Bottled Root Beers – Page 3 – Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Old Keg Root Beer

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.

Hannaford Bros Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 1 Response »

Jul 102024

Back in February I found myself in Vermont for the first time in my life. If you want to know why, it was DERMS, DERMS of course it was DERMS. We actually flew into Albany and then drove to Rutland. I searched feverishly along the way to find some brewery making some maple syrup root beer to no avail. The second night there, I went to a grocery store to buy some snacks and found this local store brand. Hannaford is a grocery store chain up in those parts which I had never encountered before. They’re headquartered in Massachusetts so I think they’re a New England thing. They make a root beer using natural extracts and spices in small batches, if their marketing is to be believed. They also don’t use any preservatives. They also offer a double money back gaurantee so if I hate this I can make money. I do like the sound of that. More brands should pay me if I’m dissatisfied with their brews.

The Body is sweet and a little creamy. It’s also a bit weak. There’s a nice spicy Bite, with clove featuring prominently. The Head is decent. It’s medium tall and fizzes down slowly so there’s always some foam. The Aftertaste is slightly spicy clove with the smallest hint of wintergreen.

This is decidedly mid. I mean, that’s to be expected from a store brand. I’ll give that it isn’t generic, but it’s still mid. Better mid than none I say, when I comes to gourmet root beer, however. And I think as Drinkable, I don’t need my money back, so there’s that. See how it rates against other root beers.

Older Entries Newer Entries