Does Root Beer Have Caffeine
This article covers everything you need to know about Root beers and caffeine. We discuss how much caffeine you’d find in traditional root beer and how much is seen in modern root beer. Also, we list and review some of the most popular brands of root beer and their caffeine levels, if any. So, does root beer have caffeine? Let’s jump right in!
Fans of root beers love the beverage for its high sugar content, making it the perfect soft drink for many occasions.
The exuberance you get from consuming these soft drinks has led too many times to the question, “Does root beer have caffeine?” To answer this question, we delve into the history, brewing process, and factors that may cause caffeine in a root beer.
Root Beer and Caffeine: All you need to know
Root beers have existed since 1875, brewed with sarsaparilla root/sassafras root and many natural ingredients. These ingredients are responsible for its natural flavors and have remained so for centuries. Of these ingredients, there’s no component that naturally produces caffeine, nor have traditional brewers sought to add caffeinated products to these beverages.
As such, the traditional root beer is generally caffeine-free. However, over the years, the brewing process of root beer has taken on more components than tree roots, spices, and natural sweeteners. It’s quite common to see manufacturers add high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors to their brew to get a desired root beer soda. In the same trend, some brewers have added caffeine to their brewing process to make caffeinated root beer.
These caffeinated beverages are not as common, so the market is still dominated by root beers with no caffeine content. Compared to energy drinks and caffeinated beverages, your regular root beer doesn’t have the kola nut extract that produces caffeine. So, if you see root beer products with kola nut extract, yerba mate, or guarana in their ingredients, it’s bound to have some level of caffeine.
You can enjoy your root beer caffeine-free or with caffeine, depending on the kick you wish to get out of the beverage. While there are no health hazards with a normal caffeine root beer, you want to be watchful of a hard root beer with any significant levels of caffeine.
As established now, the root beer typically sold in your favorite stores is free, but if you look well enough, you’ll find some with caffeine content. This answers the great question, “Does root beer have caffeine?” But if you’re still wondering which popular brands of root beer have caffeine and which don’t, we have you covered in the following section.
Popular Root Beer Brands and Their Caffeine Levels
If you drink root beer regularly, you’d be familiar with the following brands in the headings below. You may not have paid close attention to their components, but this review will shed light on their caffeine content. Understanding their components will help you make the best choices to suit your lifestyle. First on the list is the Mug Root Beer.
Mug Root Beer
Mug Root Beer has existed since the 1940s, first known as the Belfast root, since it was produced by the Belfast Beverage company in San Francisco. The root beer has earned a reputation for itself as the kid’s choice, with its smooth, sweet taste from start to finish. As such, it’s a caffeine-free root beer with a rich foam and distinct aroma that goes with your dishes and desserts.
It’s packaged in 12 Oz cans and bottles, containing 160 calories and 40 grams of carbohydrates. The Belfast beverage company uses a range of caffeine-free ingredients, like in the traditional way of brewing root beer. These ingredients include high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, artificial and natural flavors, caramel color, and sodium benzoate.
You’d enjoy this beer with homemade treats, from cookies to brownies. You’d also have a swell time using this root beer for a root beer float, with its flavors matching perfectly with vanilla ice cream.
A&W Root Beer
Lovers of the A&W root beer have asked plenty of times if this root beer is caffeine-free. You can rest assured you and your kids are not consuming any level of caffeine in the root beer. It’s a caffeine-free root beer that has existed since 1919 and is known as the standard for a few popular brands of modern root beer today.
It’s a super refreshing root beer, coming in different versions to satisfy its wide base of customers. There’s the A&W diet root beer, also known as the zero-sugar root beer. You can have the regular version, with its full creamy vanilla and caramel flavors.
A 12-ounce serving of the normal A&W root beer contains 85 grams of saturated fat, 44 grams of carbs, and 170 calories. You’d enjoy the beer with several dishes and desserts, including pancakes, cookies, cake, and truffles. They’re sold in bottles and cans. You’d particularly enjoy this beverage in the middle of summer for its refreshing taste.
IBC Root Beer
The IBC Root Beer has earned itself a reputation as an affordable, moderately sweet root beer for kids and adults. Like the first two root beers in the sections above, it’s a caffeine-free beverage that goes great with your food, and root beer floats. The root beer is made with Quillaia extract, caramel color, carbonated water, modified corn starch, sugar, and artificial and natural flavors.
