We Taste Tested 9 Root Beers!
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- We Taste Tested 9 Root Beers!
We made our own Root Beer recipe from scratch - two ways. One was naturally fermented / naturally carbonated using ginger bug, and the other was carbonated with CO2. We thought ours taste great, so a taste off with 7 commercially available Root Beers was the next step.
All of the root beers tested were made with cane sugar, and they all had very different flavour profiles.
In order of preference:
Home Made Root Beer From Scratch carbonated with soda water (recipe: • Incredible Tasting! Ro... )
A&W
Home Made Root Beer From Scratch naturally carbonated with Ginger Bug (recipe: • Incredible Tasting! Ro... )
Hanks
Stewart’s
Boylan
Barq’s
Pop Shoppe
Jones
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The Barq’s that you tried wasn’t root beer! It was spiced cherry soda!
@@MrMrLoganism Pausing the video during the zoomed in shot is hard.
Barq's Crafted Soda
Root Beer
Made with 100% natural flavors
With cane sugar
355 mL
Looks like made since 1898 and 150 Calories per bottle.
So, no, it was Root Beer.
I wonder what chicory root would do to your root beer recipe? I know chicory is used as a coffee substitute, and was wondering if that would make a good root beer.
@@MrMrLoganism It said 'Root Beer' on the label...
you've probably heard it before, but Dad's and Faygo both make really nice rootbeers! despite faygo's less than stellar reputation, hah.
I love your soda shows but please can you do Dr.Pepper because like what is the 23 flavors?!?!?!
Dr. Pepper is an amazing soda. There's an episode of The Anthropocene Reviewed about it.
I agree! They should do Dr. Pepper
Yes Dr.Pepper!!!
The first google search would tell you "The 23 flavors are cola, cherry, licorice, amaretto (almond, vanilla, blackberry, apricot, blackberry, caramel, pepper, anise, sarsaparilla, ginger, molasses, lemon, plum, orange, nutmeg, cardamon, all spice, coriander juniper, birch and prickly ash."
Yes to this
i just watched a dude and his wife drink root beer for 7 minutes
And do you suddenly have a craving for Root Beer? Because I do. Lol
His wife? I honestly thought it was his daughter!?
Meeee tooooo. I watch a guy and his wife watch other youtube videos the other day. It served a purpose to their video, but still....
You left out my favorite root beer, IBC.
I’m also a Barq’s Root Beer fan, the fountain version is much better than the other forms. It’s taste may be closer to what root beer was meant to be, not excessively sweet as are most modern root beers. “Barq’s has bite.”
1 million percent this!
Barq's is pretty much as close to Sarsaparilla as you get with Root Beer in terms of the bite, so it's my favorite in that group. The best SMOOTH root beer for my money is "Dang!" Butterscotch Root Beer. It is FANTASTIC.
OOOHHH!!! IBC is a Great Root Beer
Michael Alexander I personally like Barr’s as well, but it has cinnamon flavour I think anyway. But I do love Boylan root beer.
like ibc but ive found that the best is Saranac root beer upstate NY exclusive if i am correct but best money can buy
The face Glen makes when he agrees is priceless, skål (cheers) from Sweden.
Timestamp
you're actually the coolest guy ever
I'd love to see you take a stab at Dr. Pepper, they changed the recipe here in the UK a while back and haven't drank it since! Less sugar and more sweetener ruined it I believe.
Sugar tax fucked it up
YES YES PLEASE on the Dr Pepper!
Lord Jappa the sugar tax didn’t help either .
@@Teeveepicksures as far as I know, the only place making dr pepper with the original real sugar recipe is the plant in Dublin, Texas
Love this channel! I don’t drink root beer much anymore, but Mug was always what we drank when I was a kid. I especially like Mug for root beer floats. Once we had a big gathering at our house and my mom made root beer in a *new* garbage can. We carbonated it with chunks of dry ice, which I thought was pretty mad scientist.
Dad's Root Beer was my favourite growing up
Dad's is where it's at. Absolutely amazing.
Dad's is a slight step down from A&W. It has that same flavor bite, but a little weaker.
Dad's all the way, I still drink it.
Loved the intro! :D
-"Welcome Glen!"
-"Welcome friends!"
Please, keep doing it if Jules appear from the beginning.
