I don’t think that any root beer came more ballyhooed than Virgil’s. I was only in high school, yet everyone who had tried it went on about how good it was. Well, everyone who didn’t seem to know anything about fine root beer that is. It was also winner of the NASFT (National Association for the Specialty Food Trade) “Outstanding Beverage”, which they have been putting on their labels for as long as I’ve seen them. Virgil’s originally was brewed in North England, also a place that doesn’t rank high on the “knows about fine root beer” list of places (Philadelphia, Southern California, and the Twin Cities are places that rank at the top). So anyway. Many a folk who weren’t really into root beer were telling me about this brew that won an award from people who aren’t really into root beer which was made by people who don’t really know a lot about root beer. It of course had to be the greatest.
This has a very complex flavor with all sorts of things that in my opinion have no business being in root beer in the quantities they use. However it has an alright Body but the absence of sassafras is very noticeable. The Aftertaste is of anise (one ingredient that I feel has no business being a prominent flavor in root beer). The Head could be much better, and there is not much Bite.
Yeah, um, I don’t really like it at all. You’d think with all of their “superb blend of Spice & Herbs gathered the world over” that they’d drop by the ol’ US of A and pick up some sassafras. Maybe throw some honey in there as well, that’d make it much better. I suppose when rated against the other British root beers it is the best and it really isn’t terrible. The big shame is that they also sell nifty party kegs (which no one else does) but it doesn’t taste any better out of them. I wish it did because that concept is awesome. Oh well. See how it rates against other root beers.
The bottle on this one is pretty cool. It’s got a picture of the god Mercury drinking from a mug and has root beer bubbles everywhere. I don’t really like the fact that they call it root beer soda pop, as I like to think of root beer as a premium brewed carbonated beverage and not something as low class as a soda pop. Though, Sprecher’s calls theirs root beer soda and that is amazing, while Virgil’s calls theirs premium micro brew and it is pretty bad. So I guess what you call it isn’t nearly as important as its Body, Bite, Head, and Aftertaste. This is also sold as Freaky Dog Rooff Beer, the two are exactly the same.