Gale's Root Beer (Fan Review!)

They sell this at my local supermarket, so I thought I’d give it a try. I opened the bottle and it has a really different taste. It had a hint of vanilla but wasn’t very sweet, it has kind of a spiced flavor. This isn’t A&W. I tried to figure out what was making it taste so “different” and remembered those wise words from my father:

 “When all else fails, read the instructions”.

 So I looked at the label and found it is is flavored with cinnamon and ginger. It’s a unique taste and probably not going to suit everyone’s palate. Available in selected parts of the USA.

http://www.galegand.com/booksandproducts.asp#grb

Gray's Root Beer (Fan Review!)

150 years and five generations ago, Irish immigrant Joshua Gray moved to Janesville, Wisconsin to brew ales and soft drinks.  The Gray Brewing Company is now one of the family owned beverage companies in the country.

 The root beer recipe dates back 140 years and is made with pure cane sugar. It’s a nice grog, good creamy head, rich vanilla flavor and decent carbonation. It’s one of the better root beers I’ve tasted. It’s only available in southern Wisconsin as far as I know, so a road trip might be in order.  Definitely worth a trip to the brewery and the tied house in Verona, WI.

www.graybrewing.com

Black Bear Root Beer - (Fan Review!)

So when I was a kid growing up in Milwaukee in the 60s and 70s, we had loads of local soda bottlers. We used to drink Graf’s, Jo Jo, Jic Jac and Ting. Graf’s was the big one, they had a great Root Beer and a drink called 50/50 which was a grapefruit / lemon line blend. When Graf’s folded, the brands were sold to Canfield’s in Chicago which also eventually went bankrupt.

The one we liked the best was Jo Jo, which came in 7 oz returnables in a wood crate. It was dirt cheap and the only flavor really drinkable was the orange, some were well and truly bad. With clowns and balloons on the bottles, I think it was aimed at kid’s birthday parties, where cheap was the order of the day.  We used to joke the secret formula was crayons, water and a bag of sugar.

Unfortunately, they are all gone now, put under by the marketing machines of Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper / 7up. The only local bottler remaining is Black Bear of Oak Creek, which is doing remarkably well. Until recently, they also did the returnables in a wood case, but now have come into the 21st century with throw-a-way plastic bottles.

OK, so I’m not going to be 100% objective here. But it is a nice root beer, sweet with a whole bunch of vanilla. My bottle didn’t seem to be full, maybe they should check their QC (!). Black Bear also have a great pink lemonade for the summer which I recommend! Still family owned since 1920, not run by Harvard MBAs.  One of the minority shareholders is Junior Bridgeman, a former Milwaukee Buck.

http://www.blackbearbottling.com/

Grand Teton Brewing Company - Root Beer

I was approached by the fine people at Grand Teton Brewing Company to review their line of sodas.  There were four flavors in all, thus giving me the difficult decision on what to try first.  Thankfully they have a root beer as I feel you can almost always judge a company on how serious they take their root beer.  You see root beer is a beverage that can be made unique with effort, and with even more effort it can stand away from the crowd.  The use of interesting ingredients often sets one apart from the other.  That said I don’t know if Grand Teton has used any of those ingredients because they’ve chosen to list them as “Natural and Artificial Flavors”.  Fortunately it does say that it’s made with Sugar and Spring Water, two ingredients that should help this experience. 

The label itself is brown with their logo on it.  The logo consists of what a quick Google search confirms are the Grand Tetons.  How embarrassing would that have been if it was Old Smokey… awkward.  There is also a river running from said Grand Tetons that a moose has wandered next to.  Here is where you might insert a Monty Python and the Holy Grail joke.  Grand Teton Brewing Company’s bottle also mentions that it’s a Kettle Brewed Soda.  I’m not sure how that factors into the taste, but I do know that kettle chips are delicious versions of chips so maybe the same is true for soda.  Don’t quote me on that… unless it’s on a very popular website that will get us thousands upon thousands of hits, thrusting us into the upper echelon of internet stardom.  Enough babble, time for drinking.

Grand Teton Root Beer has a very rooty aroma that reminds me a bit of Moxie.  I’m sure, without even tasting it, that Grand Teton Root Beer will not taste like Moxie though.  Huzzah!  With that said the scent that flows from the top of this bottle is faint and doesn’t give me much of a clue as to what this will taste like.  Only one way to find out!

Wow, that has more carbonation than I’m used to root beer having.  The root beer itself isn’t that rich or creamy, but I’m not saddened by this.  The strong carbonation gives it a coke like kick to the back of your throat, setting it apart from most other root beer experiences.  The flavor you initially experience is root beer barrel candy, but not as strong.  The finish to Grand Teton Root Beer is most certainly licorice.  This will keep it from being a lot of folks beverage of choice, but fortunately for me I like licorice.  Is this out of this world amazing root beer?  No, not really, but it is better than your average fare.  Grand Teton Root Beer gives you a mouth feel that is unique to its type and a flavor that any licorice lover will like.  I really wish I knew that benefit kettle brewing had on this soda, but I guess that’s going to have to be a life lesson for another day.

~A

(This beverage was supplied to us by the Grand Teton Brewing Company)

Twist enjoyed this so much he licked part of the label off.

Berghoff Famous Root Beer (Fan Review!)

