The Rootbeer Brothers

Brew & BBQ at The Swinging Door

2009-01-23T16:10:00.003-05:00

During a recent visit to Texas my friend's dad decided it was high time that I try the best BBQ in Texas..... well at least in the Houston area anyway. I must admit I was somewhat skeptical as we drove up to what looked like a converted chicken barn. The place was called "The Swinging Door" and displayed a scaled model of a covered wagon out front advertising the restaurant. My initial impression did not improve when they handed out the menu which was a xerox copy of a hand drawn menu. Like I said, I had my doubts from the very beginning..... However, the aroma within this very unique setting ( I think the place was barn at one time) was absolutely mouth watering. The sweet BBQ smell wrapped around my nose like a most welcomed friend.

As I reviewed the menu I noticed that soft drinks was listed without a list of those available. I asked the waitress what they had, hoping for some root beer of course. She went down a list and included my desired choice. When I ordered root beer she off handedly mentioned that "you will love the root beer here, they make it themselves" THEY MAKE IT THEMSELVES!!!!!! I could not wait.....

To be very frank, it would be very difficult to distinguish between which was better, the BBQ or the brew. Both were absolutely complementary. I am not sure how the Swinging Door brew would fall within our ranks but it certainly met standard by all means. In some strange way this brew is precisely the brew you would want with the best BBQ in Houston.... best part is that you will not need to go any further than The Swinging Door to get both.
-Adam

photos of the Swinging Door obtained from their website at www.swingingdoor.com

Fitz's Root Beer - The St. Louis Hometown Brew

2008-12-20T16:45:00.012-05:00

Located in the heart of Delmar Boulevard inside what appears to be a very old U.S. Postal building is one of the most tasty root beer gems of Midwest America.

Fitz's Bottling Company is legend in this part of the land and I have wanted to stop in for a long time, the other day we finally found the time. After our tasty visit I am happy to report we were not let down.

As we entered the restaurant/bottling-works I was of course most interested in the bottling process. Lucky for all the customers, the entire bottling works is easily observed from the restaurant. From start to finish the entire process was simply amazing. On this particular day they were bottling Cream Soda which was also most tasty.

The process began with the filler, the bottles were quickly filled with creamy goodness and then moved along to the caper.

The caper quickly snapped and crimped on the cap and then tipped the bottle back and forth to assure that a seal had been made and to mix the contents.

As the capped bottles moved along the fast moving track one bottler was tasked with tase testing the final product to ensure quality.

The "Taster", oh yes there is a guy that pulls some of the first bottles off the line, "pops the top" and slams down some sweet brew and then pours out the rest so he could slam down a few more. All for quality assurance I am sure. Now that is a job after my own heart. The taster certainly seemed to be the happiest worker on the line. That must be the best job at Fitz's.

The finished product is sped off to the final stop of the line were the bottles are placed in boxes, shrinked wrapped and placed on a truck and then they are ready to roll. A fast process indeed, fun and exciting especially for a Rootbeer Brother!

The restaurant had much to offer as well. The food was most unique and very tasty. One is also able to purchase fresh bottled brew ready to roll in convenient 4-packs.

What can I say, a mammoth sized burger, fresh brew in a frosty mug and 4-packs ready to roll..... Fitz's is by far my favorite St. Louis eatery by a long shot.

Check out Fitz's for your self

http://www.fitzsrootbeer.com/

A&W 2-liter Safe

2008-11-10T20:43:00.003-05:00

If you are a root beer connoisseur and also a collector of fine things, now you can protect them in your very own A&W Root Beer safe. That's right, a safe stuffed right inside a 2-liter bottle of the standard. Don't ask me how or why I found this little gem on the web. I guess it is true you can find any thing.

The safe inside the bottle is 3 inches by 2 1/2 inches which is plenty of space to conceal your all of your little important valuables - perhaps, your custom gold bottle opener. The bottle itself is 11 1/2 inches tall. Behind the label is the secret area that will not open up accidentally because it is fitted with a special mechanism that prevents it from being opened unless you rotate the base counterclockwise and pull it apart. Nifty indeed. For more information, check out there website.

-Jeff

A&W: Approved by the American Dental Association???

