Bottled Root Beers – Page 48 – Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Thunder Beast Black Label Root Beer

Sep 282016

Thunder Beast Black Label Root Beer Bottle This the fanciest root beer that I’ve encountered so far. It comes in a wine bottle (rumored to be recycled) with a cork and a wire cage. Then it’s all wrapped in gold foil on the top. Talk about classy. This is the premium offering of the most metal root beer brewers, Thunder Beast. It makes me extremely happy to see the root beer world head in this direction, as it means that we are finally getting the respect we deserve. My lovely wife gave this to me on Valentine’s Day because what could be more romantic? Now the actual reviewing of this is problematic. Thunder Beast Black Label is a seasonal root beer, using seasonal ingredients. Which means that it could be different every time. I could probably buy several bottles over the course of several years and average them out, but that gets expensive. So I’m just going to review my gift and leave it at that with the caveat that it could be better or worse depending on when you buy it.

The Body has nice honey and maple flavors but is missing something in its core. The Bite is mild, it’s a very smooth brew. The Head is practically perfect. The Aftertaste is vanilla and maple.

I like this more than the regular Thunder Beast, but not a lot more. I really want to love this stuff since it’s so fancy, but it just doesn’t quite have all it needs in the Body and Bite departments. Add some more sassafras and some spices and then they’ll have a brew worthy of the container. As it, though, it’s still worth getting for a special occasion or to put in a gift basket. See how it rates against other root beers.

Virgil’s Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer

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Sep 072016

Virgil's Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer Bottle This was actually one of the first gourmet root beers that I ever heard about. At the time, I was around 15 and loved my Henry Weinhard’s. My older brother was talking one day about some amazing root beer and I thought he was talking about Henry’s but he said it was Virgil’s. But not the regular Virgil’s, the special Virgil’s in the spring top bottles. Sadly, he died before he was able to share a bottle with me, and though that led to me becoming the root beer connoisseur that I am today, I didn’t find that special Virgil’s until over 10 years later. I’d long since had the original Virgil’s before this but was not impressed at all. This one, though, promises a different, more special/nutmeg recipe that is imported from Bavaria evidently. I’m not sure why they want to stress that it’s from Bavaria. Last time I checked, all of the root beers that came from Europe were pretty nasty and last time I was in Germany, they didn’t even know what root beer was. So unless they’re talking about Bavaria, PA or something like that, it isn’t really a selling point.

This has a very complex Body that is creamy, sort of fruity, and not overly sweet. It lacks the essential sassafras flavor and comes across a little weak because of it. It has a nice Bite on account of the cinnamon and nutmeg but manages to keep it on the smooth side. The Head is a major drawback. It is weak and fizzes away quickly. The Aftertaste is a creamy and slightly fruity flavor with hints of honey. It lingers awhile and is not unpleasant.

This one is much better than the standard Virgil’s but the lack of sassafras flavor is significant and fruitiness is slightly out of place. Replace that fruitiness with the sassafras and give it a nice Head and it would be amazing. It says that it is a winner of the NASFT “Outstanding Beverage” Award. Though this an O.K. brew, I wouldn’t go that far. The spring top bottle is one of the coolest bottles I’ve ever seen though, and you can reuse them to make your own homemade brews too so it’s definitely worth having now and again. See how it rates against other root beers.

Rock Island Brewing Company Pumpkin Spiced Root Beer

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Aug 032016

Rock Island Brewing Company Pumpkin Spiced Root Beer Bottle

Every year at the start of October, all of the coffee shops, chocolatiers, perfumiers, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, and pretty much everyone else gets out their pumpkins and their spices and unleash a flood of harvest/Halloween/Thanksgiving food and fragrance upon the world in the form of pumpkin spiced lattes, hot chocolates, regular chocolates, candles, incense, Jell-O?, Pringles, Pop Tarts, and probably every food product imaginable. This continues until December when they swap out the pumpkin for eggnog and continue until the New Year. These products have varied levels of grossness with a few actually tasting good, though those are the exceptions and not the rules. Into this fray stepped the expert brewers from Rock Island Brewing Company (who’s rocking abilities cannot be overstated) and decided that a glaring hole in this onslaught of pumpkin spiced everything was root beer and they were gonna solve it. I wasn’t sure if I was excited to try it or not. On the one hand, Rock Island Brewing Company, on the other hand pumpkin spiced Jell-O…

The Body is spicy, very spicy. It’s thick and rich as well with some vanilla and pumpkin syrup flavors featuring prominently. The Bite is sharp and intense from all of that spice. I think I’m getting cinnamon, allspice, and clove; maybe others too. It really burns in a way that puts hair on your chest. The Head is okay. It’s medium-short with large bubbles but it sticks around for a bit. The Aftertaste is a honey pumpkin flavor that finishes with clove bits.

So they surely got that spiced part right. That this isn’t awful is a testament to the skill of the brewmasters. Not only that, if you are a spice addicted Bite lover, this could be one of your favorite brews. As for me, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. After much deliberation as I drank my two bottles … I would drink this again. During that “special” time of the year. See how it rates against other root beers.

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