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A glass of root beer with foam

Root beer is a beverage also known as Sarsparilla outside of North America. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink.

The soft drink version of root beer is non-alcoholic and is generally made using root beer extract or other flavored syrups along with carbonated water. This version constitutes about 3% of the American soft drink market.^[1]

The alcoholic version is made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, artificial sassafras root bark flavoring (the natural form is mildly carcinogenic), nutmeg, anise, and molasses among other ingredients in some cases including caffeine.

Many local brands of root beer exist, and homemade root beer is made from concentrate or (rarely) from actual roots. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic root beers have a thick and foamy head when poured.

Antique root beer dispenser. The barrel would hold a block of ice which would cool carbonation coils at the base in the days before refrigeration.

Root beer is a traditional beverage and herbal medicine. Throughout history, 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 upsurge 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 non-alcoholic root beer since alcoholic beverages were outlawed.^[2]

• A&W Root Beer — Cadbury-Schweppes
• Barq's — Coca-Cola
• Boylan Bottling Company
• Carter's
• Dad's Root Beer — Hedinger Brands, LLC
• Fanta
• Faygo
• Dr.Fitz's
• Frostie
• Frostop
• Grandpa Graf's
• Hank's
• Henry Weinhard
• Hires Root Beer
• Hosmer Mountain Root Beer
• IBC Root Beer — Cadbury-Schweppes
• Jones Soda Root Beer
• Mug Root Beer — PepsiCo
• Railroad Root Beer
• Ramblin' Root Beer — Coca-Cola, Replaced in mid-1990s with Barq's
• Route 66 Route Beer — Route 66 Sodas, LLC
• Sarsi — Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.
• Shasta
• Stewart's Fountain Classics — Cadbury-Schweppes (Winner, 2006 World Cup of Root Beer)
• Sprecher Root Beer
• Tommyknockers - When under the right lowlight, this brand glows in the dark.
• Vess
• White Rock Root Beer Sioux City

Canadian root beer containers of a variety of brands.

U.S. root beer brands in Canadian containers.

Traditional root beer brands include:

• A-Treat Allentown, Pennsylvania
• Abita
• Barqs root beer
• Barrelhead — Cadbury-Schweppes
• Blumers
• Bundaberg Root Beer — Australian brand of brewed drinks
• Fitz's
• Frozen Run
• Goose Island
• Hank's Root Beer
• Henry Weinhard's Root Beer
• Myers Avenue Red root beer [1]
• Old Dominion Root Beer
• Natural Brew Hand Crafted Draft Root Beer contains sweet birch, licorice root, sarsaparilla, cinnamon, clove, anise, wintergreen, and vanilla
• Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer - PA regional brand specializing in red birch beer.
• RICHardson Root Beer
• RipSaw Root Beer - A Michigan root beer bottled in Alpena by The Fletcher Street Brewing Company.
• Route 66 Root Beer
• Saint Arnold Brewing Company - Texas regional brand, made with cane sugar [2]
• Snapple
• Sprecher Brewery
• Thomas Kemper
• Tommyknocker's
• Triple XXX
• Virgil's Root Beer — Reed's, Inc.

The Samuel Adams brewery also produces an alcoholic variety in its Brewer/Patriot sampler pack. It is flavored with herbs, spices, honey, and molasses.

• Root beer float
• Birch beer
• Ginger beer
• Beer
• Sarsaparilla
• Dandelion and burdock

• The Rootbeer Brothers For the Love of Root Beer.
• 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
• Root Beer World History and photos of over 2000 brands, with recipes and discussion forums
• Condensed information about root beer from the Home Brewers Digest 1991-1994
• Root Beer Brands - RootBeer.net
• Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Site Reviews of gourmet root beers, those in glass bottles.
• Luke's Root Beer Pages
• How to Make Root Beer
• Root Beer In The UK
• American Soda