I ordered a variety pack of various root beers from Beverages Direct in winter 1999 - here's my notes. This is more so I remember what to buy next than anything else. There's also popsoda.com.
Boylan Bottleworks Root Beer
Bottle:
Very old-fashioned yellow label, and a rather slender bottle.
Taste:
Zippy. "Natural yucca extract" is listed as one of the ingredients, aside from the normal water, sweeteners, and coloring. It's very tangy, like a cherry cola drink. I personally don't care for cherry-flavored drinks like Cherry Coke or Dr. Pepper, so this didn't sit too well for me.
Goose Island Root Beer
Bottle:
Paper label, with a goose on it. Nothing startling here.
Taste:
Very light. It's almost more like a vanilla cola if you've ever had something like that. There isn't much of a root beer taste. It's also quite creamy, with a texture that melts away like cotton candy. (though not that sweet.)
Stewart's Root Beer
Bottle:
Printed label, ordinary bottle.
Taste:
It's root beer. There's not much more to say about it. There's no surprises here. It's a lot like IBC, though I feel it's a bit thinner. (See the IBC description.)
IBC Root Beer
Bottle:
No label or printing - the bottle is embossed.
Taste:
Nothing startling, but a good ordinary root beer. It's not too far off from the taste of the Stewart's root beer, though a bit darker. (I could be influenced here by the labels more than anything, since I haven't done a side-by-side comparison.)
Pirate's Keg Root Beer
Bottle:
Printed label. Easy to recognize, if nothing else, from the shape of the printed design.
Taste:
Normal root beer taste. It is more sugary, like a cola, and certainly sweeter than a lot of the other root beers I've tried. It's close to Mug or other root beers produced on a large scale.
Thomas Kemper Root Beer - http://www.tksoda.com
Bottle:
Something of a fat bottle, with a fancy paper label.
Taste:
A bee illustration appears several times on the labeling, and honey is apparently used as one of the ingredients. That, combined with the vanilla listed, gives it a sweet taste without it being as strong as most sweetened drinks. The vanilla gives it a creamy feel, but it also has sassafras to keep a bite in there. (Can you tell I read the ingredients list?) I quite like it. The vanilla gives it a nice touch, without making it too soft for me like the Goose Island Root Beer did. The website helpfully lists locations of distributors. Unfortunately, the closest for me is in Albany.
Empire Brewing Company Root Beer
Bottle:
There is no bottle. Empire is a brewery/restaurant that has eateries open in Syracuse, Rochester, and (I think) Buffalo, NY. I've only been to the Rochester one. They serve this root beer there, and the only way to get it outside the restaurant is to get a quarter-keg. (or larger)
Taste:
This root beer is a dark (almost black), strong syrup, that has a very bitey taste, almost like what you would expect medicine to taste like. It's a lot like a dark beer equivalent. It reminds me of when I was young, and I'd get root beer from this old machine in the drug store that put too much syrup in relative to the amount of carbonated water.
If you don't have a strong liking for root beer, this may not be for you. Given it's limited geographic availability, it may not be for you anyway. I actually got a quarter keg once, for a party. I drank most of it (well, most of what was drank) myself.
Clover Classic Root Beer
Bottle:
Brown paper label, gold foil covering the cap.
Taste:
The taste is all-around root beer. Tangy, but not so much so that it will be startling. It is not too far off from other "normal" root beers. It isn't quite as rich as the Thomas Kemper, but still quite pleasing. This would work well as a regular drink, without being too sodalike.
Berghoff Root Beer
Bottle:
Paper label, nothing big. Lots of "old-fashioned" and "draft style" label nonsense to make it seem authentic.
Taste:
Normal taste. It's a bit more peppery than some of the other root beers, though nowhere as strong as the Boylan Bottleworks root beer. It's a notch above the Clover Classic or IBC in that respect.
Iron Horse Root Beer
Bottle:
Squat, with a paper label.
Taste:
Ordinary - a bit sweet.
Rawhide Root Beer - http://www.sodabrew.com/
Bottle:
Ordinary - paper label
Taste:
Hey! Someone put orange juice in my root beer! Well, it's not quite like that, but you get the idea. It has the "sasparilly" taste that you usually find only in root beers where they make the effort to add more traditional ingredients, but it also has a fruity taste on top of that which is pretty odd. It's not a bad taste - just different. The ingredients listed include "brewed rocky mountain herbs, roots, and berries". Wish I knew what those were.
Mad River Root Beer
Bottle:
Paper label. The bottle's clear, unlike most root beer bottles.
Taste:
It's a pretty regular sweetened taste, though I'd say a very good average taste. Vanilla is listed as one of the ingredients, which gives it a nice touch, but it's not overpowering.
Myers Avenue Red Root Beer
Bottle:
Fancy "old" label, made to look more authentic by using old-style printing and photos. It's not a twist-off cap like most root beers.
Taste:
The ingredients include molasses and cinnamon, so I was expecting a strange taste. Unfortunately, I don't think it's successful. It's very strong at first, and not bad, as the darker molasses taste makes it a pleasant taste. Unfortunately, the cinnamon aftertaste is immediately reminiscent of cough syrup, and is pretty strong. I really wanted to like this drink, but the aftertaste just stopped me cold. It's not really that red, either.
Jones Root Beer - http://www.jonessoda.com/
Bottle:
Paper label, clear bottle, screw top like a regular pop bottle. The picture on the label is apparently changed at random in their printing process.
Taste:
Sweet, and rather vanilly. It's more like a cream soda. It's not a bad taste, though a little too smooth for me. My wife is finishing this bottle.
The web site is full of "Xtreme teen!" style material. They apparently also make a sports drink called "Whoop Ass".
Hank's Root Beer
Bottle:
Ordinary brown bottle with paper label. The full title is "Genuine Hank's Premium Philadelphia Recipe Root Beer".
Taste:
It's like a wierd battle between bitter and smooth tastes. It has the vanilla overtones of some of the other root beers, while it also has the strong yucca/etc. flavors found in a few other flavors. It's a little odd at first, but the compromise seems to work out. Acacia, yucca, and quillaia are listed as ingredients.