2008-11-06T05:46:00.004-05:00

I was surfing the net the other day and noticed a particular story written for Time magazine regarding the affects of soda on tooth enamel. David Bjerklie reported on a scientific experiment by the University of Maryland Dental School in which they took tiny blocks of tooth enamel and exposed them to many different sodas. All sodas caused damage to the tooth enamel. Canned iced tea caused 30 times more damage than fresh ice tea. The worst drinks were non-colas such as Mountain Dew. There was no difference between diet and regular sodas. Only one drink caused virtually no harm to the enamel: A&W Root Beer. The researchers concluded it was due to the standard having less additives than the other sodas tested.

To read the full article click here.

-Jeff

Root Beer Slush

2008-11-01T18:32:00.002-04:00

Here is our latest installment of songs dedicated to "The Love of Root Beer". It is an excellent song! We hope you enjoy.

-Jeff

Happy Halloween from A&W & The Rootbeer Brothers

2008-10-31T15:03:00.005-04:00

While walking through my favorite aisle (soft drinks) at our local grocery store I came across a display of tiny six-pack cans of A&W bearing a Halloween theme. Now that is what I call one tasty way to celebrate the Fall season.

The tiny can matched my daughter's tiny mug as if it was meant to be. So while my children and I will be enjoying our tiny cans of brew may we also extend a Happy Halloween from your friends at A&W and The Rootbeer Brothers.

-Adam

Vance Gilbert: Root Beer for Breakfast

2008-10-25T08:30:00.002-04:00

So often my wonderful sweetheart reminds me that my choice of breakfast is "unhealthy". You see my friends it is a typical scene that my refrigerator is packed with various brands and flavors of America's soft drink..... root beer. This may not bee true for many but for a Rootbeer Brother this is everyday life.

In the hustle and bustle of life I am typically about 5 to 10 minutes behind schedule and will often reach for a cold brew on my way out the door in the morning. This has become such a routine for me that my peers have made jokes about my choice of breakfast. However there is one amongst us that has captured my true feelings regarding this issue. The folk musician/song writer Vance Gilbert has always brought his unique style of approaching the ups & downs of life. However, one his songs in particular really capture the life and times of a root beer lover.

click on this link to hear the song "Root Beer for Breakfast" for free courtesy of Rhapsody Root Beer For Breakfast

-Adam

Blue Sky Root Beer Encore (Organic) : A Brew Mother Nature "Never" Intended

2008-10-21T14:27:00.001-04:00

There is a very unfortunate myth in the world of food that "Organic" is better. In some areas I would agree, grains, meat, shoot even milk, however, root beer...... not even!!!! Blue Sky has recently added their encore which seems a bit presumptuous. I have had their Creamy Root Beer and was not repulsed but I haven't bought any more since. So the thought of an encore seems a little out of line. However, considering that this is intended to be an informative evaluation I will start with the good.

The head was thick and long lasting. Very thick compared to the standard but also much darker, like crazy darker. The dark head of course was a direct result of the brew itself. I am always fond of dark brew but this was like Tales from the Dark Side dark. Another words SCARY DARK. What have they got in this can of brew? Well in fact one ingredient I am actually on board with, cane sugar, of course it is organic. So cane sugar, thick head, dark brew..... that is where it ends and turns so drastically bad!

The very aroma of this brew is a bit nauseating. At times the aroma is not a good indicator of what is actually in the can. In this can however it was only the beginning of a very bad trip to Santa Fe and back. That's right we can blame the following on New Mexico.

The taste was so far from what a good brew should be. It would be very difficult in words how to describe my gruelling attempt to compare this organic can of swill to a genuine brew. There was a slight hint of root beer extract but it was overwhelmed by a taste of complete NASTY! The bottom line, I dumped the encore down the drain and used the standard to flush my pallet. If a good brew is what your looking for then make sure your Sky is far from Blue!

- .5 Frosty Mugs (only because we have no lower increment) it was really that bad of a brew!

-Adam

Public Service Announcement: Brought to you by our good friend Snoopy.

2008-10-18T22:52:00.002-04:00

Enjoy.

-Jeff

A&W Root Beer Floats - Snoopy & Woodstock
Uploaded by joecool85

Blue Sky Root Beer Encore: Encore? No Standing Ovation Here.

