Root beer belongs to the so-called small beers, a group of drinks with an ethyl alcohol content not exceeding 0.5% (and often even non-alcoholic), which have been brewed in America since colonization times. A single recipe did not exist and does not exist to this day. Different producers use plant roots, tree bark, herbs, and spices as ingredients. The non-alcoholic version of root beer is based on extracts or syrups with the addition of carbonated water. In the alcoholic version, the drink’s extract is mixed with yeast – for fermentation.
In the mid-nineteenth century, American pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires established mass production and sale of the “teetotaler beverage” – non-alcoholic root beer. According to historians, Hires was the first American entrepreneur to make a business out of soft drinks, and the popularity of root beer in the United States paved the way for such giants as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Traditional root beer is a non-alcoholic or low-alcohol carbonated beverage made from the roots or bark of the sassafras tree. Because of the specificity of raw materials root beer got the unofficial name “root beer”, for the first time it was produced in North America. Today in the world there are more than thirty kinds of root beer, among which there are completely non-alcoholic varieties and beverages with low alcohol content.
Since root beer wood has been recognized by the FDA as dangerous to health, now the drink is prepared differently than decades ago. While in the past it was made by naturally fermenting the raw material, now root beer is made from water, glucose, and a flavored syrup that mimics the natural flavor and aroma of sassafras as much as possible.
Each producer of the drink strives to make the product unique, so the composition can include a variety of fruit and berry additives.
The composition of root beer includes:
- orange and lemon zest;
- dried berries and fruits;
- licorice;
- spicy herbs.
Many people recognize in the taste of the drink pleasant notes of cloves, vanilla, and cinnamon, and some feel the unique taste and aroma of anise, melissa, and nutmeg.The drink may also contain caffeine, carbonated beverages, and sometimes alcohol.
Unlike regular beer, root beer has a thick foam. This is especially true when you pour the drink.
This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of this sweet drink. The foam in traditional root beer was from sassafras root. However, modern root beer companies use carbonated components to add foam.
A bit of history
Legend tells of St. Arnold in Belgium, a monk who was also a scientist. He studied why rich people lived longer than poor people and discovered that rich people drank beer and wine instead of water.
St. Arnold then began the tradition of monastic brewing, which continues to this day in Belgium, to bring cheaper beer to the poor. At that time there were three main types of beer in history: regular beer, which was similar in strength to today’s beer, strong beer, and so-called “small beers”. The origins of root beer go back to small beers.
Since beer is the safest form of drinking fluid that every healthy body needs, it was important to have very low-alcohol beer as a daily water substitute, especially for children.
Shallow beer contained about 2% alcohol. Alcohol acted as a preservative, as did some of the bitter ingredients in beer. Beer was made like tea with barley or other grains for sweetness and hops or other herbs for bitterness. It is boiled or brewed to blend the flavors and kill the bacteria and germs in the water, then cooled and fermented with yeast.
Yeast creates alcohol and bubbling carbon dioxide. There were three ways to brew fine beer; either it was made from small bits of sugar left in the grains after strong beer was made,from very small amounts of grain, or it was drunk very young and sweet before fermentation was complete.
It seems that modern root beer tastes similar to sweet beers brewed the third way. Modern root beer also tastes closest to the latter method because of its high level of sweetness, although no modern commercial root beer uses yeast or contains any alcohol at all.
Barq’s Root Beer
Many producers followed Hires’ idea and began selling root beer extracts, making it the most popular non-alcoholic beverage in America. One of the first was Barq’s, which began making root beer in 1898.
They avoided using the name “root beer” for decades to prevent a legal conflict with Hires. Also, their brew was very different from other available root beers. They used sarsaparilla and caffeine to make the drink,reduced the sugar, and increased the carbonation compared to other brands.
Barq’s Root Beer is a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage, root beer. Root Beer has an exceptional, unlike anything else taste. Since 1898, Barqs Root Beer has had a simple slogan: “Drink Barq’s. It’s Good.” A century later, it’s just as good. Ingredients: drinking water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color IV, preservative e211, citric acid, caffeine, natural flavoring, flavoring identical to natural.
