Nov 062019
 

Summit Craft Root Beer BottleSummit is an Aldi brand. Aldi is a discount market where they don’t give you bags and you need to put quarters in to get shopping carts. Their standard store brand root beer is Summit Suds, which comes only in cans. They’ve done glass versions before, though they weren’t very good. I was very happy last year when I heard this root beer was being made. But, despite living near an Aldi now it never showed up, and I was left to mourn when it disappeared from all of the shelves. Then, later this year, I got a random text from my wife who was shopping at Aldi with a picture of a four-pack of this asking if I’d tried it. What luck! My son felt very proud too, as he was the one who found it. It’s not often I get a second chance at these, so reviewing it became my top priority. I don’t understand the whole aviator dog on the label. I get that there are a lot of dogs on root beer labels, but why is it an aviator? The bottle gives no clues, and maybe we’re not to know. They probably did it just to annoy me, cause they know I rant about these dog labels. Anyhow, my review.

The Body is sweet with a classic root beer flavor and a sarsaparilla tinge. It’s a little on the mild side though. There’s a decent spice Bite, from some cloves. The Head is medium tall and very foamy. The Aftertaste is a mild vanilla with sarsaparilla.

It’s pretty good, just not quite all there. I don’t know It’s a lot better than their previous try with the Vintage root beer, so there’s that. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Mar 152017
 

Summit Vintage Soda Pop Root Beer Bottle Summit Vintage Soda Pop is a store brand root beer from the ALDI stores. I had never really heard of ALDI, despite them being all over the world. I’ve never seen one on the West Coast or the mountain states though. Researching for this review turned up that Trader Joe’s is actually owned by one of the ALDI group’s owners, so I guess that ALDI kind of owns Trader Joe’s. Maybe that’s why there are no ALDI stores around here. But they are around the East Coast, so anthony was able to get some for me. I don’t really like their label. Why must they have everything in a different font? What is that supposed to accomplish? The rest is rather plain, but it is just a store brand so I suppose I should be grateful that they even bottle in glass. I wish Safeway would follow their example.

The Body is a little hollow with a generic creamy root beer flavor. There’s some sweet vanilla but nothing else really sticks out. The Bite is sharp from carbonation and spice. It even finishes prickly on your tongue after you’ve swallowed. The Head has good height but lacks staying power. The Aftertaste is sort of bitter and sticky with a slight wintergreen flavor.

Well, this really isn’t horrible, but really isn’t good either. It tastes like a cheap store brand which is what it is. Every category is just sub-par. I wouldn’t ever drink it again, even if there were no other root beers around. See how it rates against other root beers.

2.5/5 Root Beer Kegs