Bottled Root Beers – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Hannaford Bros Root Beer

Jul 102024

Back in February I found myself in Vermont for the first time in my life. If you want to know why, it was DERMS, DERMS of course it was DERMS. We actually flew into Albany and then drove to Rutland. I searched feverishly along the way to find some brewery making some maple syrup root beer to no avail. The second night there, I went to a grocery store to buy some snacks and found this local store brand. Hannaford is a grocery store chain up in those parts which I had never encountered before. They’re headquartered in Massachusetts so I think they’re a New England thing. They make a root beer using natural extracts and spices in small batches, if their marketing is to be believed. They also don’t use any preservatives. They also offer a double money back gaurantee so if I hate this I can make money. I do like the sound of that. More brands should pay me if I’m dissatisfied with their brews.

The Body is sweet and a little creamy. It’s also a bit weak. There’s a nice spicy Bite, with clove featuring prominently. The Head is decent. It’s medium tall and fizzes down slowly so there’s always some foam. The Aftertaste is slightly spicy clove with the smallest hint of wintergreen.

This is decidedly mid. I mean, that’s to be expected from a store brand. I’ll give that it isn’t generic, but it’s still mid. Better mid than none I say, when I comes to gourmet root beer, however. And I think as Drinkable, I don’t need my money back, so there’s that. See how it rates against other root beers.

Henry Weinhard’s Gourmet Soda Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jun 052024

Henry Weinhard’s was for ages my root beer standard while I was living on the West Coast. They had tweaked their recipe several times over the decades but it always still tasted the same. The name had never changed so it always left me with a bit of a conundrum as to whether or not I should rereview it. In the years since I’ve moved to Minnesota, they finally added a “Gourmet Soda” tag to their name so I can safely differentiate it from the Henry’s that’s gone before. While I wish they had never changed their recipe, it does give me more things to review and more bottles to add to the collection. My biggest fear was they somehow ruined the brew that for ages was the gold standard of root beer for me.

The Body is sweet and creamy with rich vanilla and a hint of honey flavor. It is nearly perfectly balanced, tasting just like you expect a creamy root beer to taste. The Bite is smoooth, and yet there is a bit of spice and carbonation tingle. The Head is amazing, a standard to which all other root beers must be held. Tall, foamy, lasts forever, pour carefully lest you overflow your mug. The Aftertaste is a nice caramely vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

It’s nice to see that a slightly new name and ingredients mess this up. I’m quite pleased that it is basically indistinguishable from its predicessors where I can still give it my Seal and place it in the highest echellon of fine brews. See how it rates against other root beers.

Bowl & Basket Specialty Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Apr 032024

Another trade with anthony. Bowl & Basket is a ShopRite brand, which was something I didn’t know about before I went looking. They don’t have Shoprite anywhere I regularly visit so I’m rather out of the loop when it comes to what they offer. They’ve got all sorts of taglines on their label, “Quality Assured” “Small Batch Crafted” “Cane Sugar Soda” and more, which is ironically typical of generic store brands. Each bit of text has a different font and size for some reason, I get not trying to be monotonous but it is a little all over the place. But they at least put it in glass so I can’t really complain because I get to review it.

The Body is sweet with a classic, yet generic flavor. There’s some vanilla and wintergreen though it isn’t very creamy. The Bite is prickly yet mild on spice. The Head is medium tall and fizzes away at about a medium speed. The Aftertaste is a sweet vanilla.

It’s a generic but pleasant and refreshing brew. As expected from a store brand with a bunch of generic taglines. But it isn’t unpleasant and assuming it’s cheaper than the other gourmet root beers, it could be what you get in a pinch if you’re stocking up for an event where you don’t like the people that much? I don’t really know. It was fun enough to drink. See how it rates against other root beers.

Older Entries