GourmetRootBeer

Pegasus Brewing Company Root Beer

Jun 152022

Brew number two from DERMS Does Dallas trip! That’s right, you think I’d go there and only come back with one? This was a rather serendipitous find, as I didn’t know they even had root beer until I was walking home from the convention on Tuesday evening and saw Pegasus Brewing Company. I thought I’d duck in and see if they had root beer and they did! But, they were closing down, as Cisco was having their hospitality event there that night. I thought about crashing, but I did have my own event to get to, so I decided to return the next day, at 4 PM, when they opened before I needed to head to the airport. They recognized me instantly, probably due to the fact that no one else had ever come in and make such a big deal about them having a root beer.

The Body is bitter and light with wintergreen as the dominant flavor initially. It isn’t particularly sweet either. The Bite is mild though present and a little harsh. The Head is medium height and staying power and they easily make you a foamy pint. The Aftertaste is complex with caramel notes on the backend that almost seems to have hints of nutty. It is the best part of the brew and grows stronger as you drink it.

Well, this was not nearly as good my other Dallas root beer. In fact, at first drink I’d say it’s quite bad. However, that complex Aftertaste does raise it considerably, but not enough for me to even call this Drinkable. At least they have a root beer at all.

The Pegasus Brewing Company bar and taps.

Dairy-Ette Drive-In Root Beer

Root Beer Stand Root Beers No Responses »

Jun 082022

Last fortnight I was in Dallas for DistruTECH and DERMS in a little trip I like to call, DERMS Does Dallas… anyways, I was there and therefore I was searching for brews. I found several, but sadly, most were closed on the Sunday when I arrived, yet I wouldn’t be stopped since I had other days. So on Wednesday, after the show was over, I took off with a coworker and a customer (see me being a good employee) to Dairy-Ette Drive-In, Root Beer, Hamburgers. This is a third generation family owned drive-in, that originally opened in 1956. You know it’s got to be good if it’s still around. They make their own root beer which they serve from a red root beer keg, that says “Coca-Cola” on it. I don’t know why. I don’t know why it’s called Dairy-Ette either. But it’s a beautiful little place hiding on a corner in North Dallas.

The Body is smooth, amazingly smooth, so smooth I can’t even properly describe the liquid silk that is the Body of this root beer. There’s a classic flavor with lots of vanilla. It’s a simple, yet elegant taste. The Bite is small, a little spice but so so smooth. The Head is beautiful. So frothy and crazy tall if they let it. It lasts nearly forever, and you know how that foam feels in your mouth? Smooooth. The Aftertaste is sweet, smooth vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

Okay, remember how last month I raved about some cream soda being smooth. Well that might as well be sandpaper compared to this. Seriously. I can’t remember a brew so silky smooth. With a wonderful classic flavor too, this is top notch. It could be a little spicier with a little more depth, but this is still one of the best root beers I’ve reviewed in quite awhile. The food there is just as amazing as their root beer. This place is worth its own pilgrimage.

A bacon burger with onion rings and root beer. Truly divine.

The “Red Root Beer Keg” according to them. But the brew comes out of there so I guess.

Dairy-Ette. Basically unchanged since 1956.

Rocket Fizz Boosted Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jun 012022

Another one I got back last summer at Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store. It was my caffeinated root beer run, and is always a pain to review these. Rocket Fizz decided regular caffeinated root beers were too weak evidently so they amped this up to having nearly twice as much as the Sprecher with 4 ounces less soda (pop/coke). They also put guarana and ginseng and b vitamins in it. So an energy drink basically. Usually Rocket Fizz just copies some other soda with their root beer flavors, but I can’t think of another one that’s a pure energy drink root beer, so maybe they’ve found some originality? It’s got a sleek metallic label too, like they wanted to do that energy drink in a can but realized that I wouldn’t drink it if they did and since my review is more important than anything else they put it in glass. Thank you for that. Now on to the review.

The Body is sweet and creamy with a soapy medicinal flavor underneath a rather generic creamy root beer core. Faint flavors of ginseng and guarana accent this. The Body is spicy and complex and it finishes pretty smooth. The Head is very nice, tall and foamy. The Aftertaste is a little strange, a little soapy, a little medicinal and a little vanilla.

Overall it’s good, which is surprising considering all they put in it, but still tastes a little off, which is entirely expected for an energy drink, vitamin fortified brew. I would rather drink the Sprecher if I need a caffeine boost, but if I needed a full energy drink (which is basically never), I wouldn’t pass this up. See how it rates against other root beers.

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