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

Hockeytown Old Style Root Beer

Jul 052023

Back in May I was in Winnipeg doing DERMS. You know, you’ve read my last review. That review was for the place I knew about, planned about, and was prepping for. However, on the way between our meeting site and our hotel, was the Lake of the Woods tap room. After meetings were done, and we were walking back to the hotel before heading to lunch, I thought I’d drop in to just see if maybe, just maybe they also had root beer? They did. And not just on draft, they actually had big ol’ bottles of it. Well isn’t that just perfect. I immediately bought two to take home. I also took a picture and dropped it into the Facebook root beer group, which caused no small stir. Everyone was asking where I got it and some random person, not even in the group but living in Winnipeg got tagged. Why am I telling you this? Because later that day, when my coworker wanted to grab a pint (of regular beer) from there, as I was talking to the bar tender, a person behind in the line said “Are you the root beer guy from Facebook?” That’s right, the guy who got tagged had come down to try it and recognized me. What fun. The Lake of the Woods Brewing Company started Kenora, Ontario but they also have breweries in Winnipeg (where I visited) and Warroad in Minnesota.

The Body is weak. There’s a classic flavor profile but it’s watered down and there’s a bit of fruity to it. The Bite is also weak. Light on spice and on carbonation. The Head is medium but fizzes down very quickly. The Aftertaste is fruity with faint vanilla.

This isn’t good. Not unpleasant, but also not good. It’s kind of depressing, since it’s such a cool bottle and all. Oh well. Maybe it tastes better on tap? If not, I can’t recommend ever getting this, unless you need a cool bottle for your collection. See how it rates against other root beers.

Revelton Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Nov 022022

Another one from my good friend Vince. He is truly a blessing to the world of root beer. This brew is actually made and bottled by Peace Tree Brewing Co, which probably isn’t surprising if you are a root beer nerd like myself since it comes in the same type of strange stubby bottle that Peace Tree uses. However this is a unique recipe for Revelton Distilling Co, an award winning microspirit producer in Osceola, Iowa, about 20 miles from where the Peace Tree Brewing. I’d like to believe that some of the essences in this root beer are distilled by said Co, but there is literally nothing to indicate that. Nevertheless, they cared enough about root beer to procure their own unique brand, so that’s a win in my book. The side of the label says “Good times great root beer”. We shall see.

The Body is sweet and medium strength standard creamy root beer. There is a lot of vanilla but not a lot of complexity. There’s also a hint, just a small hint, of something sourish and off, but it vanishes quickly. The Bite is very smooth, both on spice and carbonation. The Head is medium but very foamy so it lasts quite awhile. The Aftertaste is a nice vanilla.

This is actually pretty decent, but needs a little more depth. I’ll say they can keep their “great root beer” tag line, though I wouldn’t call it Seal of Approval root beer, that would be amazing root beer, but great, I’ll give it to them, along with three and half kegs. See how it rates against other root beers.

Stinger Naturally Flavored Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Oct 052022

Another brew provided by that great aficionado Vince. I’d tried to find it on my own and thankfully I have good friends to trade with. Stingers is brewed by The Estes Park Brewery in Colorado. Ironically the ingredients in this “Naturally Flavored Root Beer” include “natural and artificial flavors” so I’m not sure about the whole name of this. Interestingly, under the ingredients list there’s a “CONTAINS:” list which is slightly different yet includes “natural and imitation flavors” So both artificial and imitation, what a scandal. The picture on the front is a bee or wasp I suppose drinking from a honey comb mug. It really makes me think that there’s honey in this. There should be honey in this. It doesn’t say there’s honey in the ingredients or contains, but maybe that’s the imitation? I don’t know. How does it taste?

The Body is sweet with the typical creamy root beer flavor. It’s a little light on the vanilla and it seems there’s a hint of honey flavor as well, though it isn’t super strong. The flavor lacks a bit of depth. The Bite is very mild, only a little spice and nearly no carbonation, no bubbles, it feels nearly flat. The Head is very tall, but doesn’t last, all of the carbonation shoots out for a fine performance but is then gone forever, and quickly. The Aftertaste is faint vanilla and honey.

Okay, it does kind of taste like there’s imitation honey in this. All in all it’s got the makings for greatness, but kind of falls flat, both literally and figuratively. Maybe if they had some actual real honey it would make a big difference. It is however, drinkable. See how it rates against other root beers.

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