Mug, A&W and barq's are my go to's for root beer. Awesome video 👍
You two really make home cooking fun and interesting.. I'm happy I found your channel.. Thanks for sharing your findings!
Frosties is one of my favs that's an og root beer I grew up with
I love the expression Glen makes when he's tasting a drink, he looks like a sommelier. Gives you confidence that he knows what he's talking about.
so true
Loving the beverage content! You both seem so knowledgeable on it, I assume from working at/owning (?) a brewery. Keep up the great work!
ROOT BEER ON POINT BRUH. KEEP EM COMING GLEN U CRAZY FOR THIS ONE THO. GLEN GANG IN THIS B. WE OUT HERE IN 2019 AND BEYOND. SHOUTOUTS TO THE ALGORITHM PLAYA.
Damn right cuh
Ferda
I’m actually a root beer fanatic, I love rootbeer with a passion. If you go to Cracker Barrel they have a nice collection of rootbeers and other sodas. I loved both rootbeer episodes and will definitely be making some rootbeer using your recipe! 😋
I love your channel! I’ve had the bell on for a while now and I’ve been watching everything. I’m addicted.
I made your homemade root beer recipe yesterday, came out really good, better than anything you'll find in the store.
I recently discovered Sprecher root beer. The only place I've seen it sold is at Menard's. I love root beer, so I thought I would give it a try. My first reaction was, "now that's exactly what root beer should taste like." It puts every other brand I've tried to shame. Since then I've tried thier Ginger Ale (it's perfect by the way), their cherry cola (taste like it was made in a soda shop, not mass produced), and I picked up the Cream Soda today to try. If you happen to find Sprecher anywhere, give it a try.
Binge watching a bunch of your videos and this just got posted, perfect timing! :D
I honestly prefer Barq's more than A&W, but maybe I'm crazy
A&W has a vanilla taste that I don't really like. I prefer Barq's, too.
You are crazy...
Barq's is great. I've never seen it with a label like that though
Agreed
I love this thanks! root beer has always been my favorite pop since i was kid.
Your videos are so fun and easy to watch and your explanation of the recipe is on point Thankyou 🌟
Yet another interesting and fun video! Thank you!
I am going to have to make your recipe. I lament the loss of old time strong sarsaparilla flavor in all the modern root beers. I crave it and it is so hard to come by these days. Thanks for the inspiration.
I love Hank's so much. I'm a Philly native and whenever I have a hoagie or cheese steak I got to have a Hank's with it.
If you want to try another local to Pennsylvania soda I suggest"Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer". It's probably my favorite soda ever.
The sassafras really makes a difference - I have holiday dinners with some people who forage; we usually have sumac tea, fiddle heads, prickly pear cactus fruits, wild asparagus, puff ball mushrooms, and a drink made from wild sassafras that has such a wonderful root beer flavor!
My favorite drink, unfortunately not many options in the UK. Great taste test.
Not really a thing here is it? Yet, I hope... only one I can think of is Bundaberg (fat yellow labeled bottles), which is quite nice. Fentiman's makes a lovely dandelion and burdock sparkling drink.
Glenn Davidson Thank you Glen, the brand you mentioned was available at a local shop. Slightly different taste but still very good.
You can get A&W from chinese supermarkets as an import. Other than that, the pickings are scarce in the UK.
So rare in the UK that I end up importing Virgils usually. I’ve just tried making the recipe and it’s currently cooling in the kitchen. Hopefully it tastes good!
loved your take on root beer so much..i decided to do my own. thanks
I find A&W a bit too sweet. I like Barq's because it's spicier than other rootbeers.
If that A&W rootbeer came in a can that is the mass market formula and has a slight difference with the resto version.
@@Joeybagofdonuts76 It's also strong on Wintergreen.
Yep, Barq's when it comes to over the counter root beers, so to speak. I'm surprised they didn't do Mug. To me Mug and A&W are the more generic root beers most people seem to be into.
@@jonny9884 They said they bought whatever they could find nearby their house. Mug probably isn't as common up in Canada.
@@slycordinator Oh. So this is two Canadians' take on American root beer. Makes more sense now.
Yes, Hanks diet root beer was yesterday's treat to myself. I found it a close comparison to A&W diet root beer ....yummy. Hank's, if you read this, I am waiting for a diet birch beer....childhood favorite.