Berghoff has its roots in the famous Berghoff restaurant of Chicago, IL which specializes in fine German food. The restaurant has been in operation, nearly continuously, since 1898. At one time the Berghoff family also operated a brewery in Ft. Wayne, IN, which sold to Falstaff in the 1950s. The brewery closed in 1990.

Berghoff Root Beer is sold in liter bottles throughout Chicagoland, and is sort of to the root beer world what 40 oz. malt liquor is to beer. It’s a cheap and cheerful sugar rush.

It has a nice taste, a bit of vanilla and sweet and practically devoid of carbonation. One might say it almost tastes flat. A good brew, and easy on the pocket book compared to more upscale brands.

http://www.theberghoff.com/about_us/history.aspx

Triple XXX Root Beer (Fan Review!)

Triple XXX had its origins in the Galveston Brewery of Galveston, TX and dates back to 1908. Following the advent of Prohibition, the brewery put its full efforts into soft drinks in order to survive.

By 1923 Southern Beverage had licensed 150 Triple XXX bottlers and 100 “Thirst Drive-Ins”.  The Washington state distributor had developed a unique twin barrel design for his Triple XXX restaurants along the West Coast.

In the 1950s the brand began to decline and in 1960 the FDA ruled that Sassafras could no longer be used in food products which robbed Triple XXX of its distinctive flavor and head.  Eventually chemists were able to develop a substitute but sales and outlets continued to decline.

The brand changed hands a number of times and had a brief resurgence in the 1980s, but the brand was basically doomed as the number of independent bottlers declined, and both Coke and Pepsi had their root beer flavors.

The brand is now marketed by the Triple XXX Family Restaurant of West Lafayette, IN.

It is a pretty good root beer, not too sweet, but seems to have too much carbonation and a bit of seltzer kind of aftertaste. Not bad, though I’ve tasted both better and worse.

John

http://www.triplexxxrootbeer.com/history.html

IBC Root Beer

Let me start this review off by saying I’m gonna do my best not to be biased reviewing IBC Root Beer.  Much like IBC Black Cherry (which I was going to link there until I realized I’ve never reviewed it) I have an emotional tie to IBC Root Beer. 

Every time I go to visit my grandmother, about a 3 hour trip, for the ride home she always packs me an IBC Root Beer.  When I say pack I don’t mean she puts it in a bag and hands it to me, oh no; she wraps it in a paper towel for the initial layer, then wraps the bottle in foil to preserve its frosty feel, finally she places it in a plastic grocery bag and wraps that around the bottle several times until the bag is almost like a form fitting garment.  I can only imagine that this last step is for cushioning, but it doesn’t matter because it’s created a great memory for me over the last several years. 

To add onto this fond memory of IBC Root Beer I have to go back even further into my life back when I was about ten years old.  My mom used to drink Diet Sprite all the time, not like an addict or anything but enough that we were fully stocked most any day.  Since Diet Sprite isn’t exactly a “treat” for your average 10 year old she started purchasing IBC Root Beer for us as well.  I’d never seen anything like it, the bottle was so cool.  I’d never had a drink out of a glass bottle before, it was so mature, almost like a beer… but I was allowed to drink it.  I guess you could say that IBC Root Beer was my first jaunt into the world of non-mainstream sodas.  Fast forward 20 years and you have me sitting here today still excited to drink one for all the above reasons.  It’s like every bottle of IBC Root Beer is a fond memory for me, and I felt I had to tell you all that in case you saw some sort of bias.  I’m going to do my best though.  On with the review! 

IBC Root Beer is a root beer made with HFCS which already sets it back in the “Root Beer Game”.  Upon writing that sentence I immediately want to play the “Root Beer Game” whatever that may be.  To follow a negative with a positive we have the bottle design.  I’ve always enjoyed that IBC didn’t have any kind of paper label.  The logo is actually part of the brown glass bottle, as are all of the states you can return this bottle to for a refund.  This creates a unique look in a market that’s inundated with paper labels trying their best to look old fashioned.  It’s time for me to twist off that fancy red bottle cap that I’ve removed hundreds of times before.

I always enjoy the vapor that a bottle sometimes releases when you first open it.  Something about it adds to the chill factor of the beverage at hand.  Fortunately IBC Root Beer has this visible vapor and the smell that follows is most certainly that of a root beer.  IBC Root Beer doesn’t have a creamy scent like you might find with an A&W.  I’d say that licorice is the strongest scent I perceive with each whiff of the bottle.  If the smell of licorice is off putting to you then let me try this comparison instead.  If you’ve ever eaten a root beer flavored Dum Dum sucker then you’re already familiar with the aroma I’m experiencing here.  On to the drinking!

The root beer flavor of IBC is weaker than others which is surprising for me to find out since I usually drink this with such nostalgia.  Don’t get me wrong it’s not weak to the point of watery but I’ve had stronger root beers.  I will say that with each sip the flavor builds upon itself creating more and more of a root beer experience as you drink it.  Some of that can be contributed to the HFCS they use to sweeten it since the syrupy feel never completely leaves your mouth.  The carbonation level of IBC Root Beer is comparable to the slightest of buzzes on your tongue.  The HFCS starts to work against it about midway through the experience as it begins to make the fact that this isn’t an all-natural root beer more well-known with each sip.  As you reach the bottom of the bottle the carbonation kicks up a bit more as it now has further to travel with each upending.  This adds a delightful mouth feel, but the flavor isn’t improved.  For some reason the burps afterward have a better flavor than the root beer itself… no idea why.  Overall IBC Root Beer is an average root beer in a wonderful bottle.  I hope I’ve done my job in keeping my bias out of this review.  I’m going to stop now before I change my rating.

