How to have a fun root beer party! Everything you need for a root beer taste test and other fun!
HOW TO HAVE A ROOT BEER PARTY
Not all root beer is created equally. Sure, you've probably had many root beer tastes, but have you really tried multiple brands side by side? That's where this root beer taste party comes in!
ROOT BEER TASTING PARTY IS A FUN ACTIVITY FOR:
- Family parties
- Reunion activities
- Summer boredom buster
- "Ok-2-berfest" party
- Root Beer Day on June 17th or Root Beer Float Day on August 6th
STEP 1: SELECT AN ASSORTMENT OF ROOT BEER
First, select a variety of root beer. I'd suggest choosing around 8. We chose to taste 8 brands which I felt was plenty. Any more would have been too much and since there are so many brands of root beer out there, any less would limit your sampling.
ROOT BEER BRANDS
There are so many Root Beer brands to choose from. These are the brands we chose for our root beer taste test:
- A&W
- Barq's
- Brigham's Brew
- Boylance
- Dad's
- Frosty
- Mug
- Teddy's
Other brands of root beer include:
- Hire's
- IBC
- Shasta
- Sioux City
- Sprecher
- Stewart's
Needless to say, there are over 15 brands of Root Beer, just choose a handful that you can find at your local stores.
Don't forget to choose a few local brands to see how they compare with the big brands like A&W, etc.

STEP 2: SET UP FOR YOUR ROOT BEER TASTE TEST
First, make sure you chill all the root beer. No one wants a warm drink and using ice will alter the flavor and carbonation of the root beer. Throw the root beer in the fridge at least a day or two before the party so it's nice and cold.
Next, pull out 8 mason jars. Label 8 mason jars with the number labels (download available below) and pour each brand in their own jar.
Make a note of which brand is in which jar.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
- root beer taste test printables (download at the end of the post)
- chilled Root Beer (this is key! Warm Root Beer is no good!)
- mason jars
- printable labels (below)
- printable score sheets and pens (below)
- mini plastic glasses for root beer sampling (like these cheap plastic ones from Amazon)
GET THESE TASTE TEST CUPS SHIPPED TO YOUR DOOR:

HOW TO KEEP SCORE OF YOUR FAVORITES
I created score cards (download below) so that we could keep track of each type we tasted. Honestly though, after trying that many, it was hard to pick a favorite.
Root beer is NOT created equal. Each brand tastes very different side-by-side. In fact, after trying half of them, I wasn't even sure if I like root beer anymore. 🙂
But alas, as I'm typing this up, I'm drinking a root beer float, so I guess I still do like root beer after all. I think the key to picking your favorite is to drink them fast and make sure they are ice-cold.

THE BEST ROOT BEER BRAND IS....
You will have to have your own root beer taste test party to determine your very favorites. However, from our taste test, the top 3 favorite root beer brands were:
- Teddy's
- Barq's
- A&W
Ok! Now go do a Root Beer Taste Test and let me know what brand ends up being your favorite!
OTHER ROOT BEER PARTY IDEAS:
FREE PRINTABLE
Download the free printables for your root beer tasting party from our shop here.

Kristin says
Thanks for the printables! Looking forward to using them for our family get together on Sunday.
Lori O says
This is awesome and thanks for the pritable. That being said, I had to X out of SEVEN pop-ups on your website which is extremely annoying when I simply want to read a post. Given that fact, I have chosen to NOT stay on your site to see what other exciting things you may offer. Serious turn off!