Beer, of the Root Variety

Beer, of the Root Variety

Sitting here drinking my Root Beer for the week, I wondered what the history of Root Beer was. Being at a computer I went to always truthful Wikipedia to look up the wonderful, if not holy, beverage. Here are some high points of its history.

"Root beer was a traditional beverage and herbal medicine...used for treating cough and mouth sores. Commercial root beer was developed by Charles Elmer Hires in 1866...as root tea powder. 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...Until Coke and Pepsi became popular.

Partial list of brands
1919
A-Treat
Abita - Louisiana regional brand, made with local cane sugar
A&W Root Beer — Cadbury-Schweppes
Barq's — Coca-Cola
Barrelhead — Cadbury-Schweppes
Berghoff
Bickfords Sassparella (Australia)
Blumers
Boylan Bottling Company
Bundaberg Root Beer — Australian brand of brewed drinks
Carter's
Dad's Root Beer — Hedinger Brands, LLC
Dog n Suds
Dr. Fitz's
Fanta
Faygo
Frostie Root Beer
Frostop
Frozen Run
Goose Island
Grandpa Graf's
Hank's Root Beer
Henry Weinhard
Hires Root Beer
IBC Root Beer — Cadbury-Schweppes
Jones Soda Root Beer
Mug Root Beer — PepsiCo
Point Premium Root Beer
Natural Brew Hand Crafted Draft Root Beer contains sweet birch, licorice root, sarsaparilla, cinnamon, clove, anise, wintergreen, and vanilla
Old Dominion Root Beer
Saint Arnold Brewing Company - Texas regional brand, made with cane sugar [7]
Sarsi — Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.
Shasta
Sioux City Sarsaparilla
Snapple
Sprecher Root Beer
Stewart's Fountain Classics — Cadbury-Schweppes (Winner, 2006 World Cup of Root Beer)
Thomas Kemper
Tommyknockers - When under the right lowlight, this brand glows in the dark.
Triple XXX
Vess
Virgil's Root Beer — Reed's, Inc. "

I love Root Beer. On a scale of beverages, even the worst Root Beer is infinitely better than any other drink.

(Taken almost verbatim from Wikipedia)