Wow, that was interesting. I wonder if it's the glass bottle or maybe a USA vs Canada thing but every time I try A&W or Mug I've always found they've had less of a Root Beer taste than Barq's (especially Mug, that stuff tastes like Root Beer flavored corn syrup). I would love to try yours tho, so I might just have to make it.
Very interesting, thank you, keep up the good work. Knowledge is power. Even about root beer
Now I want to try and make it! I never would've thought of making homemade soda before I found your channel!
I remember as a kid (12-13 years old) we went camping up in PA. There was this small town 10 minutes away from the camp site. There was a small general store that had a small snack/soda bar. They had A&W Root Beer in wooden kegs. It was the best flavor.
Hank's is probably one of my favorites. If you're ever in the New York area, see if you can get your hands on Saranac Root Beer. Amazing flavor profile on that one.
Of the root beers that I remember growing up, IBC root beer was the one that was superior to A&W. It's one of the old school root beers. I may try making my own one day by following along with the recipe on the video... Thanks for sharing your recipe!!!
A&W from the tap is wonderful.
Sprecher is by FAR the best root beer and cream soda
And Point Brewery root beer!
Point and Sprecher's are some of the best. Dang! (Butterscotch Rootbeer) and Fest (Bourbon Cream Soda) are my favorites now though because they're both unique and delicious, but for the longest time, Sprecher's held that crown for me. Can't go wrong with any of them.
I just posted this same thing before I saw your comment. After having Sprecher root beer, plus the ginger ale and cherry cola (all I've had so far, but cream soda is in the ice box getting cold now), I will never want any other brand ever again.
@@mactan_sc point is delicious i believe it has honey in it. I dont have a favorite tho anything on tap is usually my kind of root beer
I always like Virgil's Rootbeer. It had all the flavors of the root extracts, a mild vanilla, and was modestly sweet. Really good one. The Nutmeg version is different but both versions they make are really flavorful Rootbeers.
My favorites as a kid were Mason's and Frostie. I think A&W took over the market. We have a local drive-in that makes home brewed root beer. It's great.
One thing I loved about A&W when bought in an A&W restaurant, the “ice” was root beer slush so as it melted, it didn’t dilute the drink.
for me, a creamy aftertaste is essential to a good root beer. haven’t had rootbeer from boylan’s though. Virgil’s Root Beer is really good
boylands birch beer is better than their root beer imo, but they're both decent sodas
Try some Boylan creamy red birch beer if you can find it, great stuff. Has some vanilla in it making it a bit creamier than the regular one.
@@davemc187 oh yes, i just kinda lump that and the regular together as i rarely see both at the same time, but they're both delicious
If you like creamy, Boylans might be for you. It's not for me because if I want creamy, I get Boylans cream soda which is one of the best IMO.
Boylan's root beer is okay. Their birch beer is where it's at.
Sweet! I love a frosty root beer.
Love the channel and the content, Glen and Jules! I have a unique request, do you think you can make crawfish etouffee!? I'd love to see your take on it! Cheers!
I grew up with A&W and it's always been my favorite. They had a stand in my home town of Lewiston, Me which they sold to a small operator, becoming Val's Root Beer in the late 50's. The only remaining stand that I know of is right across the border from Calais, Maine in St. Stephen, NB.
For any Mainers interested in visiting, turn right immediately after crossing border, take first left after passing Tim Horton's on the right and Ganong Choc. Museum (worth visit St. Stephen alone in itself) on the left.
Thanks for the tasting video. I have a penchant for Barq's from my childhood and my least fav is A&W. I wanted to try your recipe but now I'm not sure how to proceed to make something I would enjoy.
I would also recommend Sprecher's from Wisconsin. Sprecher's sodas are all sweetened with honey which gives all their sodas (especially their cream soda) a very smooth finish. I also recommend IBC as well, though that might be harder to come by up north.
2 other fantastics root beers: 1) Virgil's and 2) Sprecher. Super curious how your recipe compares to these. Watched these with my family, and they want to try making it, so I'll report back when we get around to it.
Great root beer videos! Thank you for making them and showing it isn't nearly as complicated as it seems.
