Seconded. It is by far the best root beer I’ve ever had.
If that isn’t an invitation to a go on a road trip, I don’t know what is. 
came to suggest Virgil’s - of what’s available to me locally, it’s easily the best. grew up on hires/a&w. will have to give the sprecher bourbon a shot if I can find/order it though.
Diet Barq’s. (I like the bite:p )
Well, if a time machine is available, then I go back to a shimmering hot day in the late 70’s and sit on the hood of the massive green Impala with my brothers in the parking lot of Patke’s Dairy, and drink IBC.
Barring that, Sprecher’s isn’t bad.
My favorite root beer is no longer available. Root Beer Kool Aid. I was addicted to the stuff. I sincerely believe it was never very popular due to the fact that it wasn’t that great freshly made. But after a day or so in the fridge it was delicious. I’ve found I can come close to simulating Root Beer Kool Aid by buying the cheapest generic root beer pop and removing the carbonation. Fantastic chilled over crushed ice!
There is a root beer flavor of Fizzies. Not bad if you are just a kid.
My mother had a five gallon ceramic pot and would make root beer. She used an extract, sugar, water and yeast. Then bottled it. The difficult part was waiting a month for it to get its fizz. It was delicious!
I like IBC Diet Root Beer, as it tastes less like diet soda than most.
Olde Rhode Island Root Beer
• Frostie (hard to find, though)
• Stewart’s
• A & W (easy to find, best of the mainstreams)
I’ll also drink Dr. Brown’s, Barq’s, Mug (too bland but otherwise OK), Dad’s, Boylan’s. Try to avoid Hires. Is NeHi still around? Theirs was bloody awful.
Thomas Kemper root beer isn’t bad, as I recall, but I haven’t had it in some time.
Sadly, root beer isn’t really widely available in the UK. I can track down A&W if I’m lucky, but I prefer Bundaberg which is an Aussie brand. It’s got strong overtones of liquorice which I like.
Mugs is the only root beer that I will actively avoid drinking.
I think it’s just terrible
My understanding is that root beer is an entirely American thing. Every non-American I know thinks root beer is bloody awful.
The Twisted Root Burger Company has their own root beer, and I believe it’s my favorite, either on its own or in a root beer float. (It’s also caffeinated, which is a bit unusual.)
For retail-available root beer, I like Hank’s best. Unfortunately, my grocery store has stopped carrying it, and I haven’t found another local source. Bundaberg is good, but relatively expensive here. I find Virgil’s rather insipid, I’m afraid.
Went to Chipotle for lunch and what do they have there?
Root beer!
I got a cup mostly because I remember posting here and thinking “man I could go for some root beer”
I think you’re mostly right. Any fellow Brits I’ve tried to introduce to the delights of root beer have described it as tasting of Germoline (a livid pink antiseptic cream which I think is a peculiarly British thing). Germoline is scented with oil of Wintergreen, so maybe that resembles a common root beer ingredient?
McDonalds used to sell root beer in the UK, but it didn’t take. No loss because theirs was shite anyway.
Henry Weinhart’s is numero uno available today. Hires was great in my youth, including the homemade, either with or without ethanol. Stewart’s is good. A&W at the drive in used to be very good.
Same here but it’s difficult to find. Recently picked up four 12-packs on sale.
Best one I ever had was a fountain drink at the town’s diner when I was a kid – likely Dad’s, being as we were near its hometown. Could have been Fanta or Shasta, though.