Root Beer before the Woods!

Invented in the mid 19th Century, root beer became one of the soft drink alternatives to the hard cider and other hard drinks consumes instead of dangerous water.

JW pours the mixture of root juice, yeast, water, and brown and white sugar into a root beer bottle.

Holden and Gus screw on the special caps to keep the bottles air tight to allow for great carbonation.

Although Thoreau was an avid water drinker, even drinking a neighbors mote-floating tin of water (I'm not squeamish"), he also liked to kick back with some sweet soda water.