Cappy’s is a chowder house in Camden, Maine that’s been there since 1979. It’s named after Cappy Quinn, who actually never was officially affiliated with their restaurant. Rather he was an old salt who could be found around the Camden waterfront and was an inspiration to all. The root beer itself is actually bottled and supplied by Private Label Specialties which means it’s most likely really made by GinsenUp. However, the Cappy’s folks claim it’s made specially for them with a unique recipe, which is in line with what GinsengUp does, so it appears to be its own root beer. Unless they’re lying in which case they’ll burn in the special fires prepared for those who deceive root beer reviewers and scowl unnecessarily long at baby koalas. It’s another sailing themed root beer, of which the world cannot have too many.
The Body is that of a generic creamy root beer. Nothing really stands out at all but it’s good. The Bite is on the mild side with only a hint of spice. The Head is adequate, both in height in froth, but nothing special. The Aftertaste is a light vanilla and caramel flavor with the slightest bit of wintergreen.
What a pleasantly adequate brew. This is the sort of root beer that when you’re done drinking it you’ll remark, “I just drank a root beer”. Completely forgettable yet sufficiently enjoyable, this will compliment any meal that needs a root beer to compliment it without detracting in any way whatsoever. Drinking it will be an acceptable way to pass the time it takes to drink it. See how it rates against other root beers.
For a brewery that only started in 1995, I’m really surprised they were able to get the name they did. I mean, the Atlantic Ocean is pretty big and borders a lot of states and towns which have existed for hundreds of years. And you mean to tell me, that in all that time, in all of those places, no one thought of naming their brewery after the gigantic ocean next to them? You’d think that name would have been snapped up in colonial times. But it wasn’t. And even for The Atlantic Brewing Company, it wasn’t their first choice. Go figure. The Old Soaker part is a treacherous granite ledge that is only visible at low tide which has lead to the sinking of many a ships probably, hopefully. If it didn’t I’d wonder why they called it the Soaker. I really like the label. It seems there are more and more ships on the labels lately.
Arr matey, another sailing themed root beer. But this is beyond the standard pirate root beers, of which there are many, this is a “tribute to all the Sea Dogs and Scallywags looking for adventure on the seas.” I doubt there are many cooler flavor texts on root beer bottles. The label is one of the best mixes of classy and awesome imaginable. It’s not too busy. A large anchor with a schooner watermark in the background with everything centered around the anchor. It’s also nice to find a ginger root beer as I like to see some innovation in the root beer world. All in all this has the makings of greatness, and it doesn’t disappoint.