The designated Root Beer (and Sasparilla) thread - For me, it's 1919

I used to see advertisements for this brand of Root Beer, but i have never actually had it and apparently it's extremely rare nowadays. Anyone who's ever tried it is it any good?
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Moving this discussion over here to the proper thread.

Is there any merit at all to warnings about not drinking too much home made root beer? I'm not talking about the safrole but rather the other supposed medicinal qualities the sassafras roots have that can apparently have side effects.
My wife and I keep a rotation of homemade ginger beer and homemade root beer. I drink around 18 16oz bottles of the root beer every couple of weeks. I haven't noticed anything negative. If anything, I've felt better.
A lot of the "science" behind Sassafras studies is bunk done poorly.
 
What the fuck is a root beer? Is it really made out of root?
Yes. Sassafras albidum root, specifically, also known as sarsaparilla. Unfortunately, Americans are dumb (I say this as an American) and let some idiot ~science~ at us, injecting 1000x the normal equivalent dose of sarsaparilla to a rat and let it get cancer. So now, instead of sarsaparilla, it's made out of chemicals the science guy's company sells. Thank god science guy's company had those chemicals ready to sell, eh?
 
I love this shit, problem is that it's very hard to get where I live. Ordering online works, but it's also expensive, no guarantee the niggers at the post office won't "accidentally" smash it or sample it either.
I've recently also tried Ginger Beer, very good altho it was pretty spicy. Kinda tasted like pear juice, wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the ingredients.
Are there any other "beers" that aren't actually alcoholic and are actually just soft drinks?
 
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i managed to try out a few brands like mug and barq and it struck me as very different from what i was expecting, having grown up with brazilian soda staples like guaraná (note: look into tubaína, it's pretty good) it reminded me more of one time when i tried out tonic water. nevertheless i wouldn't mind drinking this kind of thing again, as long as it's not mug.
 
Yes. Sassafras albidum root, specifically, also known as sarsaparilla. Unfortunately, Americans are dumb (I say this as an American) and let some idiot ~science~ at us, injecting 1000x the normal equivalent dose of sarsaparilla to a rat and let it get cancer. So now, instead of sarsaparilla, it's made out of chemicals the science guy's company sells. Thank god science guy's company had those chemicals ready to sell, eh?
How hard would it be to make actual sasparilla these days? I'd imagine the plant itself isn't impossible to get, just that you'd get fucked if you tried to sell or trade the product once you've made it, and got caught.
 
I used to see advertisements for this brand of Root Beer, but i have never actually had it and apparently it's extremely rare nowadays. Anyone who's ever tried it is it any good?
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I used to drink it all the time as a kid. I'd get those bottles for 50 cents at the corner store. This was in the 80s and early 90s. I don't think it exists anymore. The company was bought out and eventually it was phased out. Kuerig-Dr Pepper eventually ended up owning it. They also own A&W. Guess there wasn't enough room for both since root beer is considered a niche drink compared to cola. I remember Hires being really good. It was widely available in the Philadelphia region.

After it became hard to find I would buy Barq's. But I can't seem to find that outside of Wawa fountains. I didn't see it at Acme. I should check Giant. I don't normally go to Shoprite since it's out of my way. Maybe Walmart?
 
Birchbeer is also really good too, and you can make your own if you really wanted to tap some birch trees or scrape bark. You can also actually make the sap into syrups like maple, but you don't get quite as much out of a birch as you would a maple. The birch aren't as dependant on the cold though so if you are down further south it's probably more efficent.
 
Frostie and frostop are two stand outs for me. And this Coney Island hard root beer, that was better then that not your father's garbage. But only existed for a few years, I never see at anymore.
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IBC, Barq's, and A&W are peasant shit. shameful. this is the real shit right here:

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this is lower tier but still acceptable:

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and if you can't get the good shit, there's always good old Frostie:

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