GourmetRootBeer

Thunder Beast Texas Edition American Root Beer

Feb 032021

Thunder Beast Texas Edition American Root Beer Bottle I like it when a root beer brewer makes more than one flavor. Thunder Beast has done two before, and now they’ve got a Texas Edition to add to their lineup. They’ve also added the tagline “Fight Monsters” which is related to the fact that Monster Energy is currently engaged in a trademark bullying campaign against them because Monster is in fact a known and despicable trademark bully. Seriously, I hate trademark bullies. A pox upon them! May all manner of misfortune befall all of the managers and lawyers at Monster for their crimes against root beer. Also Thunderbeast is donating a percentage of their profits to fight human trafficking and bullying, so they’re fighting monsters in another sense as well. Good on them. I don’t know why this particular brew is called Texas Edition. It says that Thunder Beast LLC is from Austin Texas when I was sure they were originally a DC company, so maybe that’s it? Their new recipe now that their HQ is in Texas? It doesn’t really say on their website. Anyhow how does it taste?

The Body has a distinct burned sugar taste, like the top of a crème brulée, which mingles with some honey and sassafras. It’s isn’t very sweet by root beer standards and there’s a fruity tinge. The Bite is harsh from the carbonation yet lacking in spice. The Head is good and tall but fizzes down quickly. The Aftertaste is that burnt sugar that ends on the fruity notes.

I really want to like this more, because I like the concept of Thunder Beast. That burned sugar is good and the root beer is unique, but it still needs a lot more to be better than just Drinkable. Oh well. See how it rates against other root beers.

Milk Magic Root Beer Float

Root Beer Flavored Drinks No Responses »

Jan 202021

Milk Magic Root Beer Float Straws

A while back I was going through the grocery store and saw these. I think it was a HyVee, but it’s been awhile, I must confess. Anyhow, Magic Straws have been around for over a decade and are supposedly a great way to get kids to drink their milk. They’re extra thick and crimped at the ends with flavor crystals/balls filling them up. So the idea is you stick the straw in the glass of milk, take a sip, and the milk gets flavored as it travels through the flavored … filter? Interesting concept. It says on the package that it’s made in Hungary, which isn’t where I think of when I think of quality root beer float flavored things, but hey, maybe I’ve been missing the robust Hungarian root beer scene. There were four straws in the pack so I let the whole family share in the experience.

The flavor is weak on the first drink. It’s sorta like root beer, but very diluted. If you do small sips, and like I mean, really small sips. It gets sweet and tastes like watered (milked?) down root beer float. The whole process is difficult and unsatisfying.

Okay, why? Why is this a thing? If you want anything out of this at all, you really need to slowly sip. Even still, it’s hard to get a very good root beer float flavor out of it. This whole process seems so unnecessary. Why not just have single serve tubes that you add to 8 ounces of milk and use the straw to stir it up? That would simplify the process and could potentially give a nice root beer float milk. This whole product is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist, and doing so in the least practical way possible. To their credit, my kids did think it was rather neat, but I bet they would have thought it neater if you just dumped it all in, got a better tasting product, and then drank it through the straw, but what do I know?

Pigeon River Brewing Company Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jan 062021

Pigeon River Brewing Company Root Beer Bottle I love my fans. They find amazing new root beers from different corners of the globe (the US really, but I like saying globe) and then send me some on trade. This was found by the famed root beer enthusiast Tony, in Marion, WI. Pigeon River Brewing Company has been open since 2012, but I think root beer is a much more recent addition or it wouldn’t have slipped under the radar of the diligent root beer hunters for so long. Unless, they had it the whole time, yet refused to advertise it, or sell it outside of Marion. The the residents themselves were sworn to never speak of it to outsiders. But over time whispers of a secret root beer reached the ears of Tony, whose multiyear quest brought him to the first bottles ever to be seen by the world at large… I like that version. It’s cannon now. So another remarkable thing about this root beer is that it has 65g of sugar per bottle, which is over 50% more than the average root beer. I’ve had a brew with 47g before and that was super sweet. So I braced myself for the sugar rush of a lifetime and got to drinking.

The Body is hollow. It’s a little minty, a little creamy, but weak overall. It’s not near as sweet as would be expected with all that sugar. The Bite is dismal. Not spicy, not smooth, but rather harsh and prickly. The Head is medium height and foam, nothing special though not bad. The Aftertaste is a sort of sour acidic flavor with a hint of burned sugar.

I’m not impressed. Not only is the flavor lacking, but where’s my promised super sugar content? Talk about a disappointment. So yeah, I wouldn’t recommend this. I guess it isn’t really bad, but it isn’t good and there’s nothing to really distinguish it to be worth even trying once. See how it rates against other root beers.

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