2008-10-16T20:50:00.005-04:00

Blue Sky Encore is our next installment of our review crusade. I found this organic root beer at my local natural food market, Native Sun. For those of you who do fancy root beer and are somewhat unimpressed by the everyday "syndicated" root beer varieties, local natural food markets normally have some of the more obscure brand root beers. I highly recommend exploring their soda aisles.

Blue Sky Beverage Company is a fully-owned part of Hansen Beverage Company. It was originally established as the Blue Sky Juice Company in 1980 and expanded to include a soda line 1983. Pretty good success story if you ask me ...... BUT

I believe there is good reason that this company is not named the Blue Sky Root Beer Company. To be blunt, this is the worst tasting root beer I have ever sampled. What is really disappointing is that it has such wonderful qualities of a promising root beer. In fact, you may not find another brew as dark and dense as Blue Sky. The aroma is sweet, yet peculiar, and the head is phenomenal. With that being said, the foam is much darker than the pearly white head of A&W's, but is still nice to see.

Here is the problem. Blue Sky is a tongue retching experience. That's right, I said "tongue retching". All of you medical types are saying that may be an impossible concept, but trust me, your taste buds want nothing of this brew. As soon as it touches your tongue you want to release it back into your frosty mug.

The bottom line: Blue Sky Root Beer Encore lacks serious flavor.

0.5 Frosty Mugs

-Jeff

The Root Beer Song

2008-10-15T23:36:00.002-04:00

Sit back and enjoy....with a frosty mug. I don't think I can top this performance.

- Jeff

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer - An Olde Time Favorite

2008-10-08T23:56:00.000-04:00

Dad's Root Beer has been around for the last 70 years. This brew has been making life smoother here in America since 1937 when Chicago Distilled Water & Beverage Company first began bottling the new root beer recipe. Along the way Dad's has been involved in some legendary innovations. The most notable is that it was the first beverage ever to be packaged as a six-pack unit. Dad's gained some recognition in 1986 when it was identified as the second most distributed root beer only second to, our standard, A&W. The brand has been sold on numerous occasions including for a short time being owned by Monarch Foods who also continues to own another distinct beverage called Moxie. Most recently there has been a reemergence of Dad's. The current company has big plans for this brew including flooding Wal-Mart stores with these big bottles of root beer of which is the place where I bought mine.

The brew itself falls in a similar place as the other brews with history behind it. In those days the standard was just that, the standard. I am sure back then it was actually Hires Root Beer which was the original. All the same though that is what other brews were probably based on. Hence, there are many similarities between them.

Dad's proved to have a bit of a sweeter aroma and a much darker color. But the well expected root beer extract aroma was clearly represented. The carbonation was much less than A&W which was not becoming of the brew. It resulted in less head and less bite. I am not a big fan of too much carbonation but too little and the brew begins to remind me of Kool Aide. The logo and label are original, not very creative but not bad for 70 years ago. The flavor does carry much more of a licorice tinge which makes this brew distinct from the standard. All and all not a bad brew to keep around, the price is right and the size is perfect for a day's supply of brew. I grant Dad's the same as the standard

-3 Frosty Mugs

-Adam

Dad's Classic Draft Root Beer - A Special Root Beer

2008-10-08T20:44:00.004-04:00

"Any root beer can be Father's brew. It takes a special root beer to be Dad's brew."

Dad's is a decent brew with no frills, but is rich in full-flavored history. Born and bred in Chicago, IL in early 1937, Dad's fanfare has grown steadily ever since. At one time, Dad's was the second most sold root beer. Can you guess what its main competitor was? Yep, the standard - A&W.

Some Fun Facts:
Did you know that Dad's was the first product ever to use a six-pack format? Also, interesting to note is the unique marketing strategy employed by Dad's. It was originally sold in three sizes: a half gallon size - "Papa", a full quart size - "Mama", and the 7oz or 10oz, "Junior" sizes, consisted of six bottle carry-outs.

Dad's color and odor are about on par with that of the standard. Pouring Dad's into my trusty mug proved not to produce very much head at all. In fact, A&W's head had about twice as much foam as Dad's. Dad's does have a rich, dark thick flavor that ends with a creamy caramel aftertaste. The aftertaste was a bit too much.

