Bottled Root Beers – Page 11 – Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Soda Pop Bros. Root Beer

Aug 042021

The Soda Pop Bros Root Beer Bottle One of my root beer friends on social media runs a craft soda shop in Windsor Ontario, The Soda Pop Bros. In addition to their large selection and soda delivery, they worked to develop their own line, which includes two flavors of root beer. He was so kind as to send me some samples to review. Sadly he mixed up the boxes and accidentally sent what was intended for another reviewer to me, but I still got some of each of his root beers. I decided I’d start with the plain, er, ordinary, er, original, that’s it, root beer! I like their label, it’s got a classic vibe and isn’t too busy. One other interesting thing, it has 2% of the daily allowance of calcium and 10% of potassium. I’m not sure why that is, but extra nutrients isn’t a bad thing at all. Maybe it’s mineral water? Or maybe they just want electrolytes for hydrating root beer? Not sure, but I hope to love it.

The Body is sweet with sassafras and vanilla flavors. There’s a faint sarsaparilla that builds over time. Overall the flavor is nice and clean and simple. The Bite is mild though it isn’t smooth. The Head is wonderfully tall and frothy and you shouldn’t try to build it because then it’s too much and takes forever to fizz down. The Aftertaste is that sarsaparilla, which is pleasant.

It’s good. I’ll say that, but nothing really stands out, except the head, and the potassium. Need that potassium. So while I won’t give this one the Seal, it is better than average and is worth a try. See how it rates against other root beers.

Todd Bosley’s World Famous Root Beer

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Jun 022021

Todd Bosley's World Famous Root Beer Barrel I take issue with the name of this root beer. I know it’s cliche to call your product world famous, but if the people who’s primary reason for existence have a hard time learning about your product, it isn’t world famous. Small gripe I know, but of all the “world famous” type products I’ve ever heard of, this is probably the most obscure. I heard about it from anthony who found it trawling Amazon. The label also screams private label, but anthony assures me that when he reached out to the Great and Glorious Todd he said they have their own special recipe. I will believe him, GinsengUp does do custom recipes. I have another gripe about this brew. It came mailed to me using USPS Flat Rate padded envelopes as the padding in the box they used to package it. Seriously? They were too cheap to buy bubble wrap? Decided to raid the local post office after hours for the “free” envelopes whose cost is baked into the packaging and just use it to stuff your root beer mailing box. It rather sours me on them as a company. They can of course redeem themselves completely with a good brew.

The Body is sweet with a bit of vanilla, some sarsaparilla and a bit of sour. It’s rather generic other than that and the sour doesn’t help. The Bite is prickly from carbonation with a sudsy mouthfeel. There’s but little spice. The Head is tall and frothy, full points there. The Aftertaste is faint sour and sarsaparilla.

Meh. It’s okay, nothing special. That sour in the brew ruins it like their behavior sours my opinion of them overall. So yeah, skip this, if for no other reason than to support your local post office. But I must admit, in a pinch, it’s drinkable. See how it rates against other root beers.

Mother Road Route 66 Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

May 052021

Mother Road Route 66 Root Beer Bottle When I was at Blue Sun getting one of the most perplexing yet delicious brews (Lemon Root Beer?) I also stumbled across this. Mother Road isn’t exactly brand new. It’s Filbert’s except with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. Now those two things do taste different and can make a difference in a root beer. I’m actually quite please with Filbert’s, for rather than change their original product which may anger their old fans, they just made a whole new soda line for the cane sugar recipes. This is even better because people like me have no issue reviewing a new root beer with a new label and name and only one different ingredient, then going back and reviewing again the same root beer even though it changes. Yes, I really want everything in the (root beer) world to just be easily categorized. Anyhow, Mother Road is now the fifth brew with Route 66 in the title that I’ve had, which is probably a record for root beer name themes. Though enough about names and routes and things, let’s move to the root of this review.

The Body has a classic taste with sassafras and wintergreen. There’s a little vanilla in there as well but not as much as I would like. The Bite is okay. You can feel and taste the spice, but it’s nothing exceptional. The Head is medium but foamy and lasts as it should. The Aftertaste is a more sassafras and wintergreen.

This is rather generic and much like Filbert’s, which is to be expected. I like, not love it, but like it better than the original, which was their goal all along? I don’t know. It’s a nice brew, just nothing special. It will hit the spot with a hot dog on a hot summer day which is a win for most people, but I won’t have it in my fridge for special sipping occasions. See how it rates against other root beers.

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