I can’t help but get excited when I see a picture of some old man with a huge beard on a root beer bottle. I don’t know what it is, but it makes me imagine some gruff man who won’t take no watered down crap masquerading as root beer. Other than that, the bottle says that it is gourmet root beer and that is what I ultimately seek. Also, after just coming off of a run from two Seal of Approval root beers in a row, I was hoping that my luck would hold. Sadly, it didn’t at all.
The Body is hollow, very hollow. There’s a little flavor in there but not much. There is also a hint of something strange that I cannot place. The Bite is very sharp, like needles on the tongue. It bites you like a school of piranhas. The Head is low in height and medium froth content. It goes away quickly but not too quickly. The Aftertaste has that same strange flavor with some wintergreen and a little bit of fruity.
According to the bottle Gray’s Brewing Company is one of the oldest family owned beverage companies in America, since 1856, and has been family run for over five generations. I’m guessing that their other stuff is much better than this. The only other explanation is that the people in Janesville, WI don’t know what good drinks taste like. See how it rates against other root beers.
The first question that I had was why did they call it Old Fashioned root beer and not Olde Fashioned? I mean it is Olde Philadelphia. Perhaps old fashioned root beer isn’t old enough for the extra ‘e’. The second question I had was “why is the label almost pealing off?” and crooked for that matter. A crappy crooked label doesn’t help convince people you have a “gourmet soda.” But then again, this is from Philly, the home of Hank’s. Ever since Hank’s, I’ve had a soft spot for Philly. So perhaps this root beer from the same city got some of that awesomeness that Hank’s exudes.
