Tap Handle #377: Frostop Root Beer

Tap size: 12"
Rarity: Very Rare
Mounting:  standard 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

Okay, so this is not a beer tap. That's perfectly fine on this site, where I've got taps for not just beer but also cider and other alcoholic beverages. This is the first non-alcoholic tap on the site. It is a nice tall tap with the signature Frostop mug on it, an icon that many recognize from the giant mugs that have been spinning on top of the Frostop restaurants for decades. The tap itself was used in their restaurants to dispense root beer.

Click through to read more about the iconic Frostop brand and to see more photos...


L.S. Harvey opened his first root beer stand in Springfield, Ohio in 1926. Seeing an opportunity to fill a void left by the banishment of alcohol during Prohibition, Harvey began to expand by opening franchises of his restaurant. The signature of Frostop became their giant spinning root beer mugs that could be found on top of every restaurant. From the twenties to the outbreak of World War II, Frostop root beer stands covered the landscape, seemingly unaffected by the repeal of Prohibition. World War II proved to be a different story, however, as Frostop closed their doors during this period. When the war ended, Frostop once again opened their doors. The Frostop drive-ins reached their peak in 1958 with locations concentrated mostly in the American midwest and deep south, but they were also found from New York and Florida to California and Washington state.


Today Frostop brand products - Root Beer, Sarsaparilla, Red Birch Beer, Orange Cream, and a Creme Brulee-style soda - are still distributed in supermarkets and convenience stores in California, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. Although not as numerous as in their 1950s and 1960s heyday, Frostop drive-in franchises can still be found scattered across America.


Frostop is available in nostalgic long neck bottles sporting the tagline “Nothing tops it...but the foam!” And top it the foam does. Pour this root beer into a frosty mug and build a foamy head that’s second to none. The root beer itself is very sweet and creamy. It has a medium sassafras flavor accented by lots of vanilla, wintergreen, and other spices. Its aftertaste is creamy vanilla and wintergreen. Frostop Root Beer is a root beer that will take you back to when you were a kid again.


Source Material
Frostop website

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