Carol and Kevin Knox has found that the world is full of root beer fans - as in the original meaning of the word, fanatics.

"We've had a guy in Philadelphia order it, and a chef in Texas," said Carol Knox, co-proprietor of Pacific Grove-based Sparky's Fresh Draft Root Beer. "They call us at home. They knock on our front door. We have people ask us, 'How can I get more? I'm only in town for a couple of days.'"

"There are a lot of root beer enthusiasts," acknowledges Kevin. "I had no idea that there were so many people who were crazy about root beer."

Or as daughter Annabel puts it, "It's borderline weird how people like their root beer."

But such a devoted fan base has propelled Sparky's for the past two years, making it a sought-after beverage in stores and restaurants from Santa Cruz to Carmel Valley.

Previously a locals-only kind of product, Sparky's is now stretching its territory - via the Internet and through more conventional means.

Offered by beverage distributor Real Soda throughout the West and available through the Sparky's Web site (www.sparkysrootbeer.com), the family-owned company is now gearing up for big changes.

Sparky's plans to double its production in the near future, thanks to a deal to place the old-fashioned root beer in 130 Quality Food Center stores in Oregon and Washington.

"For us, it's a lot," said Carol, about the leap to producing around 2,000 cases of root beer a month, up from the present 1,000.

The story of Sparky's is kind of like the little engine that could. The Knox family has kept chugging along - faithfully taking its creation to festivals, food fairs and farmers' markets - and it's paying off.

Word of mouth, and lots of sampling, has left people smitten with Sparky's.

"It's really kept us going," said Carol. "We get this incredibly enthusiastic response everywhere we go."

Kevin Knox didn't set out to become a root beer maker. He started home-brewing beer more than a decade ago as a hobby, and went on to win state and national awards with it. But he found he wanted to offer something to friends and family who didn't drink alcohol.

After a few failed experiments with non-alcoholic concoctions, he settled on root beer as a fun drink to make and share. Eventually, he made labels that said "From Sparky," to apply to bottles being given away - a little inside joke, since Sparky is the family's cat.

The name stuck.

Kevin continued to experiment with the taste, finally developing the recipe that is in use today. The all-natural ingredients - more than a dozen, all told - include birch root, honey, aand a secret spice mixture.

The Knoxes launched Sparky's as a retail product on April Fool's Day 2000, debuting at Pacific Grove's Good Old Days festival. Kevin, who had been working in the hospitality industry, has made Sparky's his full-time job. Carol works in the family business but also is a waitress at the Fishwife in Pacific Grove.

At first, Kevin and Carol made their root beer in a rented facility in Carmel Valley, doing all the production themselves, and only sold five-gallon kegs. These soon became popular with local restaurants who offered the root beer on draft.

The family also sold root beer at the Old Monterey Farmers' Market, and people would bring their own jugs to fill up from the tap.

People began asking for Sparky's in bottles, and so the Knoxes took that plunge earlier this year, making it available in 22-ounce amber longnecks. After some initial experiments doing it themselves, they turned the task over to Coast Range Brewery in Gilroy, which makes and bottles the root beer according to the Knox recipe.

Having the beverage in bottles is enabling Sparky's to reach a much wider audience, and it's now available at more than 30 stores, shops and restaurants in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

The Knoxes have filled cups at a wide variety of local events as well, including the Castroville Artichoke Festival, the Monterey Seafood & Music Festival, and the Moss Landing Antiques Fair, just to name a few.

Another festival is responsible for Sparky's spreading to the Great Northwest. Kevin took his product to an Oktoberfest event in Seattle that featured both a beer garden and, for the teetotalers, a root beer garden. Sparky's was the only one on draft, and the family said it was a hit. That's when the QFC stores became interested in it.

Sparky's continues to be a popular fixture at the downtown Monterey farmers' market each Tuesday, where Kevin and Annabel serve it up, as is, or topped with ice cream for a root beer float.

The rest of the family is just as involved. Daughters Grace, almost 13, and Polly, 15, help at festivals, and Annabel, 17, also helped create the Sparky's Web site. Kevin's father, Lloyd, keeps the books.

As the business gets larger, Carol notes that there's a constant struggle to keep the quality high and yet have the product available at a reasonable price. Currently, a bottle goes for between $2.99 to $3.49, depending on the establishment selling it.

"We don't want to compromise," she said, noting that the ingredients they use for the root beer cost more, but are worth it.

"If we change (the recipe) even a little bit, it throws the whole taste off," said Kevin.

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