Mar 052025
 
Seal of Approval

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.

4 kegs

Feb 052025
 

The third (and last) brewery from my Anchorage trip. I was amazed that there was so many house root beers. The residents said it had to do with them all wanting to have something family friendly. I don’t know if every brewery up there makes root beer, but three out of three that I investigated did, so either I’m very lucky or it’s a pretty high percentage. Either way, this last place also makes several other soda flavors including Spruce Tips, which seemed really unique but I don’t review all sodas, just root beers. They brought it out in frosty mugs which is bonus, not for any review scoring, but just for the experience in general.

The Body hits you with a fruity sarsaparilla flavor that really isn’t my favorite at all. The more you drink, the more it matures to an aged flavor from fruity, so it does grow on you. The Bite is spicy and complex, prickly and fizzy, but still finishes smooth. There is no Head. None at all. It is sad. The Aftertaste is creamy, soothing vanilla, which is quite a nice touch to end on.

This is the worst of the three this week. It starts bad but does get drinkable as you go on. Barely drinkable, aged sarsparilla is decent, but the fruity is a no go. It’s good enough, over the course of the mug, to squeeze in a drinkable rating, but barely. The food is delicous so definitely worth a visit.

Three kegs

A crab meat grilled cheese sandwich with chowder for dipping. Super delicious.

Jan 012025
 
Seal of Approval

So I was in Anchorage back in November for the Northwest Public Power Association Conference in Anchorage, Alaska. I was quite surprised how many breweries that made their own root beer there were. I saw from Google Maps that there were two within walking distance from my hotel. The first, Glacier Brewhouse, I realized, after I drank some, that I’d reviewed before when a tap room in Seattle had it. But that’s not this, in fact, this wasn’t even on that list of two, but people in the conference told me about Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, supposedly the best pizza in Anchorage which also makes their own root beer. They also had a pizza that has reindeer sausage on it which made me even more want to go, so we made that our dinner the first night of the conference. The place was absolutely packed but thankfully we only had to wait for 15 minutes or so to get seated.

The Body is sweet and rich with a classic flavor profile that’s just a little darker and more herbal. The herbal bit detracts a little. There’s a bit of a spicy Bite but it is all in all, nice and smooth. The Head is medium and foamy when you ask for it that way. The Aftertaste is a delicious sweet creamy vanilla that washes away any thoughts but how wonderful it is.

I’ll say, the first glass they brought did not have a good head and I had to ask them again if they could not make sure it was very tall and foamy and they brought back what was pictured. This brew isn’t perfect, but it’s really good and that wonderful Aftertaste really brings it home for the Seal. The pizza was amazing as well. My coworkers and I ordered 3 mediums and ate all but two slices, it was that good. If you are in Anchorage, Moose’s Tooth is a must!

4 kegs

My coworkers and I with our Thai Chicken, Call of the Wild, and Santa’s Little Helper Pizzas.