The Good Root Beers

My root beer ratings, loads of ratings. As you can see I rate every root beer that I try. The higher they are on the page, the better the rating. Click on the link at the bottom of the page for more ratings.

Picture of Bottle	Name	Review	Rating	Where I got it
	Iron Horse Root Beer	This is fabulous! It has a very sweet full Body and a nice Bite. The Head is wonderful, just like it is supposed to be. The After Taste is of vanilla and honey and is most pleasurable. When I first took a drink of this I got weak in the knees and knew it was what I had always been looking for.		I ordered this from the Bev Net.
	Hank's Root Beer	This is sooo goooood! It has a wonderfully full Body, a nice spicy Bite. The Head is almost perfect. After Taste is very pleasant.		This can be found on the east coast by Philadelphia or you can order it online. Try some of the googleads links that seem to be for places to buy root beer and you will probably find it.
	Henry Weinhard's Root Beer	One of my favorites. Nice full, sweet Body with the perfect Head. It is one of the nicest heads of any root beer. So much so that it is my standard head to compare against other root beers. Wonderful After Taste. Not a lot of Bite, but enough. It is very smooth.		You can find this at gas stations and supermarkets all across the west coast.
	Bulldog Root Beer	When I took the first drink I exclaimed "Oh wow!" The Body is wonderful. Lots of honey, vanilla, and the other essential flavors. Sweet and creamy, the kind of flavor you could just snuggle up to if that were possible. The best flavor. The Bite is not much but sufficient. The Head is frothy but not much, not flat by any means just less than is desirable. The After Taste is of vanilla and honey and very pleasing though a little sticky. I am proud to give this one my seal of approval.		I ordered this online.
	Sprecher Root Beer	Wow! This stuff is great. The Body is sweet and smooth with a nice honey flavor to it. One of the best root beer bodies that I have ever tasted. The Bite is there, but not too much, more on the smooth side, like I like it. The Head is good and frothy, but, unfortunately the head was too little to rank higher. The After Taste is also very nice with the honey. The only thing that could be improved would to have more vanilla flavor to it. All in all, this is a great brew.		I got this in the Black Cat Cafe in Sacramento CA. But, it can be obtained online also. There is a link to their site in my links page.
	Sparky's Root Beer	Yum, yum! This is a good one. The Body is really sweet and spicy with all of the right stuff. You can really taste the honey. The Bite is spicy and solid as well, almost too much for me, but not quite. It was rather sharp. The Head is decent, frothy, but a little too much on the slim side. The After Taste a luscious combination of honey and spices that left me tipping back the empty glass trying to get some more. Luckily, the brewers foresaw this effect and put it in 22 Oz. Bottles as well. Drinking this is a pleasure from the first draught to the last drop.		This can be ordered online.
	Frostie Vanilla Root Beer	Delicious! This has a sweet, creamy Body with lots of luscious vanilla. The Bite is on the weak side but not too bad. The Head is adequate, though it could be frothier. The After Taste is a wonderful vanilla flavor that lasts a long time. In short, it is basically a normal Frostie root beer with the strange unnatural flavor replaced with vanilla. A wise and excellent improvement.		I got this at Macey's in Provo
	Myers Avenue Red Root Beer	Oh my gosh! This stuff is different and yet great. The Body is great and creamy yet a little weak as far as the normal "root beer" flavor goes, but not bad really in any way. Then comes the amazing Bite with cinnamon but not too much so it is still smooth. The Head is excellent rivaling the other top root beer heads. The After Taste is of cinnamon and vanilla, a great way to end a great drinking experience. This is completely different than any other root beer that I have ever drank.		This was ordered online but is made in Illinois.
	Dominion Root Beer	Very nice Body. Head is good but it could use more. The Bite is nice but not too much and the After Taste is pleasant.		I got this in a mini-mart in Seattle
	Dog n Suds Root Beer	The Body is creamy and good. The right type of flavor with nothing overly special but nothing wrong at all. It is all there. The Bite is a little on the weak side but I have said it before and I will iterate it, like it SMOOTH! The Head is also nice and "sudsy?" though not as frothy as some of the others but definately adequate. The After Taste also has got the right stuff. I say that this root beer is just plain good. There is a dog on the bottle and the root beer is sudsy so I am assuming that this is where their name comes from. Or maybe one is supposed to order a hotdog and the root beer supplies the suds (it really is actually sudsy but in a good way). As of yet this remains an inigma to me.		This was ordered online
	Point Premium Root Beer	The point of this root beer is a delicious, sweet Body with all the right stuff, a medium frothy Head that sticks around for awhile, a nice but not very spicy Bite, and a pleasant After Taste of vanilla and honey. It was clear that when the standards for good root beer were laid down, they didn't miss the point.		This was ordered online
	Hot Rod Magazine Root Beer	This is one of those root beers with a nice sweet smooth Body. The Head is lacking but it doesn't go flat. The After Taste is adequate. The Bite is wonderful with Brazilian Guarana. The worst part is that it is caffinated but it does add to the bite. It has a very interesting bottle		My friend got this some where but I forgot. I have seen it at Hot Topic in the West Lake Mall in Seattle.
