beer
The best glass bottle root beer brands possess all of the characteristics of outstanding beer. Even if they won’t make you drunk, they have the head, the lace, and the aroma. Saranac Root Beer accomplishes this admirably. It has a rich, creamy, and long-lasting frothy top. Its bright pink package is also sure to capture your attention (unless toxic masculinity gets in the way). Saranac is a railroad station.
FX Matt Brewing produces 1888 Tavern Root Beer, which was later renamed Saranac Root Beer. Francis Xavier Matt, the company’s creator, was a 19-year-old German working at Carl Bierbauer’s brewery in Columbia. With a dozen employees, he reorganized the Utica division as West End Brewery. Root beer and other soft beverages kept the brand viable during prohibition, pun intended.
6. Babbling Brook’s Root Beer
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band. Nickelbrook is as well. There’s no connection to the band other than the fact that it’s named for the founder’s kids, Nick and Brook. And while northern punk rock isn’t exactly polite, their root beer is. Also, while root beer is primarily an American beverage, the few overseas versions taste… different. This version from Canada is clever.
It’s an artisanal (root) beer made with “conventional processing and organic ingredients.” It’s not as sweet as American brands, and the licorice overtones are stronger. There are hints of anise, sassafras, and orange peel in there as well. Moreover, vanilla, burdock root, and cinnamon bark, with brown cane sugar are the major sweetener.
List of Root Beer Brands
- A&W
- Barq’s
- Dad’s
- Goose Island
- IBC
- Mug
- Sioux City
- Sprecher
- Stewart’s
Bottled Root Beer Brands
- Sioux City Root Beer
Oldest Root Beer Brands
The most common type of root beer consumed was bottled root beer. So, let’s discuss the oldest root beer brands listed below:
Hires Root Beer
Hires is regarded as America’s first and oldest root beer brand. According to the official history of the brand, Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires first had root beer while on his honeymoon in 1875. However, historical versions differ, and it is uncertain when, where, or how Hires invented his root beer.
However, hires began marketing his version of root beer in 1876, according to what is known. As well as he began creating a liquid extract and syrup for use in soda fountains in 1884, after initially selling the root beer as a powder. Moreover, the company began selling bottled root beer in 1890 and claims to have sold over a million bottles by the end of the following year.
Despite being the first and oldest root beer on the market, Hires is no longer readily accessible. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group owns the firm, while other Dr. Pepper root beer brands such as A&W Root Beer are more popular. Because other Dr. Pepper-owned brands like A&W Root Beer compete for the same bottlers on behalf of the same firm, hiring opportunities in the United States are restricted.
Barq Root Beer
Edward Charles Edmond Barq created Barq’s root beer in 1898. Edward Barq and his brother Gaston established and operated the Barq Brothers Bottling Company in New Orleans before moving to Biloxi, Mississippi in 1897. They made their own sodas by bottling carbonated water. Edward founded the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works in 1898 and began selling root beer.
To avoid a legal snafu with Hires Root Beer, the drink was initially dubbed “root beer.” Barq’s returned to New Orleans in the 1970s, when a sugar-free version of the drink was introduced. Over the next few decades, Barq’s grows into a national brand, and in 1995, The Coca-Cola Company buys the company, which it still owns today. We regard this root beer as the second oldest root beer brand.
A & W Root Beer
Roy Allen purchased a root beer recipe in 1919 and began marketing it in Lodi, California. Allen teamed up with Frank Wright to establish A&W Root Beer a year later. Allen bought out his partner in 1924 and got a trademark for the brand that is currently the world’s best-selling root beer.
Dad’s Root Beer
Ely Klapman and Barney Berns developed the recipe for Dad’s Root Beer in the basement of Klapman’s Chicago-area house in the late 1930s. It was also the first product to employ the Atlanta Paper Company’s six-pack packaging concept, which was established in the 1940s.
Mug Root Beer
During the 1940s, the Belfast Beverage Company marketed Mug Root Beer as “Belfast Root Beer.” Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer was later renamed Mug Root Beer, which was eventually abbreviated to Mug Root Beer. Mug’s brand mascot is a bulldog named “Dog,” which is currently manufactured and sold by PepsiCo.
DISCLAIMER!
This article should NOT be used as a guide for purchase, it’s solely for informational purposes. We thereby emphasize that we do NOT endorse any of the brands in this post. They are subject to your choice of decision and verification. We are not sponsored by any of the brands and the information provided here is to the best of our knowledge.
FAQs
How many brands of root beer are there?
There are hundreds of root beer brands bottled in the United States, with 114 of them available at The Root Beer Store in Washington State, however, the number is expected to continue to grow.
What are the popular brands of root beer?
The most popular root beer brands include; A&W Root Beer and Barq’s Root Beer
Which brand of root beer is the best?
The root beer you should buy is A&W. Its pleasant taste is sure to be a favorite with people of all ages. When you want the best root beer money can buy, A&W Root Beer is the place to go.
2 comments
I like how you put the ingredients for most of them, in particular whether they’re using HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) or not. Now I know I will not be buying IBC any more since they use HFCS.
Good article! How about Faygo Root Beer? Just found out tonight it was invented in 1910 tastes a lot like Hires root beer in my opinion. Tasty Stuff! Yours Truly Chris Hakim