GourmetRootBeer

Eleven City Diner Classic Root Beer

Apr 232014

ElevenCityClassic I was in Chicago for the IEEE T&D Conference and Expo and needed to find some new root beer. Since Chicago probably has more brands of gourmet root beer coming out of it than any other city I can think of, I was sure there had to be at least something. I was looking for 1919 but I couldn’t seem to find anyplace close by. I asked the hotel concierge and he began to search after learning that Goose Island was something I could get bottled. He searched and called places and finally found Eleven City Diner, which is one of their recommended spots anyways and found that they had not one, but two house root beers, a classic and a blonde. I immediately set on foot to get my root beer. And it started to snow, and I was only wearing a very flimsy jacket because it had been sunny and warm in Seattle the day I left. Soon it was snowing and blowing and I still had 15 minutes to walk. But root beer is worth the pain. Eleven City Diner itself is an old Jewish Deli that specializes in cured meats – corned beef and pastrami. They barrel age their root beer extracts and use real cane sugar and Madagascar vanilla. They have an awesome root beer soda mixer/dispenser that’s ice cube chilled and dispenses both flavors. I decided to start with the classic.

This has a medium strength, standard creamy root beer Body. It’s got a very nice flavor but it needs a little more of it. The Bite is a little spicy and bubbly. The Head is medium-tall and foamy. The Aftertaste is a nice vanilla and caramelized cane sugar flavor that lasts not quite enough.

This is a solid brew that just needs to be a little stronger. Not sweeter, just stronger. It’s still plenty good to go with the meal, especially since it’s a bottomless mug. I give it a solid 3.5 kegs. For dinner I had their open faced Rubin’s Reuben that has both corned been and pastrami. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to come back and try the blonde root beer. Stay tuned for that review next week.

Three and a half kegs

Rubin’s Reuben and a mug of root beer. A truly epic meal

My server pouring my mug of root beer from their root beer tap. The classic this time.

The Eleven City Diner

Triple XXX Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Apr 162014

Triple XXX Root Beer Bottle After reading my XXX Root Beer review and my Triple AAA Root Beer review I knew you were wondering what things I had to say about Triple XXX, the root beer that started all of this mess. It was awhile ago that I came across a six pack of this. The first thing that got me hung up about this brew was the name. Did they mean Triple X, but wanted to make sure you really got it so they called it Triple XXX? It seemed redundant but yes, it really was called Triple XXX and not Triple X. So does Triple XXX = 9X, X^9, or 3X^3? Does it mean this root beer has some connection to the adult entertainment industry (as an aside I’ve really thought about registering www.gourmetrootbeer.xxx and having it redirect to this post)? According to their website, XXX used to mean good, so the owners thought that Triple XXX is three times as good, or something. Who knows. The label makes me happy, simple, metallic, and retro. Though they changed it since I drank this.

I drank more bottles of this root beer than normal and every time I got something different. The Body was sometimes sweet and full, sometimes watery and lacking. The Bite was sometimes harsh, sometimes smooth. The Head was never very frothy but ranged between nonexistent and not bad. It always fizzed away quickly though. The Aftertaste was sometimes (see a pattern here?) very nice and of vanilla, and sometimes very weak.

Ok, what’s up with that? Whatever happened to quality control and process consistency? I have strict standards and try to recreate the exact same drinking situation with each review but this one was all over the place throughout the whole six pack. The inconsistency of it all was appalling. “Tastes like root beer used to taste”? Really, it seems like they can’t remember and tried several things. Though sometimes the root beer was really good, I just can’t in good faith call the brew drinkable when I’m not sure what it’ll be. So sorry Triple XXX, you get a two and a half. See how it rates against other root beers.

Dublin Texas Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Apr 092014

Dublin Texas Root Beer Bottle I first heard about the Dublin Bottling Works when news of the lawsuit and the end of Dublin Dr Pepper broke. While I was sympathetic towards the plight of those who loved the drink, would miss the drink, or whose livelihoods depended on the drink, I didn’t like the drink. Or rather, I don’t like Dr Pepper or any of the imitations and never had, so I really couldn’t lament much even though I’ve never tried that particular version of it. But Dublin Bottling Works, being from Texas, won’t let The Man keep them down, and have replaced their Dublin Dr Pepper with Dublin Texas Root Beer. Now this is a very positive thing in my opinion. Replacing I flavor I don’t like with one I do. It’s not like they’re strangers to root beer either, they used to bottle Triple XXX. I’m not sure if they still do, but now they have their own original root beer. Since it was a new product launch, they were kind enough to send me a six pack for review.

The Body is sweet and a little creamy and full of the standard root beer flavors, so much so that it borders being generic tasting. It’s a little on the dark side as well. The Bite is prickly from carbonation but lacking in spice. The Head is tall but fizzes down at an average speed, faster than I feel it should. The Aftertaste is a sort of sticky caramel almost vanilla flavor.

Pretty good, but it doesn’t really have anything extra to really make me swoon. It is a solid brew for a barbeque or a float, but not quite sipping variety. But a good all around root beer like this is sure to be successful enough, even if it’s not my favorite. See how it rates against other root beers.

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