St. Louis Loves Its Root Beer

Root beer has always been big here in St. Louis. Not only the national brands like A&W and Barq's, but also local brands like Vess and Hires. There are also some brands that have gone to the wayside like Frosty and 3V.

Root beer making is an art that goes way back. It used to be sold in a powder form that you used to make your own home brew. According to Wikipedia: Root beer is made from " sassafras flavoring and is complemented with other flavors. Common flavorings are vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, acacia, anise, molasses, cinnamon, clove and honey. "

The early root beers did have some alcohol in them but not very much. When we were kids I remember Hire's root beer coming in the same brown bottles as regular beer. As a matter of fact, I'm sure that some of the root beer companies bought their bottles from breweries. As kids we thought it was neat to walk around with what looked like a bottle of beer and then take a big swig of it when we saw an adult.

There's a great little hamburger stand called Carl's that sits on Manchester Road here in St. Louis that still has the original wood root beer barrel that sat on the counter some 50-years-ago. A juicy double cheeseburger or a hot bowl of chili washed down with a frosty mug of their root beer is a bite of Americana that can't be beat.

But of all the local and national root beers that have come and gone, one of the best is Fitz's. Ever since 1947, Fitz's has made a root beer that ranks consistently in the top ten lists of the best root beers in America. Fitz's restaurant and bottling plant sits in an old bank building down on the Loop in University City. As you sit and munch on your River City burger you can watch the bottles go round and round on the conveyor belt. They also make some of the best root beer floats that I have ever tasted.

Recently Michael Alter, a previous owner, bought back the restaurant and bottling company from an investment company. He had sold the business in 1990. He said that he has always loved the business and wants to bring it back to where it once was and expand distribution. Looking at the boxes and boxes of shirts and other Fitz's merchandise that sits in his basement didn't help much in keeping him away either.

Building the business should be an easy job for Mike because Fitz's products are sold in stores all over the area and the restaurant is packed for both lunch and dinner most days of the week.

If you're not a big root beer fan then check out some of the other flavors that Fitz's makes like orange, grape, and a fantastic vanilla cream. And, a few years ago, Fitz's started making most of their flavors in diet so us carb watchers can enjoy it as well.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer

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