Real Sugar Soda Vintage Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
May 062020
 

Real Sugar Soda Vintage Root Beer Bottle Another brew from my good pal Rick. This one is from Oak Cliff, Texas. Real Sugar Soda. Evidently for them, real sugar means cane sugar, which I’m sure the beet producers in Michigan would take issue with. Heck, I even consider corn syrup as “real” sugar, inasmuch as it isn’t some artificial sweetener. But cane sugar is trendy these days, so it makes sense. They’ve been around since 2009, yet I’ve never heard of this root beer, and I’ve been doing this for longer than 2009. Maybe their root beer is new but their soda company isn’t? Maybe it’s only recently they started bottling. Whatever. It’s vintage. We all love vintage root beer. Nearly everyone’s got a vintage root beer. They even address that on their bottle, saying that it “definitely belongs here”. We shall see.

The Body is sweet with a fruity sarsaparilla tinge. There’s a hint of spices and it’s a little generic while on the creamy side. The fruity is a little much for me though. The Bite is very smooth, the spices can be tasted but not felt, if that makes sense, so I wish there was a little more. The Head proved itself worthy of all accolades, which you’ve heard before so I shan’t regale you with them. The Aftertaste is more of that sweet fruity, which I don’t really like.

So, yeah, this is okay, I guess. Like, just barely okay. Just barely drinkable for discerning root beer gourmet like I am and everyone else strives to be. But is it vintage? I guess so? I mean, it doesn’t taste like some new, avant-garde type root beer, so if it isn’t that you can call it vintage. I wouldn’t call it good. Just, drinkable. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Atta Boy Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Apr 012020
 

Atta Boy Root Beer Bottle From Oklahoma City in the OK state of Oklahoma (I will not apologize) comes this brew. It’s made by BTB Brewing Company, which stands for Bricktown Brewing Company… so where’s the other B mean? BrickTown Brewing Brewing Company? That’s what the bottle makes it out to be. The only reason I could find out it was Bricktown was some very small print on the side. I’m just … no. I’m done. I’m not even going to do this anymore. So Bricktown Brewing Company is a sorta Midwest Chain, with all locations in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, R-Kansas I mean Arkansas, and Missouri. Their website says nothing about this root beer at all, why it’s called Atta Boy, why it’s a dog, or anything. But peeps like their dogs and like to name root beers after them and I like to complain about it so there we are. Anyways, the most fine and accommodating Rick sent me this for which he has my eternal thanks. Atta Boy Rick (still not sorry).

The Body is nice and sweet with a classic creamy root beer stand flavor. There’s a good amount of vanilla mixed into the sassafras core accented by some spice. The Bite is decently sharp with a fairly smooth finish. The Head is disappointing. It’s tiny short, it’s gone quickly. It ruins an otherwise impeccable root beer experience. The Aftertaste is sweet vanilla and sassafras with the tiniest hints of wintergreen which builds as you drink, making it tastier and tastier.

Wow, fine flavors, but a terrible Head. So close. If this had a Henry’s type Head I’d probably rate it 4 1/2, but it doesn’t so I won’t, I can’t, and finally I’m sorry. I really wanted to give it the Seal, but rules are rules and however yummy you may be, a root beer needs to be the whole package and experience. But also it’s still yummy so worth drinking should you be at the BTB Brewery or whatever. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Fentiman’s Old English Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Mar 042020
 

Fentiman's Old English Root Beer Bottle Ah Fentiman’s. Makers of Dandelion and Burdock soda and some other English flavours. Long have I hoped for the day when they would release a root beer, figuring it was right up their alley, despite the fact that it is a uniquely American drink. And now, they finally have! And called it Old English Root Beer, which is something root beer is most decidedly not. Maybe, I suppose, one could argue that there’s a old English way of making sodas, like dandelion and burdock, and when those techniques are applied to root beer it makes it an “old English” root beer, but that’s a stretch. Whatever, they made a root beer, in the UK, and are selling it all over America so I can drink it and complain about it’s name in both print and video form. Truly no greater gifts were given to me by company without a history of making root beer. Any ways, UK root beers are generally bad, almost exclusively, so how is this?

The Body is sweet but not overly so. There’s a complex botanical sarsaparilla flavor with accents of fermented ginger and sweet pear nectar that somehow all works together in a way that makes it intriguing to drink. The Bite is mild but it isn’t smooth. The Head is amazing. One of the best ever. The Aftertaste is a nectary sarsaparilla.

So, um, huh. I expected it to be kind of nasty, what with the “pear juice concentrate” in the ingredients. And yet, they’ve managed to keep it tasting root beer enough to make me acknowledge that they’ve done better than other British brews. It’s not bad. It’s not really good either, but it’s unique enough that it’s worth trying once. And while no one will say that it’s a good root beer. I think most will probably think of it as a decent soda and an experience worth having once. Just not multiple times. See how it rates against other root beers.

2.5/5 Root Beer Kegs




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