Nostalgic Verdict – HUGS!

~A

Twit's grandmother wraps it in leaves.  Iguanas have limited resources

F&N Sarsi

“The Original Sarsi”.  That’s what I have in front of me today.  Technically it’s F&N Sarsi but I honestly don’t know if that makes a difference.  You see this can of Sarsi is from Singapore, brought to me by the MMAgician.  F&N Sarsi is manufactured and distributed by Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages Pte. Ltd.  I’m guessing it’s a fairy mainstream drink over there.  Maybe I’ll do a little more digging on Sarsi.  If you find these next few sentences <surrounded by alligators> informative at all that means I did in fact do some digging. <Sarsi, it’s just so fun to type, is a sarsaparilla based beverage sold in South East Asia.  Ok, we’re making some sense here… Sarsi/Sarsparilla… I see what they did there.  Fun fact!  According to Wikipedia, Sarsi was the subject of a 1985 film called It’s a Drink, It’s a Bomb, where a grenade was disguised as a can of Sarsi.> Sarsi seems to have a pretty short ingredient list.  Let’s read shall we?  Carbonated Water, Sugar, Flavourings, Caramel, Citric Acid and Preservative.  They seem to hide stuff a little better over in Singapore.  I know not if the “Flavourings” are naturally or chemically spawned.  I also don’t know what the “Preservative” is.  It could be formaldehyde or Sodium Benzoate.  Fingers crossed for formaldehyde!  Seeing as I don’t know what Sarsi should even begin to taste like (since I haven’t looked it up yet as of typing this) I’m interested to open up this stumpy maroon can.

One.   That was the most difficult opening of a can I’ve ever been a part of.  Two.  This smells like dreams.  Sarsi smells of root beer, Dr. Pepper, and peppermint, COMBINED!  While intrigued even more I’m now experiencing a bit of fear as well.  Ah well, who else can say that they’re drinking a Singapore soda today?  NOT YOU!  Unless of course you’re reading this in Singapore… in that case thanks for the readership you handsome/beautiful devil you.

Whoa… that tastes nothing like Dr. Pepper or peppermint.  Sarsi tastes of carbonated black licorice with a hint of root beer.  Mike (remember Mike?) says that birch beer tastes of licorice, while I thought it tasted so similarly to root beer that they wasted time re-naming it birch beer.  There were fights abound on the subject, one eventually coming to fisticuffs.  Sarsi on the other hand tastes like they soaked a handful of black licorice jellybeans in a diluted root beer concoction.  If you remember from the research above you will understand that half of my review isn’t that far off.  Sarsi is a sarsaparilla based soda so that explains the root beer.  I guess one of the “flavourings” could be licorice but we’ll never know.  Thanks Coke!  Thoke!  Sarsi’s carbonation to flavour ratio works very well for itself, but carbonation sits on the back burner when you have such an interesting flavour as we do here.  With that said Sarsi is in fact very different from anything I’ve tried up to this point.  While my joy of drinking it has increased throughout this review, I just can’t see myself purchasing a pack of Sarsi.  Therefore.

~A

Twist's blood is actually Sarsi, but not the kind you find in stores... the life granting kind.

Zevia Ginger Root Beer (Fan Review!)

       The last time the sweetener Stevia & I met it was not a pleasant experience. Me & Mrs. G were on a sugar substitute diet at the time & were trying everything. Let’s just say we & Stevia went our separate ways leaving on non-speaking terms. So you could imagine my apprehension when Mr. A asked if we could review the Stevia infused Zevia Ginger Root Beer drink. But I believe myself to be a man of second chances especially since Mrs. G has been giving me those second chances since 1997, so why couldn’t I do the same for this drink? (Not exactly the same, but it is…)

       First I gathered the group & popped open the can. Before giving each of them a sample, I took a whiff of the drink & found it to be surprisingly pleasant. It was a nice blend of a ginger & root beer scent, which apparently is the flavor the can says they’re going for, so that’s a good start. Now let’s get to the group’s reaction.

       Five year old Miss S’s initial reaction to the drink poured into her glass was:

       “Ooh, it’s so bubbly!” So far so good I guess.

       “And how’s the taste?” I asked.

       “It’s spicy & sweet. I like it!”

        I was surprised. Was this the same sweetener that left such a terrible taste in my mind I swore I wouldn’t touch the stuff again? Maybe my kid’s got a different set of taste buds. Let’s turn to three year old Miss P & see what she thought.

       Once I poured it into her sippy cup, she started to drink…

              …& drink…

                     …& didn’t stop drinking till it was all gone. “Can I have some more?”

       I was getting the sneaking suspicion this drink might be pretty good.

       However, Mr. Little O was next. He’s in the copycat stage of his two years so though he may have said,” It’s sweet,” like his sisters, his scrunched up face told me the story. To top it off, he shoved the drink right back at me & wouldn’t drink another drop. I guess that’s a no for him.

