Nov 042020
 

Virgil's Handcrafted Root Beer Bottle Virgil’s has been around for a long time. It was ballyhooed to me greatly in the 90’s by many only to leave me quite disappointed when I finally tried it. Last year, however, there was a shake up in the company for some reason. I don’t know all of the details, but for some reason the bottling was moved to a new location, the fan favorite, Bavarian Nutmeg (the only one I liked) was discontinued, and the recipe and name was changed on the flagship root beer. Now it sports an all natural recipe and the name Handcrafted Root Beer as opposed to the original Micro Brewed designation. I guess the new bottler brews bigger batches and they do so by hand? I don’t know, but it means that I can write a new review on the new recipe with the new name cause it’s a new root beer and that makes me happy. The label picture is also slightly different yet similar and somehow not as cool, like the Digitally Remastered Edition… Anyways, root beer.

The Body is kind of dark and rather complex. There’s sarsaparilla, licorice, a hint of fruity, and some other stuff going on but it doesn’t really work. The Bite is mild with no discernable spices yet harsh at the same time in mouthfeel. The Head is tall initially but fizzes down really quickly. The Aftertaste is sarsaparilla with licorice hints and fruity notes.

I like this less than their original and I wasn’t a fan of that. I don’t know how they made it worse, but they did. It just doesn’t mix well. Their last version at least had a balanced flavor, even though I didn’t like it. This is all over the place while also failing to be good. So yeah, I don’t know what they hoped to accomplish by getting rid of their best root beer flavor and making their flagship worse, but I don’t have a lot of hope for this company. See how it rates against other root beers.

2 out of 5 root beer kegs




Dec 042019
 

Rocket Fizz Root Beer with Nutmeg Bottle So Rocket Fizz is at it again. Not to be content with having essentially cornered the market on celebrity root beer (the uniqueness of each is growing increasingly dubious), they’ve taken to copying other “premium” root beers that are out there. Like how they copied the Indian Wells Special Reserve with their Gold Mine. So now they look to copy Virgil’s Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg, spring top bottle and all, with their own root beer … with nutmeg … And that’s what they called it. Root Beer with Nutmeg. Not sure why they couldn’t come up with anything else. I mean, why not reach out to some other region of some other country completely unaffiliated with root beer and add nutmeg. Like Rocket Fizz Limited Edition Dublin Nutmeg Root Beer. Cause the Irish in Dublin are just as knowledgeable about root beer as the Bavarians. Anyhow, while they could copy the waxed cap of the Indian Wells, they seem unable to bottle a spring top bottle on their line, leading to the bizarre spring top bottle that’s just capped with a regular cap. So that spring cap is there to just, reseal it after drinking half, a pint? It’s only a pint. We can drink a pint. Plus the gasket is probably all dirty from being out in the open air. I honestly don’t think Rocket Fizz thought this thing through well enough before they launched production. But the taste?

The Body has nutmeg! This is without question. It just blasts in your face. But nutmeg is good so this isn’t a bad thing. There’s also a sweet sarsaparilla flavor with some wintergreen and other spices. Maybe a tad of vanilla? There’s a lot happening here and the balance is a little off. The Bite is undoubtedly very spicy from the aforementioned nutmeg, and the other spices, and the carbonation level is good. The Head is magnificent. The Aftertaste is some wintergreen and nutmeg that turns bitter and herbal.

It’s not quite proportioned well for me. Like the name and the bottle, it seems they rushed the recipe. I guess they didn’t want to miss the bandwagon for the whole special nutmeg root beer that’s existed for the past 20 years … It isn’t bad though, so there’s that. I appreciate what you’re doing Rocket Fizz, giving me more stuff to review and all, but maybe slow down, make a plan, get a good brew, and then launch your product. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Sep 072016
 

Virgil's Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer Bottle This was actually one of the first gourmet root beers that I ever heard about. At the time, I was around 15 and loved my Henry Weinhard’s. My older brother was talking one day about some amazing root beer and I thought he was talking about Henry’s but he said it was Virgil’s. But not the regular Virgil’s, the special Virgil’s in the spring top bottles. Sadly, he died before he was able to share a bottle with me, and though that led to me becoming the root beer connoisseur that I am today, I didn’t find that special Virgil’s until over 10 years later. I’d long since had the original Virgil’s before this but was not impressed at all. This one, though, promises a different, more special/nutmeg recipe that is imported from Bavaria evidently. I’m not sure why they want to stress that it’s from Bavaria. Last time I checked, all of the root beers that came from Europe were pretty nasty and last time I was in Germany, they didn’t even know what root beer was. So unless they’re talking about Bavaria, PA or something like that, it isn’t really a selling point.

This has a very complex Body that is creamy, sort of fruity, and not overly sweet. It lacks the essential sassafras flavor and comes across a little weak because of it. It has a nice Bite on account of the cinnamon and nutmeg but manages to keep it on the smooth side. The Head is a major drawback. It is weak and fizzes away quickly. The Aftertaste is a creamy and slightly fruity flavor with hints of honey. It lingers awhile and is not unpleasant.

This one is much better than the standard Virgil’s but the lack of sassafras flavor is significant and fruitiness is slightly out of place. Replace that fruitiness with the sassafras and give it a nice Head and it would be amazing. It says that it is a winner of the NASFT “Outstanding Beverage” Award. Though this an O.K. brew, I wouldn’t go that far. The spring top bottle is one of the coolest bottles I’ve ever seen though, and you can reuse them to make your own homemade brews too so it’s definitely worth having now and again. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs