Jun 132018
 

Boots Sarsaparilla Root Beer Bottle Boots Beverages was created by a man whose name was Boots (and no, he wasn’t a monkey that went exploring). Mr. Boots is not the man the label. His name is Ambrose and he came from Germany and purchased the Bellville Bottling Works in Texas. I think he’s Boots’ father, but I’m not sure. The text on the bottle doesn’t say, neither does their website. Anyhow, they had a bottling works so they made some sodas. Except this came from the Crown Valley Winery in Missouri, like the Fizzy Izzy Root Beer. Same shipping box and everything. I’m not sure if Boots does the bottling for Crown Valley or the other way around. I would like to point out that this is a root beer, not a sarsaparilla. The name clearly says Sarsaparilla Root Beer. I don’t review sarsaparillas, I review root beers. A sarsaparilla root beer is a subset of root beer. I’ve mentioned this before with Hosmer, but just in case you forgot.

The Body has a full fruity sarsaparilla flavor with some vanilla as well. It isn’t overly complex. The Bite has some nice spice but it overall smooth, as I prefer. The Head is tall and foamy and all around excellent. The Aftertaste is vanilla with sarsaparilla hints.

Well, flavor wise this is definitely more sarsaparilla than root beer. But since semantics must rule the day I’ll review it as a root beer. It’s a decent root beer. I mean, good enough to drink if I really need a root beer but want it to be sarsaparilla tasting but not be a sarsaparilla. I’ll admit, that isn’t very often. I think Hosmer pulled it off much better. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Feb 282018
 

Country Folk Root Beer Bottle Country Folk Soda is a recent company to pop up. It’s brewed and bottled for Crown Valley Branson, which is a distillery with bistro and there’s a winery there too. The winery is where the Fizzy Izzy comes from. If it seems a bit confusing, its because the websites for this place are various, and the particular website listed on the bottle of this Country Folk doesn’t even work. Alas! The soda line itself says its “an old fashioned soda for downhome country folks.” There are eight flavors and each one has a different folk on it. The root beer’s is a one Bobby Joe. He’s described as “a good ol’ boy who loves to have fun and get rowdy.” He’s also afraid of critters, evidently. I don’t know if this is based on any real person or not. So many questions, so few answers. And I know that your only question is really, “how does this rate as a root beer?” I’m getting to it.

The Body is sweet and spicy and fruity with vanilla, kind of a sarsaparilla fruity. It’s an odd combination but it works surprisingly well. There is a nice zippy Bite from the spices a plenty. The Head is excellent! It’s what a root beer Head should be. The Aftertaste is more of the fruity sarsaparilla and vanilla.

Yeah, um, this is kind of weird as a root beer but I guess fine as a soda. So I wouldn’t drink it if I were in the mood for a root beer, but if you poured it into a glass and didn’t tell me what it was supposed to be, I’d probably enjoy it well enough. See how it rates against other root beers.

2.5/5 Root Beer Kegs




Sep 242014
 

Fizzy Izzy Root Beer BottleSeal of ApprovalThis one is made by the Crown Valley Winery and named after a Siberian Tiger in the Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary. This was most likely done as an appeasement measure to keep the tigers on the ridge and out of the valley, you know, like sacrifices to the volcano gods. The bottle sports a picture of Izzy, who is a male tiger, lest there be some confusion over the gender of that name. Evidently if you collect the bottle caps you can send them in for prizes from the sanctuary who then gets some additional tribute money from the winery. It’s like cereal box tops for your school, except is root beer bottle caps for … tigers. Another plus is that this is all natural with no preservatives for those of you, like my wife, who hate artificial flavorings and sodium benzoate.

The Body has a rich vanilla and wintergreen flavors accompanying a medium strength sassafras core. There’s a solid Bite with this one as well from ample spices. The Head is medium-tall and very frothy and foamy. It lasts the whole time you drink it. The Aftertaste is a spiced vanilla and wintergreen. It has a nice clean mouth feel from the lack of preservatives as an added bonus.

This is a quality brew in all respects. Dare I say, the best all natural root beer that I’ve had. Now I wish I lived closer to that tiger sanctuary. I’d get all sorts of cool prizes with the amount of this stuff that I’d drink. See how it rates against other root beers.

4 kegs