       Next were Mrs. G. & myself. When I mentioned to the missus that we were doing this, she wasn’t too thrilled. We braced ourselves. The first sip hit me with a strong ginger taste. Then the root beer flavor was next. “Exactly as advertised” I thought. I looked over at my wife & saw the same reaction. Now we waited for that dreaded Stevia aftertaste...& we waited...& waited. To our surprise, it never came!

       So to sum up we were pleasantly surprised by the taste of this Stevia flavored drink. Little O may not have liked it too much, but four out of five of us found it quite nice & flavorful.

- RGSPO

Not even Twist could compete with the level of adorable this review has now reached.

Old Town Root Beer

A while back we reviewed Old Town Root Beer –Sarsparilla.  Today we shall review its seemingly twin brother… Old Town Root Beer Company – Root Beer.  For the sake of keeping the number of times I write out the word “Root Beer,” we’re just going to call it Old Town Root Beer.  Fun fact!  Old Town Root Beer has an @msn.com e-mail address.  I dunno why I put that in the review, I guess I just found it kind of amusing.  It’s not @aol.com amusing, but amusing nonetheless.  Old Town Root Beer has a short but quality ingredient list including Carbonated Water (who’d have guessed?!)  Cane Sugar, Honey, Natural and Other Flavors ("Other Flavors" always scares me a bit) Sodium Benzoate, Phosphoric Acid, and rounding out the batting order is Real Vanilla!  The label… how can I say this tactfully… looks like someone decided one day that they wanted to start making root beer out of their house and didn’t even try to learn any graphic design, so they just found a neat clip art picture.  Well to be honest with you it’s exactly one step above that.  Anywho, hopefully the flavor makes me forget about it. 

This certainly passes the smell test!  I can most definitely smell the vanilla, but it’s not so over powering that it blinds my nose to the fact that it’s about to consume a root beer.  Smellwise this passes with flying colors.  On with the tasting!

This doesn’t surprise me after smelling it but this is a tasty root beer.  There’s not a lot of carbonation going on here, but that just adds to the potential smoothness of the beverage.  I will say though that your tongue is hit with an initial shock of bubble fun.  After this, the vanilla begins to seep in and takes you to a smoother place.  This isn’t baby’s bottom smooth… what a gross comparison to a root beer that would be.  Old Town Root Beer is Pepe Le Pew smooth.  This is the sentence where I should tell you who Pepe Le Pew is, but if you don’t know you probably shouldn’t tell me, as I will go into a blind rage.  Anywho… Pepe Le Pew always seemed to be a rather smooth talking character.  He had all the lines, all the moves, didn’t rush anywhere… smooth right?  Well yes, until he actually had to deliver said smoothness to the cat with unfortunate skunk marks (Penelope for those playing at home) he was chasing.  He would gradually make his way over to Penelope and force his smoothness upon her, which of course she would not have any part of since he smelled like a skunk.  Still he tried and tried and tried, each time removing a bit of his smoothness with each failure.  That’s what Old Town Root Beer’s smoothness is like.  It’s initially very smooth, but there’s something at the end of the drink that reminds me a little bit of green NyQuil.  While tasty, I feel that Old Town Root Beer could be improved upon by adding some spice to the flavor.  The way it sits now makes for an above average root beer, but I can’t help but think this could be improved upon.  Either way… this should be tried.

~A

Twist is actually much older than the Old Town Root Beer Company

Bulldog Root Beer

Who's a good iguana? Twist's a good iguana! Who want's a tummy rub? Twist wants a tummy rub!

Bulldog Root Beer, Unleash the Taste!  That’s what the bottle in front of me reads.  When I think of unleashing something I think that I’m going to have such a hard time controlling it that I’m just gonna give up and take it off the leash.  This “thing” that I’m unleashing is going to be powerful, brash, unstoppable, unforgettable, and even dangerous.  I know that they’re probably making a dog pun in this situation but even if that were true they really need to “mean up” the dogs on the label.  These two lovable, dopey (in a good way), looking dogs are just sitting there looking at me waiting for a good tummy rub.  These puppies don’t need to be “unleashed” they need a chew toy and a nap.  Anyway… enough of that.  Bulldog Root Beer is of course a root beer and judging by the ingredients a pretty high quality one at that.  It’s sweetened with a combination of cane sugar and honey but sadly also had sodium benzoate.  I haven’t picked on sodium benzoate in a while so I thought I’d bring it back up.  One thing I notice is that they use “real vanilla”.  That’s how it’s listed on the label… “real vanilla”.  Not once have I ever seen “fake vanilla”.  I’ve seen “vanilla extract” which I what I assume they are separating themselves from by saying “real vanilla” but I found it rather silly to see.  Anywho, it’s time to open up this paw laden bottle and see what we can dig up!  Ha!  I can make dog puns too.

This has a rich creamy root beer smell.  One determining factor of a delicious root beer is when you can actually smell that it’s creamy.   That tells you it’ll probably go great with some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.  If you don’t have Blue Bell in your area I’m so very sorry, you’ll have to manage on whatever “Ice Cream” you can get your hands on.  Speaking of “on”… on to the tasting!

