BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)

Subject: Rootbeer thread ?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 04:13 PM

Continued from BS: What's root beer?

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I tried to get into the Rootbeer Thread and I guess there were were too many posts for my 'puter.

What was it about? ;-)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Rootbeer thread ?
From: InOBU
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 04:18 PM

English fellow wondering what is was, then the realisation that most English don't care for it, and most Yanks were raised on it... and a few recipies, and a warning that it can give you the trotts. Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: jimmyt
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 04:22 PM

Plus a lot of nostalgia from North Americans and questions from UK folks wondering what other wierd stuff we have over here to eat!

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Sep 02 - 04:32 PM

And wondering whether it might maybe be much the same as stuff we drink in England, and call something else.

Roll on the day the Mudcat has the promised automatic thread rejuvenator and splitter that kicks in at 40 or 50 posts.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 16 Sep 02 - 10:01 AM

Not an English fella, an Irish fella!

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: Burke
Date: 16 Sep 02 - 08:05 PM

I'm another one of those who's never like cola's much but will drink Root Beer, Ginger Ale/Beer, or Cream Soda. Nehi Grape is another one.

I'm surprised no one mentioned that Barq's, which was limited to the deep south, is now distributed by Coca-cola. You can get it anywhere, but is it as good as it was? I'm inclined to think not, but I couldn't get it for 20 years so my memory can surely be faulty.

Is Hires still made? I remember drinking it as a child.

My favorite rigth now is made by a local brewery. It's Matt's Brewrey, that produces a constantly changing line of beers under the name of Saranac. This fall it's OctoberFest Lager. I'm always watching for their new brews & when they first brought out their Root Beer & Ginger Beer it was confusing.

A week ago we took our summer student (Sr. in High School) to lunch. When the waitress brought him a bottle of Saranac Root Beer half the people at the table thought he was getting served hard stuff.

Stewarts is a chain of gas stations/quick stop places. They have their own line of sodas (pop). Also a line of pre-made sandwiches. I drive past one on the way to work, I guess I'll have to check out their Root Beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Sep 02 - 09:07 PM

Gorra mo lescal!!!!!!!!! Ta me an mortified, abhic! English indeed! Well, when you come to New York, ol' skin, brother mine, the first root beer is on your Uilleann playing and remorcefull brother!!!
Is mise le meas, Lorcan Otway

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:38 AM

Allan Dennehy,

Root Beer and Ginger Beer are the American and British equals.

Ginger Beer (which can be no/low/or blow alcohol)is created from the root of the ginger plant and has a spicey burn. I have brewed three batches.

Root Beer (which can also, be no/low/or blow alcohol ((I was once pulled over with a full case of champaighn bottles with high pressure/high proof :) 10% abv (20 proof) alcoholic root beer behind the driver's seat. But, being sealed containers...I was given a fixet ticket for a parking brake)))

Root Beer is based on the sasaphrass root/bark and is sometimes called sasaparilla. My old friend "Fortunes in Formulas" 1937 p. 118 lists the recipe as: Sarasparilla (sliced), 1 pound guaiacum bark (bruised small), 1/4 pound guaicum wood (rapsed) and locorice root (sliced) fo each 2 ounces; aniseed (bruised), 1 1/2 ounces mexereon root, 1 ounce ; cloves (cut small), 1/4 ounce; moist sugr 3 1/2 pounds; hot water (not boiling,) 9 quarts; mix in a clean stone jar, and keep it in a moderately warm room (shaking it twice or thrice daily ) until active fermentation sets in, then let it repose for about a week, when it will be ready for use.

Personally, I use Hires extract and add a bottle 1.5 oz of pure vanilla per five gallons.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: GUEST,Chanteyranger
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:57 AM

This talk of A & W makes me nostalgic. Some boyhhod friends told me about it back in the mid-60's. We could only find their stands on the highway. Great stuff. I can only find English ginger beer (where I live) in fish n' chip places - Schweppes brand. How does that compare with other English ginger beers? It's the only one I've had, and I love it. Schweppes is pretty big, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are superior small-company brands.

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:09 AM

On my first visit to the US a couple of years ago, I felt I had to try a root beer, which for me had mythical status largely because it is the preferred beverage of my great philosophy master, Snoopy.

POISON! It's like drinking undiluted antiseptic mouthwash! What a let-down!

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 08:24 AM

It sure surprise me that those of you from the other side of the pond find it terrible. I guess it's what you get used to. I went to High School with a lot of Italians, they would often have a pop called Brio Chinnotto (?) with their lunches. I tried it once and found it to be disgusting.

THe original Root Beer thread started with a Brit saying that he had heard of Root Beer in movies and television but had never tried it. Burke mentions Nehi. I remember Radar on M*A*S*H drinking Nehi's, but I've never seen Nehi's in Canada.

Speaking of disgusting, I have seen Chocolate Yoohoo in the States. Yep, Chocolate Pop. I haven't had the nerve to try it.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Burke
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 10:51 AM

I think Nehi may have been mainly distributed in the South. Until about 10 years ago I could get Nehi Cream Soda in those old returnable glass quart bottles at a local distributor in Upstate New York. When they stopped carrying it, I was told the bottler could no longer keep the old equipment limping along. I was under the impression RC Cola owned the brand at the time. That's another drink more common in the South. As cola's go, I like it better than Coke or Pepsi, but they seem to lack the fast food, etc. contracts that make the other 2 so ubiquitous.

So far as other odd drinks we have, what about Dr. Pepper? There's an acquired taste for you! One I have never managed.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Les from Hull
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 11:58 AM

We get that Doctor Pepper stuff too. It's a bit like Vimto (fruit based).