IBC
In 2008, the American soft drink brand IBC Root Beer, known since the times of “Prohibition” in 1919, presented a new “nostalgic” package design. The renewed visual image was supposed to evoke associations with the era of the 1920s when drinking alcoholic beverages was legally prohibited in the USA. It was in those years (1919) that “root beer,” also known as “sarsaparilla,” a fizzy root beer flavored with nutmeg oil, appeared in America. It was very popular during the Prohibition period, but after World War II sales of the drink plummeted.
In 1976, IBC was bought by Taylor Beverages, which in turn was sold to the Seven-Up Company in 1980. AfterDr. Pepper and Seven-Up merger, distribution of the drink was established in all states. Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Inc. was then taken over by Cadbury Schweppes, and the brand became part of Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages. Finally, in 2008, IBC was taken over by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, into which Cadbury Schweppes was reorganized.
Mug
MUG Root Beer is the first carbonated drink in the world,even older than Coca-Cola. This Rubio has an exceptional,unlike anything else in the world, which is why it is what’s made it so popular in the United States since Prohibitionwhen many craftsmen used it to get around the law.
The main ingredient sassafrasis combined with other ingredients such as vanilla, cherry bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, anise, melissa, cinnamon, and cloves.
A&W
A&W is perhaps the most famous root beer brand outside the United States. Roy Allen started his brand in 1919 after honoring veterans during the root beer parade he produced. With his partner Frank Wright, he founded the company and opened the first stand of permanent root beer in Lodi and Sacramento.
After paying off his partner in 1924, Allen founded America’s first chain of franchised restaurants.In 1927, John and Alice Marriott came to Washington and opened a restaurant. They bought the franchise license from A&W and renamed it Hot Shoppe.
Bundaberg Root Beer
Bundaberg Fermented Drinks is the market leader in premium non-alcoholic beverages in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian company Bundaberg Brewed Drinks has been producing craft beverages since 1960 and has successfully exported its products to more than 30 countries around the world.
At the heart of the success and recognition of Bundaberg, drinks is the secret of using natural fruit juices, herbs, spices, and sugar cane grown in the fertile soils of subtropical Australia.
Sprecher
Sprecher root beer is the top choice in this category for millions of Americans. This brand of beer is fermented in bourbon barrels, so it has some maturity and a familiar flavor. Residual bourbon particles give this robust root beer character and style. This beer won gold in 2016 and silver in 2017.
Drink it pure, mix it with cocktails, make it into spirits recipes, or use it as a base for brewing your root beer. By the way, Sprecher was Milwaukee’s first brewer. And their flagship was the first adult root beer in the United States. It was brewed in a kettle over an open fire.
Sioux City
Sioux City Root Beer is a product of the company, which started as a distributor of bottled water in the middle of the 1870s. Although, by today its “clear” past has become forgotten, and the number one product of the brand today isroot beer. The specialization of the companychanged at the beginning of the 1950s when it was bought by Morgan Beverages. Today Sioux City is one of the most popular brands in the root beer segment in the United States.
Virgil’s Root beer
The root beer of this brand is considered more exclusive and sophisticated than competitors’ drinks because this root beer is produced in small batches, which allows you to focus on the quality of ingredients and production process. Virgil’s root beer has a mild creamy taste with spicy notes. This light (only 150 calories) drink contains vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and anise.
Virgil’s is a very young brand compared to its competitors. The company was founded in 1994, and1999 it moved under the wing of Reed’s beer brand.
WBC Chicago Style Root Beer
WBC in the name of this brand stands for Wit Beverage Company, and it is this part of the naming of the famous root beer that is a constant stumbling block – it keeps getting removed and then brought back. Be that as it may, this root beer is best known as a Chicago-style drink, because that’s how it was introduced to the public in the early 1920s. The secret to the WBC root beer is the use of triple carbonated water, which makes the drink tarter and less sweet than its competitors.
Saranac
Saranac is one of America’s oldest root beer brands. The company has been making its creamy, stand-up Pen drink since the late 1880s. True, Saranac was first called Tavern Root Beer. This brand, like many other root beer producers in America, owes its rise to Prohibition. Saranac root beer is one of the drinks available in glass bottles, which makes it even more akin to real beer.