Wow I remember pop shoppe from the 70s here in Denver. Thanks for the memories
This is so interesting! Honestly in south Texas, Barqs was THE root beer i had as a kid. It is very different to other sasparilla like drinks but I still like the bottled stuff.
"Welcome Glen!" I love it already!
I love root Beer! A&W has always been my go to
We don't even have root beer where I live, but still enjoy watching this
huh? what you're in Antartica?
Love A&W and Hanks. There was a Frosties Root Beer....but A&W and Hanks...love it.
I understand you didn't go out of your way to find different brands, but have you tried IBC root beer? It is quite good. IBC also makes an amazing cream soda.
Hanks is one of my favorite root beers! Love it!
Hires root beer was my family’s go to growing up. (Imagine that). We drink a lot of A&W as well as Barq’s now that you can’t find Hires now. Agree with you on the Jones Soda.
My favorite root beer right now is made by this brand called Sprecher. Based out of Wisconsin all their sodas are sweetened with raw honey. However, recently they branched out and made a root beer sweetened with pure maple syrup. It's great stuff and is my favorite. I can only find it at my local menards.
I did a similar taste test for myself a few years ago. Of those in the video, I liked Hank's the best and Stewart's second. But, I would drink either. Only one of the root beers in the video that I hadn't tried. I also compared ingredients and learned that phosphoric acid is one ingredient to be avoided for health reasons.
Root Beer is somewhat unique in that it gives a totally different flavor uncarbonated or flat, which can be just as good. The sweetness probably is amplified but so are the other flavors. The A&W in my home town served it up uncarbonated and ice cold, nothing better. You can get that with the bottled A&W as well, just open it and let it sit in the fridge all day. Same thing can be done with Shasta Root Beer. I don't know if I could id between the two.
When I was a kid, growing up in the UK, I had a Root Beer that tasted strongly of wintergreen and it was the best flavour ever.
You missed Virgil’s root beer. It is awesome.
Jay Hopkins came here to say this. Virgil’s root beer is the root beer that made me like root beer
I find that Virgils is a lot like barqs but virgils taste more drafty. Both dont really have the Original rootbeer taste even tho Barqs has survived longer then most RB companies but it has changed hands so many times, from brother to brother to stepbrother to half brother, each brother changed the formula trying to up eachother.
literally sitting here watching with a Virgil's in my hand
Just commented this, Virgil's is what I compare all others against.
Lancaster brewing best I’ve had
I think the three major brands you're missing are Dad's, Hires, and Sioux City.
NoJusticeNoPeace I miss Hires Root Beer. I haven’t seen it on the store shelves in decades. It was the best.
+Bethany Dawn It's hard to find. Schweppes was distributed to supermarkets by Pepsi, and when Schweppes sold off their soft drinks to Snapple, Pepsi replaced Hires with their own Mug-brand root beer (which is disgusting). They still make Hires, but without the shelf-space Pepsi gave them, almost no one carries it any more.
One can buy Hires root beer extract and make their own naturally carbonated root beer at home with it: www.amazon.com/Hires-Big-Root-Beer-Extract/dp/B00JMJZWI0?th=1
Lots of other good brands, but also may not be available there, also we can buy sarsaparilla, if I spelled correct? Keep up the awesome soda videos, lol.
Lots of fun to watch; not just for the tasting, but also seeing how different the labels are from the US versions of the same product.
And the can of US Barqs's on my desk argues that A&W root beer is way too sweet to count as a proper root beer.
Just north of Seattle we have the Orca bottling company. They make sugar sweetened sodas in glass bottles. They have a few pretty good root beers I wish you could've tried, like Dad's, Bulldog, Bedford's, Red Arrow, and Earp's Sarsaparilla.
Thanks for the rootbeer videos, hard thing to find in the UK and is my drink of choice, will give your recipe a crack.
I grew up on Faygo soda pop, and I still love their root beer.
Fargo black cherry is one of the best and most under rated cherry pops around.
Love your videos guys.
Barq’s is my favorite because “it’s the one with bite” lol I believe that’s caffeine in it, but it’s basically the only dark soda I drink. Sprite and cream soda is good too.
Surprisingly enough, Barq's doesn't have caffeine where I live.
