Bottled Root Beers – Page 89 – Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Sea Dog Root Beer

Jan 292014

Sea Dog Root Beer Bottle It seems that Ol’ (young actually) Capt’n Eli taught his dog how to brew root beer. At least that’s what the first issue of the graphic novel said if I remember correctly. Sea Dog is made by the same people and I learned about it after I sadly told them that while good, they wouldn’t be getting the Seal of Approval. I asked if they had any other root beer, specifically the Sea Dog that was mentioned on their site at the time, if it was a different recipe. They said that it was and they said they’d send me some Sea Dog to try. Sea Dog is also a brewery for those other beers and actually predates Capt’n Eli yet it seems that Eli was the one who made it. Confused yet? You should be. Since the Sea Dog mascot is the same as Eli’s dog in the novel (plus him teaching the dog was part of the flashback origin story), maybe it does actually form a single root beer continuum. Eli taught his dog to brew root beer with the root beer machine, then later he wanted to make his own root beer because, let’s face it, dogs will eat anything and just because a dog likes it doesn’t mean people will. Glad that’s all cleared up.

It has a full flavored, smooth Body but unfortunately too much anise (I expect that he learned that from the Cap’.) There is not much Bite. It is really smooth which I do like though I think it should have a little bit more too it. The Head is excellent! It is difficult to pour a whole bottle into a mug. The head lasts almost as long as a diamond. Unfortunately it doesn’t taste so good. The Aftertaste is a creamy vanilla and anise. Not really bad but not overly good. Overall it is a solid brew but not quite exceptional.

I must say, Sea Dog is pretty good. There is a lot of attention to details for a dog. It reminds me a lot of Capt’n Eli’s but it’s got a better head and the flavor is a little different as well. I’d say I like Eli’s better, which fits with the whole root beer continuum, but not much better. See how it rates against other root beers.

Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 1 Response »

Jan 152014

Capt'n Eli's Root Beer Bottle One day, out of the blue, I get an email from the people at Capt’n Eli asking me if I’d like to try their root beer. Yes, I responded, that is my primary reason for existence. If only more companies would follow suit. They sent me a 4-pack and a comic book about Capt’n Eli, an orphan boy genius who loves the sea, has a pet dog, builds his own submarine, and may be descended from Captain Nemo (I only had the first issue so I’m not sure how the plot developed). It’s called the Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli. One of his first inventions was making a root beer machine. I’m guessing that the root beer they’re selling is supposed to be from his root beer machine. This is the first and only time I’ve encountered a root beer with its own comic book, unless you count Snoopy with A&W though Snoopy wasn’t invented to push root beer so it’s a bit different. They’ve since expanded their soda line because why not.

The Body was sweet and creamy but with too much anise and no honey. The Bite was spicy and the Head was perfect. The Aftertaste was of vanilla and anise that wasn’t bad but at the same time not overly good.

This is a well crafted brew with attention to detail. I could taste the fact that they used natural flavors. It was really good, but I just don’t like the anise flavor too much, if they just had a little less of that and some honey or something. It pained me to not give them a Seal of Approval because they were so nice, but the root beer wasn’t quite up to my tastes. See how it rates against other root beers.

Rocky Mountain Root Beer

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Jan 082014

Rocky Mountain Root Beer Bottle Another acquired through trade from anthony. I should probably be more diligent in getting these Western root beers without having to appeal to the East Coast to get them. I almost love this label. The shiny, the bighorn sheep, the mountain scenery, the classy seal that … doesn’t quite … line up with the text … gaaaah! Really, why? Why would you put your classy shiny seal slightly off center? Just to grate my nerves I suppose. This root beer also has the distinction of being made with “Colorado Water” which I hope has some tasty minerals or something. I’m still going to just leave it as water in the root beer ingredients list (fun fact, I actually don’t list water as its pretty much given). Another curiosity is that they claim it’s “All Natural” so I suppose the potassium sorbate is naturally occurring. Maybe that’s what’s special about the Colorado Water.

The Body is mild but spicy with licorice and wintergreen and I almost want to say vanilla. It’s also a little bitter. There’s a solid spicy Bite and the carbonation level is nice too. The Head is very tall but fizzes down very quickly. The Aftertaste is mostly a sugar. The first bottle of this that I had, however, was really hollow with no spice and with a bitter chemical flavor.

Hmm, it is rare to have two bottles of the same brew be so different. I know it is batch brewed but I shouldn’t think that the difference between batches would be so pronounced. Though the second bottle was much better than the first, and raised the overall rating substantially, I don’t think I’d risk drinking it again just in case. See how it rates against other root beers.

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