It has been quite a few years since I was last in the area. I believe it was in
Crosby, MN., there was a small restaurant that made Root Beer by the barrels. You made a deposit on one of their one gallon brown glass jugs, then paid for the gallon of root beer. Every time you return a bottle you could buy another gallon of root beer. My family used to stop there 5 or 6 times in the summer traveling up to my grandfathers. Now what I want to know is does this make any sense to anyone out there? I would like to know if they are still in existence and the name of the restaurant. Can anyone help me out. Thanks.

Not sure about Crosby, but when I was in Rochester, MN, around 1994, there was a great stand named Roscoe's. They licensed a brewer to bottle their root beer, and for some reason, I liked the bottle better than the draft (though both were good). It was only open during the summer, but quite popular during the warm season.
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Bottoms up!
Kevin Guske

“So here’s a tribute toast with root beer in hand to you and the many mugs of suds along your happy trails.” --Charles Wysocki, artist and root beer fan, 1928-2002