Dec 202017
 

Bottle of Twig's Root BeerThe color scheme of this root beer’s label makes for a difficult photo. Mostly black, then brown and glossy gold to reflect the flash. I’m sure some expert or even amateur photographers reading this right now know exactly what to do, but I don’t study photography, I study root beer. And I just use my wife’s digital camera with it’s “Intelligent Auto Adjust” setting. It usually works well enough. Twig’s is a brand with a long, and continuous history. It was started by a fellow named Hartwig, who decided his last name was just a bit too long for a soda label. His company had humble beginnings up in Shawano, Wisconsin in the 1950s. According to their website he’d sell a case of soda and use the money made to buy a loaf of bread for his family. Bread must have been a lot more expensive back then or a case of soda cost a lot less. Either way, he somehow was able to both grow the business and not starve, though he was forced to mix ingredients with an ax handle. He probably used that same ax to slice his bread. And so today you can still buy Twig’s. I don’t know if they use the ax handle in the plant, but they should, then they could write “Ax Crafted” on the label. That’d be so metal…

The Body is rather generic with a middle of the road flavor that’s a little creamy and has a hint of sarsaparilla like taste. The Bite is sharp but not from spice. The Head is ye olde “two-second-Head” unfortunately. The Aftertaste is pleasant enough, a little vanilla and some more of that sarsaparilla but it light overall.

This is an okay root beer, the biggest flaw is the Head. The flavor will probably not get many haters nor fanboys, but it’ll do in a pinch. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Feb 152017
 

Farmer's Brew Butterscotch Root Beer BottleThis root beer is a tribute. A tribute to the Farmer’s Brewery in Shawano, WI. It was made by a group of farmers in 1908. They build a sweet looking brick building, which is pictured on the label bordered by sweet metallic printing, and got to brewing beers. Prohibition put a stop to their party, as it did to many a brewery, but after it was repealed, they brewed again. I wonder why they didn’t just make root beer during that time. In the 1940’s, however, they contracted to produce beer for another brewery out of Chicago, fell out of favor, and litigation ruled the day. Now the brewery stands empty, and has since 1950. The root beer is made by Twig’s Beverage, also in Shawano. I got this in the same shipment of the Twig’s. It’s another butterscotch root beer, something so common these days I don’t even find it exciting anymore.

The Body is pretty weak on the standard root beer flavors but does feature decent butterscotch. It’s a little fruity too. Too much citric acid perhaps? The Bite is adequate in carbonation though lacking in spice and is a little harsh. The Head, well, is the Two Second Head. The Aftertaste is some fruity butterscotch.

This is without a doubt the worst butterscotch root beer I’ve had so far. Not only isn’t it a good root beer, it fails to impress as even a plain butterscotch soda. More proof that butterscotch root beer is completely mainstream, bad versions of it are cropping up. See how it rates against other root beers.

2.5/5 Root Beer Kegs