	Jones Root Beer	A sweet, pleasant Body though a little on the weak side but not too weak. The flavor is what root beer should taste like. It has a strong carbonation Bite leaning a little on the harsh side but not too harsh. The Head is tall though a it dissipates faster than I would like but the liquid stays fizzy and therefore still desirable. The After Taste is good and of the original flavor and fades away gradually. All in all, there is nothing really wrong with this and a lot right. I really enjoy it.		You can find Jones all over the western USA but at the same time, you never might know where you will find it.
	Capt'n Eli's Root Beer	A well crafted brew with attention to detail. I could taste the fact that they used natural flavors. The Body was sweet and creamy but with too much anise and no honey. The Bite was Spicy and the Head was perfect. The After Taste was of vanilla and anise that wasn't bad but at the same time not overly good. It was really good brew, but I just don't like the anise flavor too much, if they just had a little less of that and some honey...		This can be ordered from www.captneli.com. They also have a cool online comic.
	St. Arnold Root Beer	This is a delicous root beer. It has a rich, dark, rooty Body that is at the same time very creamy. The Bite boldly hits you as soon as the brew enters your mouth and stays with you a bit. It is sharp and spicy. The After Taste is very creamy and lingers a long time, which is to be desired. The Head however, is weak, though frothy.		I got this from Texas, www.saintarnold.com.
	Miligan's Island's Awesome Root Beer	This was good. A wonderful Body. The Bite was good. The After Taste was pleasureable but the Head was awful. It would was not only small, but it would go flat in about a minute. This alone was enough to stop it from getting a seal of approval.		I ordered this from Connecticut.
	Sea Dog Root Beer	Well, it seems that ol' (or maybe I should say young) Capt'n Eli taught his dog how to brew root beer as well. I must say, Sea Dog is pretty good. There is a lot of attention to details for a dog. It has a full flavored, smooth Body but unfortunately too much anise (I expect that he learned that from the Cap'.) There is not much Bite. It is really smooth which I do like though I think it should have a little bit more too it. The Head is excellent! It is difficult to pour a whole bottle into a mug. The head lasts almost as long as a diamond. Unfortuneatly it doesn't taste so good. The After Taste is a creamy vanilla and anise. Not really bad but not overly good. Over all it is a solid brew but not quite exceptional.		This can also be found at www.captaineli.com.
	Clover Classic Root Beer	A sweet rich Body with a zippy little Bite. The After Taste is some what fruity but not too fruity to be displeasureable. The Head however is completely terrible. There is no head at all and it is practically flat.		I ordered this online.
	Thomas Kemper Root Beer	A better than average brew but nothing spectacular. Nice Body, Bite, Head, and After Taste. Good on every thing but not great on any of them.		All across the West I think
	Deer Field Trading Company Root Beer	This is good. The Body is sweet and creamy though with a tad too much licorice. The Bite is nice and spicy. The Head is short, with a medium froth, which is rather disappointing. The After Taste is dark and almost candyish.		I got this at Walgreens.
	Tommy Knocker Root Beer	The Body is mapley, but kind of empty and not overly sweet. I do love that maple flavor though. There is not really much Bite at all, and, though I do like it smooth I like a little more. The Head is frothy but nothing too spectacular. I would class it as Ok. The After Taste is of maple but it doesn't linger. This brew gives a good first impression but falls short afterwards. It is also disappointing because they changed there recipe from what it originally was. To see the original review click here.		I got this in Provo, UT
	Trader Joe's Root Beer	This stuff is comepletely average for me. Nice Body, Bite, After Taste, but lacking in Head. There is absolutely nothing special about this. I would put this as the stereo-typical root beer.		My uncle got this at a Trader Joe's Store in California.
	A&W Root Beer	The standard Root Beer. Good Body, nice Head but too harsh in the carbonation on the Bite. After Taste is very pleasant. Better out of the tap at one of the many restaurants, but still good.		It is hard to find it in bottles but look, there is a good chance it could be close to you.