Wow that is creamy… if I do say so the creamiest root beer I’ve ever experienced.  Bulldog Root Beer almost has a cream soda finish to it.  The carbonation isn’t really a factor when compared to the flavor and mouth feel.  The mouth feel and aftertaste is so smooth it’s almost buttery.  Now I know that buttery root beer sounds gross but I don’t mean that kind of butter.  The after taste I’m getting here is very similar to that of butterscotch.  I’m a big fan of butterscotch so this ranks very high with me.  Fun fact:  The only candy I’ve ever choked on was butterscotch.  My grandfather held me upside down while my grandmother patted me on the back to dislodge it.  The butterscotch must have realized my love of it while being dissolved by my saliva and in a selfless act to save its future brethren tried to murder me.  Anywho… back to what remains of this review.  A lot of times when a soda uses honey to sweeten it’s one of the main things you taste; this is not the case for Bull Dog Root Beer.  I’m thinking the honey paired with the cane sugar is what’s cutting that honey flavor I so often find when sampling a Thomas Kemper or the like.  Here is the part where I apologize for mocking “real vanilla”.  That “real vanilla” is surely a large part of why I’m loving this so very much.  It’s adding just the right amount of “smooth” to the flavor to set it apart from other root beers.  It’s not hard to find subtle differences in root beer.  They can be made so many different ways you’re not going to find one that immolates another just right.  The real reward is when you find a root beer that has differences that could be spotted from space.  Bulldog Root Beer is one of those root beers.  As of today we’ve reviewed 30 root beers and I can’t think of one that gives you an experience like the one I have in front of me today.

A “Twist’s Choice” Recipient

Thomas Kemper Root Beer

   Hooray for Thomas Kemper sodas!  Cane sugar sweetened with a touch of honey for extra goodness usually spells fantasticness!  Today I have the Root Beer version of Thomas Kemper in front of me and I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.  Here’s a bit of history about Thomas Kemper Root Beer from the side of the bottle.

“One honey of a Root Beer.  This wonderfully rich and complex Root Beer was first brewed for our company Oktoberfest back in 1990.  It quickly became such a hit that we invented Novemberfest.”

   There you have it… the full, 100% complete history of Thomas Kemper Root Beer.  Nothing else can be learned about this soda.  Nothing.  It is all covered in the extensive history written above.  With that said let’s take a whiff.

   Ahh the rich smell of Root Beer is usually a pleasant aroma and this is no exception.  From the smell alone I can hope you taste a very creamy root beer.  Closer to the mouth feel of A&W than of Barq’s but I’m sure tasting better than both… hopefully.

   Hey look at that, I’m right… it’s like I’ve tasted hundreds of sodas.  I haven’t but the cumulative amount of different sodas reviewed by Soda Jerks is over 200.  Once you become a Soda Jerk you enter a state of one consciousness allowing you to experience the taste of all sodas reviewed… but enough of that boring chatter.  This does lean toward the smoother mouth feel of some root beer but not as much as I thought it would.  In fact it seems to live at the corner of Smooth Street and Bite Lane.  I’m sure it’s a nice neighborhood because it’s such a nice taste.  The actual bite of the root beer isn’t incredibly strong but it’s easily noticeable upon each sip.  I go on about how nice the flavor is but there’s nothing ground breaking here.  It’s just a good root beer with some great ingredients.  I’ve had better and I’ve had worse but I’d be happy to drink another Thomas Kemper Root Beer if one was available to me on a menu somewhere.  With that said.

~A

Faux Fact: Twist is heir to the Kemper fortune

Henry Weinhard's Root Beer

   Since You’ve Been Gone somebody told me that Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer was the best root beer hands down.  I of course was doubtful because I don’t trust people that use the phrase “hands down”.  Nonetheless I still started seeking out said root beer, asking various store Clerks, but found other Henry Wienhard products instead both of which were delicious!  Now with Henry Weinhard Root Beer in hand I can either validate or nullify the statement that was made to me so long ago.  On a side note it’s really hard for me to remember the name Henry Weinhard. 

   Now I just got through walking my Dogma so I’m pretty thirsty.  Upon opening the bottle I’m greeted by the meek aroma of root beer.  Now had this review been written 40 Days and 40 Nights ago I would have been wary about this weak smell.  Not anymore though.  So many times I’ve thought that the smell was the Master and Commander of the drink… setting the tone to what was to follow.  So many times this has proven to be false.  Time to drink and think.

   Let’s just get the initial question out of the way.  Sorry, this is not the greatest root beer “hands down”.  That’s just Sex, Lies, and Video Tape.  This is a good root beer though and should not be overlooked.  If you’re at Muriel’s Wedding in Chicago and the Priest offers you this is I highly suggest you try it.  You start off with a rather unique flavor that is still unmistakably root beer.  You can tell they didn’t try to Mimic any of the other root beers on the market.  What follows is a smooth root beer flavor followed by a quick snap of bubbles.  You could chug this and be just fine.  In fact you could drink this from Dusk Till Dawn.  The smooth mouth feel of this root beer is very nice; it reminds you that Life is Beautiful.  Your mouth doesn’t feel syrupy after drinking it (which is surprising since they use HFCS as a sweetener) and the unique flavor stays with you throughout.  Holy Smoke, I forgot to look at the ingredients.  I’m Wide Awake and I forgot to look... I’m losing my edge.  Well now that I’m looking I see that they use honey in the making of this beverage.  That is definitely one of the attributing factors to this unique sub-taste.  I make up the word sub-taste because it’s not the flavor that holds dominance in your mouth that I’m talking about but the one that hides in the shadows and peeks out afterwards.  Your Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer experience is capped off with a fairly clean ending, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.  Even though this is a great beverage and I suggest you enjoy it I leave you with this advice.  Don’t be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Root Beer in the Hood.  Anywho… time for me to Bounce.