@@brannonsmith22 do you mind me asking where you live? Is it outside the USA? I’ve been all over the U.S and I’m 37 years old and have never ran across Barq’s without caffeine. I’d be curious to try it and taste the difference. I feel like without the caffeine, it won’t have that normal “bite” it’s known for. That’s pretty interesting
I banished Jones years ago. I am a total root beer snob. Its my drink of choice everywhere. An iced cold A&W in a styrofoam cup just hits different. My kids tease me because the sounds I make after the first drink.
Superb!!
boylan is always the best for creme and root beer
I like Boylan's Ginger Ale quite a bit.
Grew up on Barq's and Frost Top. Not sure if you can find Frost Top outside of Louisiana since ive never been able to find it when we went out of town but its amazing.
Oh I wish you had Weinhard's! Definitely my favorite root beer!
Glen, is Henry Weinhard root beer available where you are? It's one of my favorites. Great body, flavor, and a great thick creamy head! Available on Amazon.
I watched your homemade root beer video which led me to this video. When making homemade root beer can all the ingredients be purchased easily? I have sassafras trees on my property and love the smell when I accidently cut a root when digging a hole.
I remember A&W as a kid at the drive in diner was amazing!
You should try Sprecher Root beer and their other sodas they are super good. They use honey as part of the sweetener thats adds a pleasent unique flavor. It would a good try to experience and possibly give you ideas to modify your current and future soda recipes.
Love the channel... I wish you did the root beer taste test like the coke taste test, that was fun!
Ok, so I watched your brewing video first and was totally sold on making your recipe but then I watched this video and while I too grew up on A&W I LOVE Barq's right now. Do you have any thoughts on ingredient combinations to try to influence into that Barq's profile?
.....I'll still probably make yours anyway just to give it a try.
One of the first bitters I made was a root beer flavour, and I liked the addition of wintergreen.
There are 2 other root beers you could try. They are made by a craft brewery in Milwaukee Wisconsin called Sprecher and are fire brewed. They have a lot of different types of sodas (along with beers). And like you I absolutely loved going to the A&W Root Beer drive ups back when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s. I remember they used to give out the glass mugs your root beer came in!
I'm a big A&W fan. I've drank it all my life and I love it as much as I did as a kid.
As a kid I grew up to love root beer. Mug and Barg's were my first but in high school my mind became set on A&W. Nothing has ever matched its taste then and nothing has even gotten close now. As an adult I keep finding other brands to try that I never found before and with each new one my mind just keeps going back to A&W. It will remain my favorite till the day it stops being made which I pray is never.
It was so weird when I first found you. I was looking up a recipe to make because college food makes me sick. I clicked on you and you only had 2k subs and like 200 views. The production was insane for your vids and I was like "damn that's strange the quality is so good". Now seeing you with 100+k subs and thousands of views I'm so happy you got the recognition you deserve keep it up man
I like most Root Beers for what they are even though they are different. Virgil's is good. I also like Hansen's. As a teenager, I loved IBC. I like some that have notes of wintergreen as well.
My good sir. I know you said everything you got was only a fifteen minute walk from home, but I cant seem to find a barqs root beer in a glass. Any tips?
Hires was my root beer as a kid, wish you could still get in Canada
Seeing the stewarts made me nostalgic, though preferred the orange n cream. Growing up in NY I got it at the gas station Stewart's. I never knew until I moved that they are two different companies.
I like how he’s still yammering on about A&W, and she’s like, let’s get this over with. 🤣
Did you ever take a 3rd crack at the gelatin no churn ice cream? I'm diabetic so I used sugar free jello which worked surprisingly well except that there seemed to be far too much whipped cream in it.
Also are you familiar with the aebleskiver pan? Would be interested to see what doughnut you created.
I was sad when the pop store closed. They had one of everything. Another great taste test. Henry Weinhard is where it's at.
Missing Hires and MUG! A&W is the classic. It's like the standard in a frosty stein mug. Great video follow up to the home made RB 👍
If you ever come across Souix City sarsaparilla root beer, I would recommend giving that a try. Seen it at the grocery store and bought it, never heard of it before but I really liked it.
Oh, Sioux City Sarsaparilla is BOMB-DIGGITY.
I remember drinking IBC Rootbeer as a kid and it's still my favorite.
great video!, If you everget the chance, try hey song saparilla, its found in asian markets here and its a very distinct rootbeer like beverage