>Having asked that...does anyone know if such a concoction could really
>be considered paleo?

no, theserecipes aren't paleo.  proceed at your own risk :)

Simple Root Beer - makes 12 one quart bottles

1/3 oz. root beer extract
4 1/2 cups sugar [note - you could substitue a lesser amount of honey, i think]
3 gallons lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon wine yeast

Throughly wash, rinse and dry all equipment, bottles and caps.
Shake the bottled extract well.  Mix the sugar and the extract in the water,
blending until the sugar is dissolved.  Blend the yeast in well until it
dissolves.  Fill the bottles to within 1 inch of their rim.  Close with
plastic or crown lids.
When using plastic lids, stand the bottles up in a box.  If using crown
tops, lay the bottles in the box on their sdies.
Cover against drafts.  Put the box in a warm spot.  Where the temperature is
approx. 70F, the root beer will carbonate within 1-5 days; carbonation will
usually take place in 1 day where the temperature is above 80F.  To check
for carbonation, refrigerate a bottle after one day.  When it is chilled,
slowly open it over the sink.  Inspecting and tasting will tell you whether
the root beer is sufficiently carbonated.  If it seems a little flat, allow
it to stand another day or longer.

Old-Fashioned Root Beer - Basic Recipe

Mix 1-1/2 gallons of molasses into 5 gallons of boiling water.  Let stand
for 3 hours.
Put in 1/4 pound each of wintergreen birch bark, sasparilla root and bruised
sassafras bark.
Add 1 cup of fresh yeast, and increase the water content of the vessel to a
total of about 16 gallons.
Set the mixture in a spot where the temperature is kept at 65-75F.  Leave it
for 12 hours to ferment.
Draw off the root beer, using flexible tubing, and bottle it.  Secondary
carbonation will now take place; maintain the same temeprature as before
throughout the process.
The percentage of alcohol in the drink depends upon the length of time it
ferments before bottling and the depth to which the containers are filled.
The lower the level to which the bottles are filled, the longer the period
of fermentation and the greater the alcohol content.
Other flavors that can be used are the root &/or bark of the following:
anise, boxberry, cinnamon, clove, deerberry, spiceberry, teaberry and vanilla.

[from Down Home Ways, by Jerry Mack Johnson]

hth,
JoAnn.