Root beer
|
A glass of root beer with foam |
Root beer is a
fermented beverage made from a combination of
vanilla,
cherry tree bark,
licorice root,
sarsaparilla root,
sassafras root bark,
nutmeg,
anise, and
molasses among other ingredients. Many local brands of root beer exist, and homemade root beer is made from concentrate or (rarely) from actual roots. Like alcoholic
beer, root beer has a thick and foamy head when poured.
Root beer is a predominantly
North American beverage, constituting about 3% of the
American soft drink market.
|
Root beer being poured into a glass |
Other ingredients may include
allspice,
birch bark,
coriander,
juniper,
ginger,
wintergreen,
hops,
burdock root,
dandelion root,
spikenard,
pipsissewa,
guaiacum,
yellow dock,
honey,
clover,
cinnamon,
prickly ash bark, and
yucca.
Due to the wide variety of ingredients possible the flavor of root beer is widely variable between brands. This is especially true of local brands. Root beer is very similar in taste to
sarsaparilla, which may also be called root beer.
In Britain, there are several differentiated root beers, which rose to prominence with the
temperance movement in the 20th century. These include sarsaparilla,
dandelion and burdock, and
ginger beer. They were strongly flavored drinks that people could use as an alternative to
alcoholic beverages, and there tended to be a strong local preference for one of these. Well into the
1960s, these outsold
cola drinks.
|
A glass of bubbling root beer |
Root beer was a traditional beverage and herbal medicine. The beverage was often alcoholic, usually around 2%. As a medicine it was used for treating cough and mouth sores. Commercially prepared root beer was developed by
Charles Elmer Hires on
May 16,
1866. He presented root tea powder at the
1876 Philadelphia Centennial exhibition. In
1893 he began selling bottled carbonated root beer. There was an upsurgence in the popularity of root beer in the United States during the period of
prohibition in the early 20th Century as local breweries resorted to brewing root beer since other, alcoholic, beverages were outlawed.
[Kim Severson, Real Men Drink Root Beer, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 1999]Home-made root beer is made using flavoring (either a concentrate, or actual roots and spices) to which is added sugar, water, and yeast. It is allowed to ferment under pressure to retain the carbonation and limit the alcohol produced by the yeast to low levels.
The
FDA banned
sassafras root in the U.S. in
1960 because it contains
safrole, a potential
carcinogen. The young shoots, bark, and leaves do not contain this toxin, so commercial extracts are often made from these. Also,
artificial flavoring agents have been developed which are used in some commercial root beers. Other varieties use sassafras root extract from which the safrole has been removed. The sassafras tree grows wild in most of the Eastern United States, and a person could harvest the wild plants; however, removing safrole from sassafras root extract, and verifying its safety for use, is a task that is beyond the ability and equipment of most homebrewers.
Root beer is also used as a flavoring for
candy,
cough drops,
popcorn,
root beer floats,
jelly beans,
cakes,
popsicles,
milk,
barbecue sauce, and
breads.
Root beer is occasionally used by the media when a beer-like beverage is portrayed which must be non-alcoholic for family audiences. An example is
Tapper, a popular arcade video game from Bally Midway in 1983. The player is a bartender who must pour and serve beer to customers in several different bars. When this caused some controversy, a nearly-identical variant of the game was released the following year called
Root Beer Tapper, with all the beer now being root beer instead. Another instance was in an episode of
Dragonball Z, a sign on a bar read 'Beer,' but for American TV audiences, Funimation had 'Root' sloppily crammed between the edge of the sign and the 'B' in beer.
British singer
Jimmy Somerville released a short album called
Root Beer in
2000, and its cover art featured a cartoon version of Somerville riding a root beer barrel like a rodeo bronco.
In the
Monkey Island series of computer games, root beer is a weapon against ghosts.
In
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Starfleet Officers often order root beer at Quark's.
In
Charles Schulz's
comic strip Peanuts, root beer is the beverage commonly drunk by
beagle Snoopy.
In the 1998 film
The Big Lebowski, the narrator orders a
sarsaparilla while talking to the Dude.
In Kidney Troubles, an episode aired during the tenth season of
The Simpsons, Homer visits a saloon and orders a
Whiskey and the bartender tells him that they only serve sarsaparilla. In addition,
Grandpa Simpson claims that they don't sell sarsaparilla in Springfield because it angerss the blood.
Root beer brands include:
*
1919 Root Beer New Ulm, Minnesota*
A-Treat Allentown, Pennsylvania*
A&W Root Beer —
Cadbury-Schweppes*
Abita*
Barq's —
Coca-Cola*
Barrelhead*
Baumeister's Root Beer Kewaunee Bottling, WI.
*
Bosque*
Briar's Root Beer*
Cap'n Eli's Root Beer*
Carters Root Beer UK only, produced for the supermarket
ASDA.
*
Clover Classic*
Dad's Root Beer —
Monarch Beverages*
Dog n Suds *
Fanta*
Faygo*
Fitz's*
Frostie's*
Frostop Root Beer*
Goose Island*
Hank's Root Beer*
Henry Weinhard's Root Beer
*
Hey Song Sarsparilla --
Taiwanese brand of root beer produced by the
Hey Song Company.
*
Hires Root Beer *
Hosmer Mountain Root Beer*
IBC Root Beer —
Cadbury-Schweppes*
Iris Root Beer*
Jones Soda Root Beer*
Blumers*
Journey*
Jumpin' Johnny's Root Beer*
Killebrew Root Beer*
Lost Trail*
Maine Root (root beer/sasparilla)*
Marky's Old Timey Root Beer*
Mug Root Beer —
PepsiCo*
Mug 'n' Bun*
Old Dominion Root Beer*
Our Family —
Nash Finch Company*
Pirates Keg*
Point Premium Root Beer Stevens Point Brewery, WI
*
Ramblin' Root Beer —
Coca-Cola, Replaced in mid-1990s with
Barq's*
Root 66*
Rochester Root Beer*
Roundhouse*
Saranac Root Beer — The Matt Brewing Company
*
Sarsi — Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.
*
Shasta*
Sioux City Root Beer — White Rock Products Corporation
*
Sprecher Brewery*
Stewart's Fountain Classics — Cadbury-Schweppes
*
Super Chill*
Thomas Kemper*
Tommyknocker*
Triple XXX*
Virgil's Root Beer —
Reed's, Inc.*
Birch beer*
Ginger beer*
Beer*
Sasparilla*
Dandelion and burdock*
anthony's Root Beer barrel Reviews of 321 different brews
*
Spike's Root Beer Ratings and Reviews Reviews, photos, and ingredient information on different brands
*
SodaMuseum.com*
Root Beer World*
Condensed information about root beer from the Home Brewers Digest 1991-1994*
Root Beer in the UK Information and forum regarding the availability of root beer in the UK
*
RootBeer.net*
Root Beer Brands- RootBeer.net*
Luke's Root Beer Pages*
RootBeerKegs.com Information concerning Root Beer Kegs
