Root Beer Stand Root Beers – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Carl’s Drive In Homemade Root Beer

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Oct 012025

Last month I found myself in St. Louis, DERMSing again after a fun vacation. As it was my first time there my primary objective after work was done was finding a new root beer. Carl’s Drive-In has been in St. Louis for over 60 years, though it was in 1975 they aquired the formula for their homemade root beer. This place has atmosphere. Just two counters with a kitchen sandwiched in the middle. The staff making your food and pouring your brew. If it’s a nice day you can eat outside on some tables as well. It’s changed ownership a few times since the original Carl started it, but each time the new owner has the same committment to maintaining the classic tradition of the place. The root beer is made fresh every day, the burgers are smashed flat on the grill and spread out. This place oozes with the feeling it’s all gonna be amazing.

The Body is sweet and rich and full of vanilla with a classic flavor that’s clean and delicious. It really is just a perfect creamy root beer Body. The Bite is spicy with good carbonation fizz, giving complexity to the brew. The Head is nice and foamy, they generally try and pour it medium but it can build if you ask them. The Aftertaste is a strong creamy, spiced vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

Wow! Just wow. This is hands down one of the best root beers I’ve ever had. It really blew me away. Which, after 500+, is nearly impossible. With my first sip I knew this was at least a 4.5 and as I drank more, and fully experienced all it had to offer I became more certain of it. It’s not quite perfect, nor is it quite the best, but it is clearly an Elixer of the Gods. They serve their brew from one of those old IBC Keg dispencers and claim it’s the “original IBC recipe.” I’ve drank a lot of IBC and it tastes nothing like this, so if what they say is true, IBC has changed a lot. The burgers were also top tier, some of the best I’ve ever had. I pray that work takes me back to St. Louis, soon and often.

*The amazing double cheese burger, onion rings, and root beer.*

Triple XXX Family Restaurant Root Beer

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May 012024

Last month I set out on a quest to view the total solar eclipse. If you’ve never seen a total solar eclipse, I cannot recommend it enough. Partial eclipses are neat, but really, absolutely, nothing like a total eclipse. Having that proper understanding, yet living outside of the path of totality, I determined that a quest must be had. I pragmatically picked the closest major city I could drive to without having to pay exorbitant hotel fees. And thus I decided on Indianapolis. Once that was decided the next objective, root beer. I stopped in Wisconsin Dells on the first day to visit the National Root Beer Museum. The second day the family and I had the lunch destination of the Triple XXX Family Restaurant. The last official Triple XXX root beer stand in existence and the first Drive In to open in Indiana, in 1931. The place was packed but we got in after a 30 minute wait and ordered food and brews. The place has the classic diner feel you’d expect, with waitresses with big pitchers of root beer filling up anyone in need. And a good thing too because that root beer is great.

The Body is sweet and rich and creamy with a nice vanilla flavor accenting the classic root beer stand taste. I almost want to say there’s some honey in it? The Bite is mild and smooth, could use a bit more spice but I still like it. The Head is medium and frothy. The Aftertaste is a nice sweet vanilla.

It’s that classic drive-in style I love. I know that the bottled version I tried way back when was kind of an inconsistent mess, but every mug (2 and a half of them this trip) I tried was spot on. The food was amazing as well. I tried a really different burger with peanut butter that was featured on Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives. It was surprisingly good. This place alone would have made the eclipse quest a success. The fact that the weather was basically perfect on eclipse day made this hands down one of the most successful road trips I’ve ever done.

*You can see how packed it is on the inside.*

*My burger (chopped steak) with onion rings and a root beer.*

Dairy-Ette Drive-In Root Beer

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Jun 082022

Last fortnight I was in Dallas for DistruTECH and DERMS in a little trip I like to call, DERMS Does Dallas… anyways, I was there and therefore I was searching for brews. I found several, but sadly, most were closed on the Sunday when I arrived, yet I wouldn’t be stopped since I had other days. So on Wednesday, after the show was over, I took off with a coworker and a customer (see me being a good employee) to Dairy-Ette Drive-In, Root Beer, Hamburgers. This is a third generation family owned drive-in, that originally opened in 1956. You know it’s got to be good if it’s still around. They make their own root beer which they serve from a red root beer keg, that says “Coca-Cola” on it. I don’t know why. I don’t know why it’s called Dairy-Ette either. But it’s a beautiful little place hiding on a corner in North Dallas.

The Body is smooth, amazingly smooth, so smooth I can’t even properly describe the liquid silk that is the Body of this root beer. There’s a classic flavor with lots of vanilla. It’s a simple, yet elegant taste. The Bite is small, a little spice but so so smooth. The Head is beautiful. So frothy and crazy tall if they let it. It lasts nearly forever, and you know how that foam feels in your mouth? Smooooth. The Aftertaste is sweet, smooth vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

Okay, remember how last month I raved about some cream soda being smooth. Well that might as well be sandpaper compared to this. Seriously. I can’t remember a brew so silky smooth. With a wonderful classic flavor too, this is top notch. It could be a little spicier with a little more depth, but this is still one of the best root beers I’ve reviewed in quite awhile. The food there is just as amazing as their root beer. This place is worth its own pilgrimage.

A bacon burger with onion rings and root beer. Truly divine.

The “Red Root Beer Keg” according to them. But the brew comes out of there so I guess.

Dairy-Ette. Basically unchanged since 1956.

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