Bottled Root Beers – Page 2 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Chautauqua Beverages Root Beer

May 072025

I don’t know how I’m supposed to say this name. Thankfully this is a written post and not a video, or I’d be in deep trouble. For a root beer that’s supposedly been established in 1938, they sure have done a good job keeping it a secret from me. I got this in a trade from anthony, I think he got it in either New York or Pennsylvania, because those are the two addresses on the label. Also, in small print, it says it was produced by Mobilia Farms, so maybe he got it there? Also did you know there’s a town in Pennsylvania called North East? I thought they were just being general in the area, but nope, it’s a real place. On Lake Erie, by the town of Erie, but you guessed it, a little North and East. Anyways The one other part is that they are “Manufacturers of high grade beverages” which evidently means they put propylene glycol in their root beer, because they did. Anyways.

The Body is sweet and mild. There’s an aged sarsaparilla flavor which is good, but there isn’t a lot of other flavors. The Bite is sharp and prickly but light on spices. The Head is very tall and foamy, but fizzes down a bit two quickly. The Aftertaste is mild sarsaparilla.

This should probably be labeled as a sarsaparilla and not a root beer. Though that gets into the whole is a sarsaparilla a root beer which I’ve gone over my stance many times, but incase you’re new, I’ll summarize by saying if you call it a root beer but serve me a sarsaparilla, it can be decent, which this is. It’s drinkable. See how it rates against other root beers.

Old Keg Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Mar 052025

The root beer that could have been my 500th review. I bought the bottle after trying my 499th, but, I didn’t think it was “special enough” to be 500. It’s another resurrected brand from Orca Beverages, of which there are several, and that’s just a bit to plain a backstory for the storied 500th brew. I found this at the store formerly known as Blue Sun Soda, and I do like the motif of an old keg being called Old Keg. I mean, I throw pictures of old kegs all over this site of mine. But does it really have that, “old keg” flavor and profile?

The Body sweet with rich honey and vanilla complimenting a nice rooty sassafras core. It is really delicious. The Bite is spicy and prickly with a smooth finish. The Head is medium tall and foamy that fizzes away faster than I prefer by coalescing into increasingly larger bubbles. That’s rather unique. The Aftertaste is a delicious honey sassafras with hints of vanilla.

This is my kind of root beer. Darker than classic, with honey showing through. I love it. Honestly, as far as quality of the root beer goes, this would have been a better 500th than what I had, and while it didn’t have a backstory then, it’s lack of backstory has become one of the better ones. Ah, the brew and review that could have been, but at least it won the Seal. See how it rates against other root beers.

Hank’s Gourmet Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Nov 062024

I made a mistake 13 years ago. Back when I held my Ultimate Root Beer Showdown I said that Hank’s seemed better than I remembered. At that time I knew the bottle had changed, but I didn’t actually realized that they’d made a subtle change to both their recipe (substituting cane sugar for high fructose corn syrup) and their name (substituting Gourmet for Premium). What I thought was the Hank’s I’d reviewed in 1998 was actually a technically new root beer. I’d like to think that after seeing such a high ranking at gourmetrootbeer.com they strove to make their premium root beer even better, worthy of truly being, “Gourmet”, and renamed the brew once they’d achieved it. Regardless, change their recipe and name they did, and thus a new root beer I need to review. Since I’ve been drinking Hank’s continuously since then, the review itself comes as no surprise but I shall write it as if it did.

Sweet mother of root beer! This has an amazing Body. How root beer should taste. It’s sweet and rooty and creamy and spicy. It’s perfectly proportioned with nothing lacking. The Bite is solid but not overbearing. The Head is tall and foamy as a root beer should be. The Aftertaste is luscious vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

I really, truly, love this stuff. It is perhaps as close to perfection as we can come in this imperfect world. See how it rates against other root beers.

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