	Goose Island Root Beer	A nice sweet, smooth Body that was a little tangy. Wonderful Bite and a strange but pleasant After Taste. The Head however was horrible.		I ordered this online
	Jack Black's Dead Red Root Beer	This has a nice sweet and creamy Body. After the initial contact however, there is a strange flavor that surfaces and takes away from beauty of the brew. The Bite is too strange. There is too much Guarana in it. The Head is alright. The After Taste is of vanilla and Guarana.		I ordered this online
	Lost Trail Root Beer	This had a strong, almost dark Body. There was a noticeable amount of wintergreen that was not displeasing. The Bite was just right and the bottles were sealed tight (a couplet? Maybe not.) The Head was nice and frothy. It lingered like it should but wasn't anything extraordinary. The After Taste was a rather deplorable sticky type of thing that kind of ruined the otherwise pleasing experience. This is a good root beer that would go great with pizza and other foods, but not quite sipping quality.		This can be ordered online.
	Jackson Hole Buckin' Root Beer	A nice rooty Body with a spicy Bite made drinking this root beer rather enjoyable. The flavor was like that of a root beer barrel candy. The Head wasn't very frothy and fizzed away very quickly which disappointed me. The After Taste was sweet and spicy. There was a noticeable lack of vanilla flavor so it wasn't very creamy however. Factoring that into both body and after taste, coupled with the less than favorable head it is slightly more than drinkable at best.		I found this at a supermarket in Pulman WA.
	Bedford's Root Beer	The first two bottles of this stuff that I drank were wonderful, but the rest were lacking. The Body is sweet and creamy but a little weaker than it should be. Also, there is a hint of something strange in the flavor that just doesn't belong. The Bite is really non-existent. The Head is nice, but not frothy so even though there is a lot of it, it doesn't linger. The After Taste is pleasant, but that same strange flavor is there. This root beer on the whole has got the right stuff, but just not enough.		I got this at Albertson's in Provo, UT
	Sioux City Root Beer	The Body is average. Not too sweet and rather "soda-ish". A good Bite, but on the harsh side and not too spicy. Only a fair Head. There is not much After Taste. All in all, good, but lacking in every department.		I got this in Sacramento, CA
	Frostie Root Beer	The Body is good, but has a strange, unplaceable flavor surfacing after the initial contact. There is a good Bite. The Head good as well. The After Taste is that same strange flavor, which isn't gross, but just doesn't belong. If it were not for this aforementioned flavor, Frostie would've rated higher.		I ordered this online.
	Root 66 Root Beer	A complex Body with too much Bite. Head is ok. the After Taste could use vanilla. This is the only root beer with anise in it that I can at all stand.		I got this in Seattle
	IBC Root Beer	An ok root beer by my standards. Good Body and Head but too harsh and too much Bite for my taste. After Taste is ok, the best part about this is that it is much cheaper than the rest.		I can find this all across the west coast
	Dr. Brown's Root Beer	This stuff is Koshar, but it has no sodium. The Body is sweet but is not full. The overall flavor is wonderful but incomplete. The Head is weak. The Bite is ok but the After Taste actually leaves you quite disapointed.		I found this at the ethnic foods section of a QFC in seattle.
	Stewarts Root Beer	This a an average root beer. Good Body, good Head, good Bite. But the After Taste is a weird one that lingers too long so that the more you drink the less you want.		I've seen this in Oregon, California and Washington
	Dad's Root Beer	This is alright. The Body is good. The Bite is a little harsh for me, I like it smooth. The Head is nothing special. The After Taste is not displeasing.		I got this in B.C. Canada.
	Jumpin' Johnny's Root Beer	This root beer has an execptionally sweet and delicious Body but although it is delicious at first, it proves rather hollow. There is not much Bite and it has very little Head on it. The After Taste is nothing special and even turns slightly fruity after awhile which counters the sweet flavor at the begining. But because of the sweet delicious flavor, it does go very well with food and therefore is drinkable, and actually very desireable in that a food like pizza is greatly complimented by the sweet flavor, and the pizza flavor will fill the hollowness and mask the unpleasantness of the after taste.		This was ordered online.
	Mason's Root Beer	The Body is very sweet with an initial good root beer flavor, but then a slight fruity and out of place flavor sneaks its way in to distrupt the otherwise pleasant experiance. The Bite is lacking. The Head is acceptable and rather frothy and foamy but on the light side. The After Taste is sticky and not quite as it should be. I think it may have something to do with more sodium benzoate and citric acid than flavoring in the root beer. Keg Brewed Flavor indeed.		This was ordered online.
	Boylans Root Beer	This has a very strong Body and an alright After Taste. It says "best head" on the bottle but the Head is not that good. The Bite is ok.		I ordered this online
	Cool Mountain Root Beer	This has a strong, sticky Body. Kind of a "dark" flavor to it. It has a very solid Bite. The Head is acceptable, but it bubbles away quickly. The After Taste is anisish which is rather icky to me. When I drank it, there was an explosion of flavor in my mouth. The problem, it just doesn't stop exploding.		I ordered this online