Dad's is a cane sugar brew, but I don't think it is in the same league as many of the other cane sugar brews out there, most notably, Virgil's.

I give Dad's a respectable 2.5 Frosty Mugs.

-Jeff

Breyer's makes good with a Standard in Ice Cream

2008-09-30T00:06:00.001-04:00

In light of the recent "rant" I am happy to bring something very inspiring. Meyers may not make for the best root beer float in general. In fact back in 1997 I did some empirical investigations into this and found that Meyers actually was one of the least desirable ice cream selections to use. I am happy to report however, that they have finally made good.

Breyer's A&W Root Beer Float Ice Cream

Picture this my friends, creamy vanilla ice cream perfectly swirled with A&W flavored sherbet. Based on my experiences of root beer flavored products, they typically fall far short from the expectation. This was not the case. It actually tasted just like A&W, in fact it tasted so GREAT and so much like an actual float! I was very tempted to let my bowl of ice cream melt just a little bit to achieve the actual texture of a float. I am confident that it would have been perfect.

I found this Breyer's selection at my local Wal*Mart Supercenter. Enjoy it my friends, I know you will.

By the way it is so great having Jeff back! He is the official tech of our brotherhood and so it is he we need to thank for the recent updates to the site. He sure keeps our little website here up to date with the most recent sweet updates. We will be back to evaluating brew very soon.

Welcome Back Jeff, we sure missed you......

-Adam

Happy Root Beer Float Day - Belated (Big Time)

2008-09-28T21:54:00.003-04:00

I have been quite busy the last few months and it looks like the future will not be much different. Hopefully, now that I have some time before the end of the year Adam and I will be able to get back on track and push out some more reviews.

In the meantime, check out this Video Rant I came across regarding last months National Root Beer Float day (August 6). This guy speaks some truths, he may be off on his root beer selection, but he hits the nail on the head with his ice cream critique. I prefer Blue Bell.

-Jeff

Root Beer BBQ

2008-08-30T23:11:00.004-04:00

While visiting Ohio over the Labor Day weekend my great friend, Michael Williams handed me over a bottle of the best sounding BBQ sauce I have ever come across. The label read Sprecher Root Beer BBQ Sauce the first thought that came to my mind was how awesome is this! Root beer and BBQ, it's like having your cake and eating it too!

I could not wait to get a taste of this stuff. The mere thought that a root beer I rated with 4 Frosty Mugs had been mixed with BBQ sauce was simply overwhelming. My anticipation only worsened as I further inspected the label. There it was, the black bird with evil looking eyes holding a pitch fork and a bottle of Sprecher that was being dumped into a massive black cauldron that was sitting on a flaming fire. The possibilities were simply endless, being able to use a root beer bbq sauce as a condiment to make other foods more pleasing than ever.... what a dream.

As I was opening up this bottle of sauce I noticed something that really caught my eye. The pig that is standing next to the crow seems a bit scared. Now that is FUNNY!!!!! Just look at that pig, worried about the Sprecher Black Bird.

After getting a good laugh from the label it was finally time to taste this Root Beer BBQ Sauce. My first impression was that the sauce was a sweet one and some what spicy in a unique way. The fact is the sauce was GREAT!!!!! However I quickly realized something even more important, there was not a drop of Sprecher in this sauce!!! In fact there was not a drop of any root beer in this sauce. My dreams of root beer bbq quickly evaporated, the plain truth was that root beer and bbq sauce should, and in fact is, not found in the same bottle. I am certainly most appreciative to Mr. Williams, but in the end.... all for naught.

-Adam

A Frozen Standard

2008-07-30T23:07:00.001-04:00

As we have been experiencing recent heat advisories here in the Midwest one can't help but begin to look for some ice cold relief. I had to look no further than a local pharmacy of all places???? That's right, while waiting for some prescriptions I came across a fantastic find! For a measly $2 one can purchase a box of "Soda Pops" freeze pops. They had many varieties but one specifically caught my eye and my taste buds: A&W of course.

I could hardly wait for the freezer to work its magic. The wait was pretty much worth it. I mean I certainly would take an ice cold can of the brew over an ice pop, but it was still worth the two bucks.

