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.
