anthony's root beer barrel

F.A.Qs

November 28, 2007
Filed under: — anthony @ 1:05 pm

Does root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla have caffeine?
Where does root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla come from?
How do i make root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla?
i live in europe, where can i get root beer?
how do i contact (fill in the blank) root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla company?
where can i get a keg of root beer?
where can i get (fill in the blank) root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla near me?
have you had (fill in the blank) root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla?
can you send me samples of your root beer?
where can i order root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla?

which root beers / birch beers / sarsaparillas have no high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?

Does root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla have caffeine?
from what i know very few root beers and only one sarsaparilla have caffeine. no birch beers that i know of have it. i have not seen any root beer candy that has it either.
these sodas have caffeine, the rest do not:

America’s Choice Root Beer
Barq’s
Skeleteen’s Rat Bastard Root Beer
Jack Black’s Dead Red Root Beer
XTZ X Root Beer Riot
Hot Rod Magazine Root Beer
Hosmer Mountain Sarsaparilla
Steaz Organic Sparkling Green Tea Root Beer
Eric’s Famous Energy Cola Rootbeer
Bawls G33k B33r
Root Jack Orange Flavored Root Beer
Cell-nique Super Green Drink Root Beer

contrary to popular belief, all “brown” sodas do not have caffeine, it is added to many of them. yes, colas DO have caffeine from the coca beans, but that does not mean the rest do too! just as the fact that Mountain Dew has caffeine added does not make all other citrus sodas (or yellowish green sodas) have caffeine too.
Where does root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla come from?
the names are derived from how this drinks USED to be made, flavored with the roots of trees. no companies really do this anymore, but you can if you really want to try. the way i see it is this the main ingredients in: birch beer came from birch trees, sarsaparilla came from sarsaparilla plants & sassafras trees and root beer came from one or more of many different trees, most often the sassafras tree & sarsaparilla plant also.

in order to get sassafras root these days though, you have to dig it up yourself since it is illegal to buy or sell it. in the 1960s the US Government determined that safrol, the oil in sassafras was a carcinogine. something about if you drank 300 gallons of root beer in a hour, you might get cancer or something. some recipes are on my links page.
How do i make root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla?
if you are adventurous, some recipes are on my links page. if you are less daring, go to your local brewing supply store or go to that links page and order some root beer extract. follow the directions there. it is not easy but worth it if you can’t get it otherwise.
i live in europe, where can i get root beer?
try here. expensive
and not much choice but it is something. you can also try other mail order places from my links page. but i do not know if they ship overseas.
how do i contact (fill in the blank) root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla company?
i have no clue, besides what is on the bottle or can i have no more information than you do.
where can i get a keg of root beer?
i can get them at several liquor/package goods stores around me, try calling some and asking if they can get kegs of soda. very good deal and fun. some of the mailorder places on my links page sell small party kegs. Virgil’s also sells their 5 gallon party kegs direct. postage to mailorder something this heavy is crazy though. if you happen to go to college in the northeast, try RootBeerKegs.com although they only sell 4 or more kegs and only to school employees i think.
where can i get (fill in the blank) root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla near me?
i have no clue. if you are in central NJ i may be able to help a little bit but otherwise i do not know where root beers are sold or distributed at all.
have you had (fill in the blank) root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla?
if there is not a review of it, probably not. i do have a bunch of brands i have yet to review that are sitting in my fridge but chances are that i haven’t had the one you are asking about. so feel free to write and tell me the name and where you get it.
can you send me samples of your root beer?
uuummm, i don’t MAKE root beer, i tried once to do it with root beer extract but failed miserably and that was many years ago anyhow. i don’t think you want any of THAT batch. i am not sure why people keep asking me this. oh well.
where can i order root beer / birch beer / sarsaparilla?
try my links page. i do not specifically endorse any of the mail order places but if you write i can offer my opinions on them as i have ordered from most myself. i would recommend though looking near you before ordering since it will end up costing you aroud $2-$4 a bottle after postage and all to mail order.
which root beers / birch beers / sarsaparillas have no high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?
there are a whole lot, so i put the list on a seperate page. go here to see it