-Adam

Root Beer Float at Andy's Frozen Custard

2008-06-28T13:45:00.003-04:00

As the summer is heating up one might want to find a smooth way to cool down. I have been most fortunate as to have found the smoothest way to do this at a local frozen custard shop. I say local but really these custard peddlers are sprouting up everywhere: Andy's Frozen Custard

These guys not only know how to make the most smooth and delicious custard ever but they have perfected the (at least in my opinion) the root beer float. At this point I should mention that they have Sprecher on tap, oh yes ON TAP. So picture this first they fill a cup 2/3 full of Andy's custard and then drown it in Sprecher (from the TAP) and serve it up with a spoon and straw. Summer has never been sweeter!!!!! So here is the bad side, although these places are sprouting up everywhere what I mean to say is everywhere in the Ozarks. Another words if you want to try it you may have to take a little trip to SW Missouri, you will be glad you did :)

-Adam

Cops Bust Teens' Root-Beer Kegger Party

2008-05-02T15:51:00.004-04:00

A fellow root beer enthusiast told me about this story and I just had to share it with everyone. What a classic tale of good brew fun gone bad!

Cops bust teens' root-beer kegger:
Dozens of high schoolers forced to take breath tests

Associated Press
updated 6:26 p.m. CT, Fri., March. 28, 2008

WAUSAU, Wis. - Cars lining the street. A house full of young people. A keg and drinking games inside. Police thought they had an underage boozing party on their hands.
But though they made dozens of teens take breath tests, none tested positive for alcohol. That's because the keg contained root beer.

The party was held by a high school student who wanted to show that teens don't always drink alcohol at their parties. It has gained fame on YouTube.com.

Dustin Zebro, 18, said he staged the party after friends at D.C. Everest High School got suspended from sports because of pictures showing them drinking from red cups.
The root-beer kegger was "to kind of make fun of the school," he said. "They assumed there was beer in the cups. We just wanted to have some root beer in red cups and just make it look like a party, but there actually wasn't any alcohol."

Zebro purchased a quarter-barrel of 1919 Classic American Draft Root Beer, and by 10 p.m. Saturday, the scene outside his rural Wausau home had all the makings of a teen drinking party — cars, noise and kids.

Kronenwetter Police Chief Daniel Joling said an officer was dispatched to the home March 1 on a complaint of cars blocking the road.

Juveniles began coming out of the house after the officer used his squad car's loudspeaker to warn that cars would soon be towed, Officer Jason Rasmussen wrote in his report.

Nearly 90 breath tests were done, and officers even searched locked rooms for hiding teens.
"It was a tremendous waste of time and manpower, but we still had a job to do, and our officers did it," Joling said. "If one kid had come there, even hadn't drank there, but had come there and had been drinking and had left and crashed and burned, then what would the sentiment be? Why didn't the police check everybody out?"

The Video of the Busted Up Root-Beer Kegger Party

-Adam

The Home of "The World's Greatest Hamburgers" also serves up a "Great Root Beer Float"

2008-04-13T18:22:00.005-04:00

I wish to extend my best wishes to Jeff as he will be away for a short time caring for some of his employment endeavors. While he is away I plan to bring light to some aspects of the Root Beer World that we are not typically able to focus on due to our diligent efforts in evaluating the brew itself.

This entry will discuss my impressions of a root beer float that I enjoyed in "The Home of the World's Greatest Hamburgers" also known as Fuddruckers.

These hamburger joints are found all around the country. They provide an atmosphere that is not typical of a normal fast food restaurant, simply because they are not a fast food restaurant. In fact the service is great, they make the burgers fresh to order and provide more condiments than one may ever find elsewhere. Now all these amenities do come at price, a steep price when you consider the fact that all they are serving is hamburgers. But for those willing to pay $8 for a decked out burger, this is the place.

My wonderful wife started out our life together working the bakery of a Fuddruckers and since then we have always held a soft spot in our heart for this food chain. We stopped in the other day after many years of not doing so. To my surprise they listed on their menu a root beer float and they laid it on thick describing it as one of the best. In fact they pride themselves in using what they believe is the best ingredients for making a root beer float.

