Sep 202017
 

JD's Old Fashioned Root Beer Bottle This brew hails from Dallas Wisconsin. A woman by the name of Jen makes it just as a hobby to do in her spare time, much like me who drinks root beer and writes about it in his spare time. I’m sure the ‘J’ in JD is for Jen but I’m not sure where the ‘D’ comes from. It doesn’t appear, from my Paypal receipt, to be her last name and her Facebook page is a little light on the details. If you’re not from the Dallas, WI area, getting this is rather problematic. As it is just a hobby of hers, it’s sold mainly at farmers markets and some craft breweries. None of which are overly accommodating for mail orders. However, if you are a patient fellow, you just might be able to get some mailed out from J herself. It has a simple little label that reminds me of Spring Lake Root Beer, and is most likely just printed out on her computer at home.

The Body is dark and spicy with some caramel and vanilla undertones. Licorice and features prominently. The Bite is spicy but not carbonated enough for my liking. The Head is very short yet foamy. It’s just there isn’t enough carbonation to build a proper Head. It is gone too quickly. The Aftertaste is licorice and some wintergreen that turns a little bitter.

This is alright, but not quite good enough for me to want again. I’m just not a fan of that dark licorice flavor, though the light vanilla and caramel help quite a bit, the final deciding factor was the dismal Head. I suspect I may have gotten a bad batch, but I’ve got to review it as I see it, not as how I think it was mean to be. See how it rates against other root beers.

2.5/5 Root Beer Kegs




Jun 102015
 

Wooley Bugger Root Beer Bottle This root beer comes from the Yellowstone Valley Brewing Company in Montana. For those of you who don’t know, a Woolly Bugger is a fly used in fly fishing. It’s a wet fly, which means it goes under the water as opposed to a dry fly which floats on top. I did try my hand at fly fishing for a few years so I’ve used one of these. Now the name is slightly different but based on the picture you can tell that’s what they’re going for. This makes it the second fishing themed root beer I’ve seen. There’s also some cow girl riding the fly with the caption “Wild Fly Rider” I think this is the first root beer to feature a busty cow girl on it that I’ve had. There are several other curiosities about their label. It says Grand Cru, which is a wine classification for superior quality. Then on the side of the label it reads “Guaranteed to Wooley Your Bugger and Then Some. The Black Elixir of the Yellowstone. Hardy Drink For Hardy Souls! THE Rocky Mountain Root Beer.” It’s like they couldn’t decide one what they wanted their tagline to be so they went with all of the suggestions. I have no idea what the first one is even supposed to mean. The last one will probably raise objections from the Rocky Mountain Root Beer people. The third line is, well, okay, whatever, and the second one makes me think it’s going to have a lot of licorice in it.

The Body is minty and I want to say birchy. There’s a little anise as well. There’s a strong wintergreen Bite but that’s it. The Head is short yet foamy. The Aftertaste is wintergreen and birch that’s a tad bitter.

This tastes more like a birch beer to me, though I can’t claim to be an expert on them, I’ve had several and they remind me of this. It also tastes similar to Spring Lake Root Beer with their birch beer extracts. But unlike some of the birch root beers, this one really lacks the vanilla, the sassafras, and the spice flavors. It still passes as a decent root beer though. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Jul 072012
 

One of the world’s most delicious and unique root beers, Glewwe’s Castle Brewery Spring Lake Root Beer has just gotten even cooler. As the photos show, they have just added Eric’s Seal of Approval, which they so justly earned, to their labels in the top right corner above the castle. They are the first root beer to date to do so, though I’m sure they won’t be the last.

True, the Seal is a little small on their label but it is still quite legible in real life. They had to request a special black and white version since they currently don’t print in color. I must say that this is the fulfillment of a dream I have had ever since I came up with the concept of the Seal of Approval, and thus my joy is overflowing. One more lifetime goal accomplished! So now if you’re ever in a store and want a good root beer but can’t remember if Spring Lake is worthy of imbibing, rest assured, my Seal of Approval will be there, reminding you that it is.





Spring Lake Root Beer in all of it’s many forms.

A closeup of the standard bottle.