Best of Cleveland 2015: Hard Root Beer

Instead of cracking open pumpkin beer this year, we will be pulling the tab on SpinDoktor. The local hard root beer ($1.79), sold in a skull-emblazoned can, offers a fizzy buzz with 8 percent alcohol. "It warms you up," says managing partner Blanton Unger. The Peninsula native and his partner Dana Pawlicki created an earlier version of the sweet concoction on the Brandywine ski slopes by mixing vodka and root beer. It's popularity led to the official malt beverage, which is made with reverse osmosis malt brewing. Named after the spin in skiing and BMX — and the inevitable doctor's visit after botching said spin — SpinDoktor's soda fountain taste has a sinister liquor undertone. "It's something that your grandparents drank — obviously not the alcohol version," says Unger. "It's a drink that transcends generations." drinkspindoktor.com