Bottled Root Beers – Page 13 – Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Cappy’s Old Time Maine Root Beer

Dec 022020

Bottle of Cappy's Old Time Maine Root Beer Cappy’s is a chowder house in Camden, Maine that’s been there since 1979. It’s named after Cappy Quinn, who actually never was officially affiliated with their restaurant. Rather he was an old salt who could be found around the Camden waterfront and was an inspiration to all. The root beer itself is actually bottled and supplied by Private Label Specialties which means it’s most likely really made by GinsenUp. However, the Cappy’s folks claim it’s made specially for them with a unique recipe, which is in line with what GinsengUp does, so it appears to be its own root beer. Unless they’re lying in which case they’ll burn in the special fires prepared for those who deceive root beer reviewers and scowl unnecessarily long at baby koalas. It’s another sailing themed root beer, of which the world cannot have too many.

The Body is that of a generic creamy root beer. Nothing really stands out at all but it’s good. The Bite is on the mild side with only a hint of spice. The Head is adequate, both in height in froth, but nothing special. The Aftertaste is a light vanilla and caramel flavor with the slightest bit of wintergreen.

What a pleasantly adequate brew. This is the sort of root beer that when you’re done drinking it you’ll remark, “I just drank a root beer”. Completely forgettable yet sufficiently enjoyable, this will compliment any meal that needs a root beer to compliment it without detracting in any way whatsoever. Drinking it will be an acceptable way to pass the time it takes to drink it. See how it rates against other root beers.

Virgil’s Handcrafted Root Beer

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Nov 042020

Virgil's Handcrafted Root Beer Bottle Virgil’s has been around for a long time. It was ballyhooed to me greatly in the 90’s by many only to leave me quite disappointed when I finally tried it. Last year, however, there was a shake up in the company for some reason. I don’t know all of the details, but for some reason the bottling was moved to a new location, the fan favorite, Bavarian Nutmeg (the only one I liked) was discontinued, and the recipe and name was changed on the flagship root beer. Now it sports an all natural recipe and the name Handcrafted Root Beer as opposed to the original Micro Brewed designation. I guess the new bottler brews bigger batches and they do so by hand? I don’t know, but it means that I can write a new review on the new recipe with the new name cause it’s a new root beer and that makes me happy. The label picture is also slightly different yet similar and somehow not as cool, like the Digitally Remastered Edition… Anyways, root beer.

The Body is kind of dark and rather complex. There’s sarsaparilla, licorice, a hint of fruity, and some other stuff going on but it doesn’t really work. The Bite is mild with no discernable spices yet harsh at the same time in mouthfeel. The Head is tall initially but fizzes down really quickly. The Aftertaste is sarsaparilla with licorice hints and fruity notes.

I like this less than their original and I wasn’t a fan of that. I don’t know how they made it worse, but they did. It just doesn’t mix well. Their last version at least had a balanced flavor, even though I didn’t like it. This is all over the place while also failing to be good. So yeah, I don’t know what they hoped to accomplish by getting rid of their best root beer flavor and making their flagship worse, but I don’t have a lot of hope for this company. See how it rates against other root beers.

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer

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Oct 072020

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer Bottle Another blonde root beer! I mean, they don’t call it a blonde root beer, they call it golden, but it’s clearly a blonde root beer, even though you’re just looking at an empty bottle it was a nice blonde color. I should probably take pictures of a full bottle but I didn’t from the beginning so I couldn’t for all of them which means inconsistencies which I hate and… I think this is only number three for me so far, so I’m excited. Also, a maple root beer, which I love. As a maple syrup maker, I love all things maple. Lakefront Brewery is in Milwaukee and was started in 1987. They have made their root beer for some time, but it used to always be in plastic bottles, which of course made me frustrated. But now they have seen the light, and put it in glass, where all gourmet root beers deserve to live (and kegs, but anyways). So now that I can finally, after all these years, try this, was it worth the wait?

The Body is sweet with a subtle maple flavor complimenting a solid core. There’s a hint of vanilla in there as well. The Bite isn’t very spicy but is a little harsh feeling. It doesn’t finish smooth and I like a smooth finish. The Head is nice and tall with medium staying power. The Aftertaste is a mild maple vanilla flavor that while pleasant, isn’t amazing.

This is good, just not great. It needs a little more, the maple is nice, but some more complexity of flavors would push it to the next level, the Seal of Approval level. But it’s still a fine root beer that if you’re a maple lover or a blonde root beer lover, or just a regular root beer lover, you’ll want to give it a try. See how it rates against other root beers.

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