Brewbakers Surf City Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Mar 142012
 

So more into my questing of small microbrewery root beers. I had heard about this one from another blog and wrote an email to them since they didn’t seem to have a way to buy it online. A fine chap by the name of Dennis wrote me back and said that they didn’t sell it online but if I called they’d be glad to send me some and “it is the very best.” I called and made the purchase. About a week later I get a rather large padded envelope on my door step containing the two bottles of Surf City Root Beer, a gift certificate for $5 of merchandise at Brewbakers Restaurant and Brewery (if I’m ever in Huntington Beach, CA I guess), a restaurant menu, a brewery menu (all the different beers you can custom make), and a box hop jump tea bags. Huh? What are hop jumps? It seems from the description that they are dried hops that you put into a draft beer to make it taste fuller. I don’t know, I’ve never drank beer. I gave them to the British guy I work with and he thought they were hilarious, though he hasn’t tried them yet. I honestly think they put them in there for padding between the two bottles. And who sends root beer in only a padded envelope? These guys are different for sure, but I suppose that’s how surfer dudes are. So how is it?

Wonderful Body! Raw honey and spices complimenting solid sassafras flavor. It is also creamy from the delicious vanilla. While it isn’t overly complex, it is perfectly proportioned. The spices give a solid Bite. The Head is very nice. It’s tall and frothy as a root beer Head should be. The Aftertaste is a delightful blend of spiced vanilla and honey with the vanilla the last flavor to fade. This is beauty in the form of root beer!

Good gravy! What a shock to my root beer world. After the first bottle I realized they weren’t kidding about it being the best. I needed to make sure. I brought out the bottle of So Duh!, Hank’s, and Iron Horse for the Ultimate Root Beer Showdown just to make sure I knew where the top brews stood. Then I had my second bottle of this stuff. Then another bottle of So Duh!. Well, it isn’t quite the very best, but there was no doubt in my mind that it is an Elixir of the Gods. See how it rates against other root beers.




Appalachian Brewing Co. Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  6 Responses »
Mar 072012
 

So another root beer from Anthony’s wonderful package from the East. I’d known about this one for awhile and was looking forward to giving it a try. Curiously, the week I had slotted to taste test it, I got an email from a nice chap named Fred giving me a heads up about ABC Root Beer and telling me that I should try it. It was thus ordained to be. Due to my recent luck of excellent brews, I expected the best. I really like the honey theme to the bottle as well. I love honey in root beer. And this is “brewed with a delightful blend of honey” which I assume means there’s more than one type of honey in it. Or, does it mean that the amount they blend in is a delightful amount leaving a total blend that is a delightful one?

Well, this is quite a ‘stout’ brew. It has a very rich Body with accents of honey and wintergreen. There is a tad too much licorice for my tastes. The Bite is a bit harsh from carbonation though light on spicy. The Head is medium height and fizzes down too quickly. The Aftertaste is a sticky licorice and wintergreen with some honey. It lasts a little too long in my opinion.

Huh, where’s all of that honey they boast about on the bottle? I mean, I could taste some honey, but their whole label was covered in honeycomb with picture of a black bear (what do bears eat?) With that kind honey focus, I was expecting Langer’s or So Duh! Rockin’ levels of honey. At least Thomas Kemper levels. But alas, the honey isn’t quite at the level. It isn’t bad though. This is good ‘stout’ root beer but I prefer creamier, smoother ones. See how it rates against other root beers.




Wild Bill’s Rocky Mountain Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Feb 292012
 

In an effort to expand my root beer collection in an affordable manner (have you ever ordered one variety online before?) I decided to try trading with other root beer reviewers. I looked first to Anthony of root beer barrel fame because he’s the undisputed king of root beer reviews and also his was the first site I encountered way back in 1998. I’d always looked up to him and since he is on the other coast, we each had access to different regional varieties. After a brief email exchange, the trade arranged. Sadly, i’d given him the wrong zip code since I had recently moved. The package was lost in the mail for over two weeks. Thankfully, he’d gotten a tracking number and I was able to sort it out. The one I was most excited to try was this one. I mean look at it. Bullet holes through the label with a cowboy holding a frosty mug. How can you not like that? It’s also made “with pure cane sugar.” What’s not to love?

It has a very rich and creamy Body. It has an excellent sassafrass flavor, how a root beer should be. The Bite has a good spice tingle as well as some from the carbonation but stays on the smooth side as I like it. The Head is medium height and decently frothy. It fizzes down faster than I prefer but it is sufficient. The Aftertaste is wonderful. Creamy vanilla and a caramel flavor with hints of anise and wintergreen.

This is one quality brew! It’s core flavors are near perfectly proportioned and then its got nice extras from the vanilla and the spices. After the first half a mug, I knew this would be getting a Seal of Approval. Thankfully in this case, I have to drink two bottles, just to make sure. The biggest problem I see with this, it isn’t sold locally. See how it rates against other root beers.




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