They start off with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and then mix in 2/3 of a bottle of IBC Root Beer. I am a big fan of the Texas based ice cream and IBC, well we all know where I stand on that. I must admit, Blue Bell and IBC make a great combo and with the fact that they bring the remaining IBC in the bottle to your table is a huge plus in my book. I am not sure where this mix would land on a scale with other floats but this is a safe bet, well worth the money.

A big decked-out burger and a root beer float...... the makings of one perfect dinner!

-Adam

how I got through finals week: Party Keg of Virgil's

2008-03-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

I am happy to say that my graduate school finals are final. This has been my 7th term since arriving in my current program and this has been the most stressful term yet. Welcome to graduate school...... you know what I mean?

My secret to getting through finals this term is of course directly related my experiences here at the Rootbeer Brothers. The bottom line is that it was all about the root beer of course. There are not too many places one can score the 5 liter party keg of Virgil's Root Beer but our local Price Cutter Plus grocery store keeps these bad boys in stock. For a crisp $20 a person can walk in, shoulder this keg, and walk out without even being carded, regardless of your age. That is a sweet deal!

All jokes aside though, this brew has kept me up and alert at some extreme times of these most recent nights. Between having exams to study for as well as a term paper to complete, time was not on my side. The ability to stay awake through the wee small hours of the morning made all the difference. So with that I will embark on my Spring break by extending a big 5 liter thanks to Virgil and sending everyone else a Happy Spring !!!

-Adam

Another Classic A&W Commercial

2008-03-14T22:56:00.000-04:00

Steaz Green Tea Root Beer Soda: The Only Brew I May Ever Decline

2008-03-13T16:39:00.005-04:00

I never would have expected to decline any brew. In fact that is why I love root beer, because it flows well with my personal choices regarding my dietary habits. It is due to these very personal dietary choices that I have come at odds with Steaz crazy concoction.

Many years ago I decided, for very personal reasons, to abstain from the use of alcohol, coffee and tea. When I made this choice it was my assumption that there was only 1 kind of what I considered "real" tea which I typically called black tea. You see I do drink herbal teas often and find many benefits from doing so. When I first saw green tea in the store I assumed it too was an herbal tea and went about my way. Oddly enough though I have never come across green tea in any setting where I would have had the opportunity or notion to drink it, until now of course. As I was setting up my root beer evaluation supplies (2 frosty mugs, a bottle of A&W, and a can/bottle of the brew to be evaluated) my wonderful wife noticed the label on this brew said "green tea". She laughed and asked if I intended to actually drink this. When I told her that I did she then began to provide a nut-shell lesson on the reality of tea. Was I ever surprised!

I learned that black tea is a variety of tea that is more oxidized than the other varieties such as green, oolong and white varieties. All four varieties are made from leaves of Camellia sinensis. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than the less oxidized teas.

Essentially, I quickly realized that there was very little difference between the green and black varieties of tea. So where does this leave me? Of course, at a place where I am going to have to decline my first brew. To be honest though after reading Jeff's entry I may be getting out when the getting is good. I certainly appreciate Jeff's entry and am certainly not trying to push my personal choices on to another. Simply, I am just providing an explanation to why I am declining a brew. For these reasons I am going to mirror Jeff's rating and also grant Steaz Green Tea Root Beer Soda with

2 Frosty Mugs.

-Adam

Virgil's is on the MOVE

2008-03-12T19:11:00.003-04:00

Reed's Inc. made another big announcement regarding one of the better root beers on the market. CEO Christopher Reed, NOT Christopher Reeve (A.K.A Superman), announced that Virgil's will be the first national brand root beer to be introduced as a micro-brewed soda draught.

The first production will be distributed in March 2008 and will be made available initially throughout the New England and Southern California marketplaces in select bars. Don't stop there Mr. Reed! Hit the college towns! Serve it up in the funky pizza joints around campus. For starters, hit the University of Florida's local hotspot, Satchel's Pizza. They have the best pie in town, but sorely lack on a good brew.

Check out the original news wire.

A&W Root Beer Classic Commercial

2008-03-12T00:10:00.001-04:00

Was it the taste that made A&W famous, or the really good commercials? Or a little bit of brute strength?