~The Tall Guy from Happy, TX

P.S. - Princess Mononoke

Twist's favorite Miramax movie?  Godzilla vs Biollante of course.

BJ's Brewery Root Beer (Fan Review!)

   BJ's Brewery and Restaurant is known for its food and its famous micro brewed beer.  What it might not be as known for is its Handcrafted Root Beer.  So I decide to try some during a night out with some friends.  A few things made this beverage stand out before I even took a sip.  One, it was on tap at the bar.  Two, the bartender quickly provided a frosty mug directly from a small refrigerator behind the bar just for my drink.  Third, it was reasonably priced, and I had unlimited refills. Finally, the drink was served cold right out of the tap, so no ice was needed.  All of these factors added up to a great first impression.

   After the bartender poured me a fresh mug, I took a man sized sip.  It tasted delicious!  Root Beer can sometimes be overly sweet, but this one certainly wasn't.  A noticeable sugar taste was present, but that is to be expected with any soft drink in my opinion.  There was no strong after-taste and the complexity of the beverage itself had me excited to take another sip.   The root-beer taste is subtle, yet undeniable.   

   Before I knew it, I had reached the bottom of my glass, so I decided to refill my still cold mug with another round.  The taste remained just as constant as before, and went down just as smooth.  Impressed by the yummy goodness that is BJ'S Handcrafted Root beer, I finished off what was left in my mug and took some home in a to-go cup provided by the ubiquitous bar staff.

C.W.

Most any soda on tap is "yum-sauce"

Rat Bastard Root Beer

   Rat Bastard Root Beer.  That’s the name of the beverage in front of me today.  The letters that form the name of this beverage are scrawled in white upon a plain grey background.  I’d say it was boring if it wasn’t for the other “witty” words adorning the bottle.  Phrases such as “It’s us against them”, “What you’ll be drinking”, and my particular favorite “Quit being a dick.  Drink it.”  Rat Bastard Root Beer uses HFCS for sweetener but then comes out of nowhere with several odd herbs for flavoring.  There’s a few ginsengs in there, some jasmine, clove, skullcap, capsicum, kava kava, and so many other strange herbs I wouldn’t think to add to a beverage.  Well I pride myself in being a Jerk but I will not be called a dick without just cause.  Let’s just open this already. 

   It has a great rooty aroma that comes right out and hits you in the face.  Even though this may not be sweetened with sugar I’m still looking forward to this first gulp.

   The smell, as it so often seems to be, is much stronger than the taste and this disappoints me.  I expected something called Rat Bastard Root Beer to take me by the throat and shake me until I enjoyed their product.  For goodness sake they used peer pressure to get me to drink it… who wants to be a dick?  The insane herbal blend they use is only slightly noticeable but it does make your tongue tingle in an interesting way.  The flavor most resembles that of Barq’s if I must compare it to one of the big mainstream three.  Barq’s has more bite… which once again makes me sad that I let my mind rev this beverage up based on its name alone.  I will say that it has a relatively clean finish… so… good for you Rat Bastard Root Beer.  Shame on you for having such an extreme name for such a tamely flavored soda.  “Nice Guy Root Beer” would have worked better for the flavor I just ingested but you’d still get the same rating.

~A

Don't worry, Twist punished this bottle for calling him a dick.

Virgil's Zero Root Beer

After a heinous review of Lime Crush which should have received a rating of "Buy Stock in the Company," I knew it was time I came back, if anything to at least start a review mentioning the heinous-ness of the score for Lime Crush. 

Anyhoo, what better way than with a Virgil's product? Sadly it's diet, and sadly it's made with stevia. In fact I'm 99% sure it is their old diet, just renamed, however an old nutrition facts label shows their older diet root beer to have 2 carbs and this has zero, so maybe it was tinkered with a bit.

It might have also been easier to tell if they're different by the ingredients label, but just like their diet, this is very sparse with "spices" being the vague connection to their actually-listed spices on the non-diet products.

We never wrote up a review of the diet, it was just mentioned on the popcast (remember that?) and not in a positive light. Well, different or not, it's still bad. If I can say anything positive, it's that it's good for a diet root beer, which I suppose isn't saying much at all. Also the clouds and sky on the label appear to be more heavenly, giving more proof to my theory that the image on all of the Virgil's labels is God serving root beer to children in heaven.

-Mike

Stars and Stripes Root Beer (Fan Review!)

   After failed attempts to clarify how the wacky Germans mix sodas, the Soda Jerk guys asked me to stop sending emails and in a "put up or shut up " like invitation asked me to write a review.  Now first off you need to realize I'm in Europe and American commodities have their price.  After a few years of residence you soon learn to live without things you never imagined you'd miss. Like Root Beer!

