Sprecher Hard Root Beer

Not for the kiddies
http://www.wisn.com/news/money/Milwaukee-root-beer-brewer-adds-adult-beverage-to-lineup/-/9373130/18261224/-/kmphd6/-/index.html?absolute=true

It actually is pretty decent. I walked over to the brewery last week to get some.
I would not want to drink a whole batch, but two bottles is pretty good.
More of a malted beverage with flavors added rather than a "real brew" if I read the label correctly.

Wow, according to the Milwaukee business journal, Sprecher's is totally sold out.
The good news it that it was so popular, it is probably going to be a permanent product.
The next batch should be ready mid-feb.

Homebrewers have been making alcoholic root beer for years, and Small Town Brewery has been brewing it for awhile commercially.

after reading my post, I realized my tone was in response to the article - not the LTH posts....the article linked above is written with the tone that alcoholic root beer is somewhat of a new invention - when in fact, all root beers originally had at least some alcohol in them, as yeast was used to carbonate.

This could easily become my favorite new drink for Summer 2013. I found my first two four-packs at the Marianos on Western at Roscoe. This is dangerous stuff, the type of beverage that goes down in two sips, and really doesn't taste of alcohol. At 5% ABV and I didn't check how many calories, the effects could add up quicker than one might suspect. It was perfect with a grilled Black Earth Meats burger, and I think will only taste better as the temperature rises. It will likely be in my best interest not to find Small Town Brewery's Hard Root Beers (edited to acknowledge these are mentioned above), at 10% and 20% ABV, but for the sake of research and LTH partnership, one never knows....

Sprecher also sells their root beer concentrate, for anyone who wants to pour it into a keg with four gallons of water and force carbonate. I imagine you could add some source of sugar, and some yeast, and make a pretty good hard root beer of your own.

Smassey wrote:This could easily become my favorite new drink for Summer 2013. I found my first two four-packs at the Marianos on Western at Roscoe. This is dangerous stuff, the type of beverage that goes down in two sips, and really doesn't taste of alcohol. At 5% ABV and I didn't check how many calories, the effects could add up quicker than one might suspect. It was perfect with a grilled Black Earth Meats burger, and I think will only taste better as the temperature rises. It will likely be in my best interest not to find Small Town Brewery's Hard Root Beers (edited to acknowledge these are mentioned above), at 10% and 20% ABV, but for the sake of research and LTH partnership, one never knows....

After reading this I ran over to Marianos after work yesterday. Unfortunately, they were completely sold out of the Sprecher's (hard) root beer. I settled for some Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer, which was nice at 4.8%. Didn't really taste any booze, and would be good as a cocktail mixer. Still going to have to make a return visit to try the root beer, though.