The best cola I've tasted is Fentimen's, who also make excellent ginger beer (not ginger ale, which I take to be American/Canadian in origin). In the UK you can buy it in 'Past Times', a chain of twee gift shops.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Alice
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:00 PM

Then there's the new brand, pricey but delicious, JONES SODA. (Must be available all over the states, since we get it in Montana.) Their labels are interesting. They use photos sent to them by customers. They make the only melon flavored soda I've ever had.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Bagpuss
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 12:01 PM

I love Fentiman's lemonade. Delicious stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 01:58 PM

The adverts for Dr Pepper's are a bit like the Marmite ones - essentially they say "If you are a wimp, you will think this stuff tastes awful."

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:35 PM

If you try Stewart's or A & W, try to get it on draft. The bottled is second best, followed [from a long distance] by the canned.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:36 PM

Dr. Peper is easy to describe, by every available soda, mix it together... there ya go... Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 05:56 PM

Steve Latimer - Chocolate Yoohoo is the very same stuff that Fudgesicles are made of, just chilled intead of frozen. It's not carbonated - that would be disgusting. I still don't understand why people buy it though when you can get real chocolate milk for the same price and get some real food value.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 17 Sep 02 - 07:13 PM

Bee-dubya-ell,

Are you sure it's not carbonated? I could swear I remember reading "a carbonated chocolate drink" on the bottle. I didn't try it.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From:
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 01:18 AM

Ok, catters.......I live in the south (Louisiana) and I have ta say that the Abita Brewery at Abita Springs, LA probably makes by far the best Root beer as we know it today. the reason......most colas, sodas, and other asundried carbonated beverages contain......wait for it.......CORN SYRUP. Abita tries to recreate that old-tyme goodness by using sugar (or a percentage thereof) in the manufacturing process. and believe me.....it makes a difference. most beverages today just don't have that sugary edge that they used to (ie. the cola wars). now granted A&W made the best back in the day but as the cola wars raged on poor A&W fell by the wayside only to be found occasionally at your local stop-an-rob (southern humor) or other such mom-an-pop gas stations.......*snif* I miss A&W (as i bow my head for a moment of silence), but until the majestic A&W rises form the ashes of the past.....i'll make do with Abita. oh by the way........if any of ya get a chance ta pass through Arkansas....stop by Searcy, AR......they have an A&W burger shack that sells good eats......an get this....they serve ya A&W rootbeer from the tap in the old icy-cold frosted glasses......an experience ya don't want ta pass up..... later catters

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 23 Sep 02 - 11:03 AM

I had the opportunity to try Stewart's "Other Flavors" this weekend. They struck me as pretty vile. The root beer tasted OK, but their Birch Beer was clearly based on standardized flavorings. Unfortunately, it was not worth a second bottle.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Burke
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 07:12 PM

I went to my local Stewart's Shop looking for Stewart's Rootbeer & realized that there is an unfortunate & confusing coincidence of names. It probably results from companies in different parts of the country starting with similar names & then expanding. I've done some research & so far this is what I know.

Stewart's Beverages is apparently owned by Snapple, which is owned by Cadbury/Schweppes. I can't find it where I live in New York.

Stewart's Shops is a privately help company based in Saratoga Springs, NY. They used to be "Ice Cream" Shops so I assume the company has grown to a stop 'n rob from there. They have store brand sodas that come in plastic bottles & seem very suspect. I did not buy, but did notice the sodas all has "Stewart's Shops Root Beer" etc. Some of the other store brand items left the 'shop' out of the name. There are probably trademark issues involved. It sure confued me.

Just to confuse the trademark landscape there was & maybe still is a company called Stewart's Sandwiches or Stewart's Food. It does not seem to be related to either of the other 2.

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 01:42 PM

no one has mentioned a Birch Beer I discovered at our coop/health food store called 'Borealis', by 'Journey Soft Brew' of Putney, VT. It's great, tasting a lot like what I remember Royal Castle's frosty mug as tasting. pure cane sugar and birch syrup as sweeteners. I avoid high fructose corn syrup whenever I can. It's got to be the GM corn I figure.

in support of the lowly dandelion, we pick the greens all year long from our 'lawn' for salads, made wine one year but too much work (just uses the flowers) there is a Dandelion Festival every spring at Breitenbach (sp?) Winery in southern Ohio, contests for recipes, food tasting, there are cookbooks etc. great fun and not far from Kidron Ohio and the fabulous Lehman's Hardware Store. a good time all around

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 01:45 PM

btw - research has shown, and it's well documented, that one needs to try a flavor 8 times to acquire a taste for something, it has nothing to do with childhood, just repetition. so a six pack of any of these root beers may not do it! get two six packs, and you'll really enjoy the last 4 bottles! (that goes for prawn, too, 8 servings and your into it, unless like me you don't do animal kingdom)

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 02:21 PM

Barq's root beer, aside from the sin of being a Coca Cola product, has been adulterated with caffeine, thus limiting the non-caffeinated soft drink options at most fast food joints for teetotalers like myself (though for those occasions when I do want to indulge in caffeine, like driving to the late gig, it gives me a non-cola option!)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: BS: Rootbeer thread ? (version 2.0)
From: GUEST,Lepus Rex
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 02:35 PM

No, YooHoo isn't carbonated, and it doesn't taste like melted fudgsicles, either, dammit. :) A bit like chocolate ovaltine. I love it. Stay away from the fruit flavours, though. *yech*

---Lepus Rex