   Some of the upscale supermarkets sell US stuff in a limited section at the end of an aisle at outlandish prices. My daughter had been shopping and mentioned seeing Root Beer and I suddenly had a hankering for it so I made the 15 minute trip (to Kaufhof) only to find out that either she was hallucinating, or they were sold out.  Well after coming this far, I was not giving up.  I then went 10 minutes further to their competitor (Karstadt) in the central shopping district and found these brown 12oz cans of Stars and Stripes for... get this $2,05 per can.  Flush with my Christmas bonus I bought 4 cans. The last time I had Root Beer was probably 3 years back so I splurged.

   This is indeed a US product and the can is marked for deposit in many US states. I haven't found but one German who tried and liked Root Beer.  Germans travel to the US a lot and many have had the experience and it's always a negative one.  "Bahh"  (eng.=Yuck) Apparently they relate the taste to medicine.

   Well the Stars and Stripes can decoration is Ok nothing elaborate. Thank god it's not decked out for 4th of July.  Simply done in a rust brown, it bears a similarity to another Root Beer can I saw here called Jones.  This product carries markings for Hoover's Barrel and uses a  "Y" emblem with H,R;B. (HMmm, isn't there a brand called Hire's Root Beer?)  So let's crack it open and see what we get.  Well no immediate aroma breaks forth just cold steel.  It's well cooled and some noisy carbonation cries for joy.  I placed it down to type these words and now faintly the aroma has reached my nostrils but only faintly.  Let’s get closer.  I pour some in the glass, but the aroma only increases a bit more.  The foamy head rises noisily and dissipates almost as quickly.  As I raise the glass expecting more aroma ...still about the same.  It hits my mouth and settles into the taste centers after I swallow.  There is a very strong wintergreen taste that fades.  I immediately thought of some pink candies my grandmother always had for us.  This isn't root beer I thought, where's that sassafras taste?  I took a longer draught satisfying my thirst and looking for the sugar kick.  Ok,sugar kick there, sweet where it resides and now a gentler permeable "taste" but still primarily wintergreen. The taste leaves quickly with a little aluminum can backlash.  The pleasant sweetness abides.  This isn't a creamy beer or soda consistency, or, for my memory a root beer.  Its soft drink characteristics are similar to cola with a loud noisy head that fades to nothing quickly. It is only satisfying in that first moment.  It falls short of satisfaction or excitement. I 'm disappointed.  Sigh!

   Verdict - I'd say don't bother, but if I truly believed that, I wouldn't be writing this review.  I think of all us poor slobs living here .. What???  No Root Beer!??  Well we've got Stars and Stripes and for no other reason than for the sake of Ol' Glory .. Where have I head that metaphor before?

Enjoy,

CF

Bet you didn't know that Twist had a German cousin named Tiger.

Capt'n Eli's Root Beer

   I love good bottle art.  Bottle art is what I initially grade a soda on so it always confuses me when companies seem like they don’t care about it.  I’m not saying everything has to be “Wizard mural on the side of a van” epic but it at least needs to stand out amongst the others.  When I opened my fridge today to pick out a soda to review I wasn’t quite sure what to choose until I saw the bottle art on my current review.  Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer has a label that tells a story… not many other root beers can say that.   Actually I don’t believe that root beer can talk but that’s a debate for another time.

   What you see when you look at the label of Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer is a young child, which I will assume is Eli, rowing a boat out at sea.  The waves seem a bit choppy for such a young kid but don’t fear too much for him as a house is in sight over his right shoulder and growing ever closer.  Upon his left shoulder sits a parrot that I am now naming Murphy.  Murphy and Eli have been together about 2 years, and since parrots live such long lives you’ll be sure to see Murphy on Eli’s shoulder for several decades more.  Within the boat Eli is rowing sit 3 barrels.  I can only imagine that these barrels are filled with root beer.  I guess it could be rum, or oil, or tar, or unicorn blood, or even cream soda but since this is a bottle of root beer let’s stick with that.  So the story here to me is that Capt’n Eli (which I suspect is a title he gave himself) has a root beer route.  A root beer route is much like a paper route but the people on your route like you more since your product is delicious.  About two years ago on this root beer route Eli noticed that one of his barrels was leaking. He did all he could to plug up the hole but failed.  Shortly after he gave up a Scarlet Macaw flew down from a nearby tree and began drinking the spilled root beer.  Well it turns out that this bird took to liking the bubbly concoction and Eli.  Ever since that fateful day Murphy the parrot has ridden with Eli on his root beer route, always looking to sneak a sip whenever he can.  Oh the adventure they went on… but that’s for another day.

   Enough about those two, they have a business to run.  Let’s see what else we can find on this label.  Hey look ingredients and good ones at that.  Let’s see what we got here:  Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Coloring, Natural & Artificial Flavors including Wintergreen Oil, Anise, Vanilla, Spices, Herbs, Citric Acid, and sadly Sodium Benzoate.  Wow, we were almost 100% great with those ingredients until we came upon ol’ Sodium Benzoate.  That list of ingredients reminded me a little bit of the ingredients you’d find in a Virgil’s Root Beer.  If they’re lucky then their flavor will be something close to it as well.  Let’s take a whiff.

   The first thing I notice is that you can really smell the wintergreen.  Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer has a very strong root beer aroma as well.  I think the word I’m trying to think of here is “rooty”.  Time to drink!

