Zippy’s Giant Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Dec 192012
 

First of all, the label is slightly terrifying. I don’t know the style that they are going for, but the guy/girl … person with the enormous eyes, huge lips, and long tongue with a burger in one hand and a root beer in the other is frightening. Secondly, for a ‘giant’ root beer, it is the SAME FREAKING SIZE AS EVERY OTHER ROOT BEER! Though after following the website on the bottle (which actually works to their credit) I learned that this is a burger joint in West Seattle called Zippy’s Giant Burgers, so that’s where the Giant Root Beer comes from. For a single burger joint with only one location to have their own brand of bottled root beer is really cool (and local at that), so they are forgiven for name, and even the terrifying bottle. However, they also claim “a classic since 2008”. Now normally such a claim would require several decades to pass before you can claim you have a classic product, even though technically it is a correct usage of the word, so I’m going to say they’re jumping the gun a bit.

The Body has a medium sassafras flavor with some vanilla and honey that gives way to a slightly sour fruity flavor after several seconds. Though there is vanilla it isn’t very creamy. There is a strong carbonation bite that gives it a harsh mouth feel but there aren’t any spices. So it has a lot of the bad Bite and not much of the good. The Head bubbles up high, but isn’t frothy and fizzes away quickly. The Aftertaste is vanilla fruitiness with a dash of honey that doesn’t last too long.

It’s not bad, but the sour fruity flavor really detracts from the Body, and the Bite and Head could use some work. It’s kind of sad because they use some quality ingredients. I think a major flaw is putting in more citric acid than vanilla extract, but what do I know. I don’t think I’d make a trek all the way back to Seattle just for this. Though, they seem to make some pretty epic burgers and have an ever revolving line of retro sodas in glass bottles (including other root beers) served at their restaurant, so I’ll probably drop by next time I’m in the neighborhood. See how it rates against other root beers.




Grand Teton Brewing Company Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Dec 122012
 

What better way to celebrate 12/12/12 than with a root beer review! Up and out of the blue one day, I got an email from Cosmo asking if I’d tried Grand Teton Brewing Company Root Beer and if I was willing to trade for it. At the time I was in the midst of acquiring around 10 different brands and though my root beer budget was stretched, I couldn’t resist. Two days after I agreed and he said he’d ship it, my sister who lives in ID calls me up and asks if I’d tried Grand Teton Root Beer because they sell it at the super market near Boise. Some context, when I got the call, I knew I’d see my sister in two weeks time. Oh well, I’d already committed to Cosmo. I really like the label of this, being an outdoors man myself. “Kettle Brewed” conjures up images of a large, sweet looking brass kettle for some reason over a fire in a brewery. I’m not sure why I think of brass, but you have to admit it would look really cool. So up in the Grand Tetons, some brewers are mixing root beer ingredients in large brass kettles, heating them over fires, and pouring in pure spring water that they’ve tapped near their brewery. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. They also relabel this as Old Faithful Root Beer to sell in Yellowstone National Park which is good that Yellowstone has got such a good root beer, but sad that they didn’t add some little extra goodness, like a dash of cinnamon or cloves, so I could have two different root beers to review.

This has a very rich and creamy Body. It has a strong sassafras flavor with hints of vanilla and wintergreen. It has a solid Bite from carbonation and a little spice, but nothing that really jumps out and demands attention. It goes down very smooth on account of the maltodextrin. The Aftertaste is creamy and minty and lasts the right amount of time.

Yum. It’s very rich and strong. Stronger than I usually prefer, but they’ve somehow pulled it off in a way that it comes across as bold without being overbearing. After the first bottle I was really on the fence about where to rate it, but the second bottle reinforced that this is top notch. It’s good when quaffed, but really, it’s more excellent to sip slowly, enjoying every bit of that rich sassafras flavor washing creamily over your tongue. When I’m in the mood for a bolder, darker root beer flavor, I’m comin’ for this. See how it rates against other root beers.




Black Bear Legendary Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Nov 282012
 

I was visiting The Root Beer Store and found this. It was a pleasant surprise since I thought I had tried everything they stocked and then some. It is kind of marketed as a lower calorie root beer with the bottle boasting “Only 90 Calories Per Serving.” Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view) that is only because they give you 6.3 ounces instead of the normal 12. So basically you get half of the calories by drinking half of the root beer. I guess if people fall for it then all the more power to them. The label has got a lot of slogans like “It’s a Bear of A Drink”, “Refreshing”, “Quality and Tradition Since 1920” and so forth. Each one is in a different font for some reason. It’s almost as busy as Spring Grove Root Beer label but not quite as bad. The bottle itself is really heavy for its size and looks to be 1/4 inch thick glass. It’s almost as if they wanted it to be able to survive a black bear attack or something.

The Body is kind of weak and slightly creamy. It tastes pretty generic. The Bite is pretty weak as well, there’s a little bit but it needs more. The Head is good. It is medium height with a long half-life, very frothy. The Aftertaste is a light vanilla flavor that lasts the right amount of time.

So, it’s about as generic as it gets despite all of the taglines to suggest otherwise. With the exception of the Head, there is nothing notable about it. It isn’t bad though so if I was looking for some bear-proof root beer for a picnic, I might just snag a few of these. See how it rates against other root beers.




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