Root beer

Is it me or has the fizz gone out of root beer lately? Root beer used to be one of my favorite drinks. I could name all the leading brands: A & W, Shasta, Hires, Dads, Mug, Barqs, etc. I used to scorn soda other than my favorite, a good old fashioned root beer. I still have fond childhood memories of going to the A & W stand here in town and getting a root beer float or rooting around in an ice chest at a barbeque or a picnic for a generic or store brand root beer and then popping the top off for an icy cold thirst quenching drink. Now, as an adult, years later, root beer seems to have lost its zest. I still drink it, but it always tastes like watered down Pepsi now with maybe a mild aftertaste. What happened to root beer with bite? And no I am not talking about Barq's cute commercial. The flavor has gone out of my favorite beverage and I am left thinking that maybe this is a metaphor for today's moden world, a mass produced imitation of the forgotten better old fashioned times. Everything is packaged in plastic and made in bulk so individual flavors are forgotten. Is it a wonder that we now have gourmet soda like Jones Sodas, trying to recapture some of the specialness of the small beverage companies. Leave me alone, I am feeling old and am just going to sit here at my keyboard and guzzle a 2-liter bottle of Mug non-caffeinated imitation root beer.