They’ve existed since 1919, gaining customers’ trust as one of the best root beers in the market. The root beer comes in varieties, including the IBC Cream Soda, the original IBC root beer, IBC diet root beer, the black cherry flavored soda, and the cherry limeade flavored soda. A 12-ounce serving contains contain 43 grams of carbohydrates and 160 calories. They’re primarily available in bottles at your favorite drinks stores.
Boylan Root Beer
The Boylan root beer is a creamy, delicious beverage with strong aromas of wintergreen and licorice. It’s one of the longest-reigning root beers, existing since 1891. The beer is with low to medium-level carbonation, making it a good choice for summertime. It’s brewed with natural Yucca extract, cane sugar, carbonated water, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, and sodium benzoate.
A 12-ounce serving of the root beer contains zero grams of caffeine, 42 grams of carbohydrates, and 170 calories. They occur primarily in glass bottles and you can get them online or in your physical stores.
Culver’s Root Beer
When you think summer drinks, think Culver’s root beer. This root beer has existed since 1984, giving you a sweet, crisp, and refreshing taste with each sip. It’s one of the soft drinks that pair perfectly with ice creams to make a delicious float. As it’s made to be family-friendly, the root beer has no caffeine content.
You’d enjoy this root beer with a scoop of creamy Vanilla Fresh Frozen Custard. A 12-ounce serving of the caffeine-free root beer contains 59 grams of carbohydrates and 220 calories.
Barq’s Root Beer
The regular Barq’s root beer is the only exception in the root beers listed so far. Barq’s root beer contains 22.5 mg of caffeine, giving you a mild energy kick, and it might be ideal for kids. But Barq’s root beer comes in other varieties, such as the diet root beer that contains no caffeine. The Barq’s root beer is brewed with high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, citric acid, carbonated water, caramel color, acacia, artificial and natural flavors, and sodium benzoate.
A 12-ounce serving of root beer contains 44 grams of carbs and 160 calories. You can opt to enjoy the root beer caffeine-free with the diet version. They come in bottles and cans and can be purchased online or in physical retail stores.
Comparison Chart: Root Beers and Caffeine Contents
From the list of root beers above, we can draw a comparison chart on the root beer caffeine drinks and the non-caffeinated ones. We’d compare calories, carbs, and how much caffeine these beers have.
| Root Beer | Carbohydrates | Caffeine Content | Calories |
| Mug | 40g | 160 | 0g |
| A&W | 44g | 170 | 0g |
| IBC | 43g | 160 | 0g |
| Boylan | 42g | 170 | 0g |
| Culver’s | 59g | 220 | 0g |
| Barq’s | 44g | 160 | 22.5 mg |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is root beer alcoholic?
Although called a beer, root beers are soft drinks since their ingredients do not produce significant alcohol content during fermentation. It’s a perfectly safe beverage for kids and adults who don’t mind high sugar content.
What is the flavor of root beer?
The flavor of a root beer is best described as natural, as they incorporate flavors from tree roots and spices. However, manufacturers use different flavorings nowadays, including honey, cinnamon, sweet birch, licorice, anise, acacia, wintergreen, vanilla, molasses, nutmeg, sarsaparilla root, and black cherry bark.
Why is rootbeer so good?
Root beers are healthy, sweet, and contain no alcohol, making them suitable for all ages. They come in different varieties, giving a good range of options in taste, mouthfeel, and aroma. You’ll find different types suitable for all occasions and for your food pairings.
What brands of root beer don’t contain caffeine?
Brands that do not contain caffeine include Mug, A&W, Culver’s, Boylan, and IBC.
What Is The Right Amount Of Root Beer To Drink?
While most root beers contain no alcohol or caffeine, they’re high in sugar content. Sugar is something that you should consume moderately, so a bottle or two a week can serve as the right amount.
Does root beer have sugar?
Yes, the average root beer contains over 40 grams of sugar. This is typically obtained from the corn syrup they use that contains high fructose.
Related Articles
Check out these informative articles about Root beers.
Conclusion: Does Root Beer Have Caffeine?
As detailed in this article, most root beers are caffeine-free, sticking to the traditional method of production. They do not use caffeinated ingredients, such as a kola nut extract, guarana, or yerba mate. However, there are a few root beers, such as Barq’s root beer, with small levels of caffeine.