   Very nice, this ranks up there as one of the smoothest root beers I’ve ever tasted.  The carbonation is faint as far as root beer is concerned and the flavor mellows out a lot in its finish.  The middle portion of this beverage reminds me a little bit of root beer barrels candy.  Now normally I’d try and tell you which of the three main stream root beers this tasted like… Barq’s, A&W, or Mug.  For the first time ever I have to compare the flavor to that of Virgil’s.  Now I’m not saying it’s better than Virgil’s but I am saying that it should at least share a flavor comparison.  This shouldn’t come to you as a shock since they share a handful of ingredients that other root beers do not.  I do find it odd that I’m ending up with a bit of film in my mouth after each sip.  I didn’t think I would have this since it’s sweetened with cane sugar but there it is.  At least the film isn’t unpleasant.  With each lick of the top of my mouth I’m reminded of the root beer barrel candy flavoring again, although now it’s much fainter.  I’m noticing that as I reach the bottom of the bottle the wintergreen flavor increases.  This is a good thing in my opinion since it allows those of you who couldn’t taste the wintergreen another more obvious chance at it.  Overall this is a very good root beer.  It has a nice line up of ingredients, sans the Sodium Benzoate.  The flavor is above average and the labeling is fun.  I can only hope that other companies take notice of labels like this and begin to rethink their designs as well. 

~A

Twist's favorite flavor is parrot.

Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer

   Sadly I’ve been neglecting the Zuberfizz sodas in my fridge.  Zuberfizz brand sodas have found to be very inconsistent in their quality.  One minute I’m drinking a great Key Lime, and the next minute I open a different bottle of the same flavor and it’s a watery version of the soda I just fawned over.  Today I am examining a bottle of Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer!  If it’s not one of the watery ones I bet it’ll be delicious!  Times a waistin’!

   It has a very nice root beer aroma, Captain Obvious… I know.  It almost has the smell of A&W Root Beer Barrels, which I love.  So far so good, let’s see if its flavor can match up to its smell.

   No…no it can’t.  This isn’t gross, this isn’t horrible, this doesn’t make me go into a Oedipal rage making me want to kill my father and marry my mother.  I’m not even sure that last sentence made sense.  Anywho, this is boring root beer.  Guess what?  This tastes watered down, and THIS is why I’m not fond of reviewing Zuberfizz sodas.  I know for a fact they can be good, but for whatever reason I keep catching watered down batches of them.  I like this company so much;  I want them to succeed.  The label art is great, the ingredients for the most part are great, heck even the name is cool.  I’m not going to go into a rant today just because I don’t think the fine folks at Zuberfizz are deserving of one.  Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer is kind of creamy, but for the most part it’s just watery.  If indeed all of their root beer tastes like this you’re better off drinking other brands.  This, in short, is root beer for babies.

~A

Twist's mouth is watering so much for this watery root beer that water is on the bottle... water.

Saranac Root Beer

   A citizen of the Carbo-Nation suggested a while back that we search out and try some Saranac Root Beer.  Well guess what, “Person reading the Saranac – Root Beer Review”, we got some!  The Saranac brewery (est. in 1888) is located in New York and, much like other beer breweries, they have a root beer for us non-alcohol drinkers.  This root beer sits in an unassuming bottle with a classy looking maroon and gold label.  Oddly enough it reminds me of the Cheers logo.  Sadly, after looking at the ingredients I see that this is both sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and includes sodium benzoate.  These are two chemicals no Soda Jerk wants to see; regardless, let’s open her up!

   It has a very nice root beery smell… to put a description on it I’d say it smells like a high end A&W root beer.  Now that the shortest part of the review is over: On to the consumption!

   This is a good root beer.  The end.  Done. 

   No, no, I’m only kidding.  There are plenty of words to follow.  It has the initial mouth feel of an IBC root beer but oddly enough it’s not quite as heavy.  The amount of carbonation attacks your tongue with every swallow in a quick but hard hitting fashion.  The finish is so quick that I’m not going to mention it… other than mentioning that I won’t mention it, that is.  This has more bite than any root beer I’ve had to date; it’s not smooth at all.  When I first saw this bottle I thought I’d be drinking a generic root beer that didn’t set itself apart from any other root beer in a brown bottle.  I’m happy to say that I was very wrong.  If you put this in a root beer line up I’d easily tell it apart from the others.  Wow, I can’t get over how harsh (in a good way) this attacks the back of my throat.  It’s like you fell asleep with your mouth open and there’s this guy who thinks he’s funny, right?  But in reality he’s just a guy you happened to sit next to on the first day of class and unfortunately for you, you accidentally laughed at one of his pointless jokes so now you’re “best buds”.  No matter how many times you tell him to buzz off he stays around making the same level of horrible joke... staring at you, waiting for you to laugh like you did the first time.  What an idiot…Oh yeah I was talking about something!  It’s like he dropped a pinch of pop-rocks onto your tonsils.  You’d be surprised at first, but it’d be tasty enough that you’d repeat his stupid prank, placing more pop-rocks onto your tonsils, fueling his fire… making him stronger… never being rid of the constant staring… the staring.

~A

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by the Saranac Brewery)

Faux Fact:  Iguana's can't feel pain when it's caused by root beer.