GourmetRootBeer

Eric’s Famous Energy Root Beer

Oct 092013

Eric's Famous Energy Root Beer Bottle I’d like to start by saying that this is not my root beer. True, I am Eric. Yes, I’m pretty famous and if I made a root beer it would no doubt reach new levels of root beer fame. But, this isn’t my root beer. This is made by some other Eric whose original drink seemed to be Eric’s Famous Cola, some energy drink cola thing. Keeping along those same lines he expanded to Eric’s Energy Company and made a root beer with lots of caffeine, guarana, kola nut, and other “quality” ingredients seldom found in root beer. And it’s microbrewed evidently. The label has a nice metallic shine but other than that and sharing a name with a famous root beer connoisseur, it actually is pretty frightening to me. Mostly because energy drink root beers are seldom pleasant. This one lives up to the expectations brilliantly.

The Body is weak with an herbish flavor that is mildly sweetish. It doesn’t make me gag though like other root beers of this genre. The Bite is sharp like needles on your tongue, too much. The Head is decent, but it fizzes away in a few seconds. The Aftertaste is sweet with a hint of vanilla.

Now I really want to stress again, THIS IS NOT MY ROOT BEER! I really hope there isn’t any confusion on that point. Though it isn’t the worst strange energy drink root beer that I have had, there are actually several that are much worse, and a few that are better, it is still a pretty bad root beer. See how it rates against other root beers.

Ginseng Up Private Label Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Oct 022013

Parley Street Root Beer Bottle I first learned about this brew from The Root Beer Store in 2011 as Parley Street Root Beer. They don’t sell it, but they had one bottle on display. The owner told me that it’s only really sold at the Lion House in Salt Lake City. I hoped that I’d be able to get my hands on it someday. Fast forward to a Saturday in March 2013, I had just run out of new root beers to try. My wife tells me that I should go to the temple in Bellevue. I do and afterwards I remember that I need a new journal so I drop by Deseret Book before headed home. As I walk in I notice a cooler with some unfamiliar bottles. I go up and there it is, Parley Street Root Beer. I was so happy I started dancing around laughing, not only did I now have something to review, but those people at The Root Beer Store didn’t realize that this root beer was right under their noses. Truly, my wife was inspired. Later as Dr. Percival C. McGillicuddy was investigating the case of the mystery root beer, it was found that Parley Street and the Boise Brew were one in the same, both by Dowdle and Daughters. The world famous detective traced this brew all the way back to Ginseng Up, who makes their root beer and sells it to private labelers around the country, including those I bought it from.

The Body is full of sweet creamy goodness. It’s got all of the right flavors in the right proportions, especially the rich creamy vanilla. The Bite is on the smooth side but present. There’s some spice and carbonation tingle, just enough. The Head is nice and tall but only moderately frothy. Though, as it fizzes down, it forms some really large bubbles, about an inch in diameter, which hang around for awhile. The Aftertaste is sort of a syrupy vanilla flavor with the slightest accents of spice.

Yum, yum. I really like this. I wish they were more descriptive with the ingredients other than “Natural and Artificial Flavors” I’d almost swear there was some honey essence or flavoring or something. This actually reminds me a lot of a Henry’s but not quite as good. I’d say this is a ‘generic’ Seal of Approval brew. It hits all of the benchmarks with my favorite flavor type. Not bad for a private label brew. If I ever need my own custom labeled root beer, I can rest assured that if I get it from the Ginseng Up bottlers, it will be good. See how it rates against other root beers.

Kutztown Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Sep 252013

Kutztown Root Beer Bottle One of the first root beers that I had after I moved to Redmond and discovered The Root Beer Store, it was reviewed shortly before I had finished my big website overhaul so it didn’t get a post about it until now. This is made by the Kutztown Soda Works in … wait for it … Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It’s been around since the 1850’s, which is cool that they’ve been making sodas so long. They’re more famous for their birch beers, of which they have three different types, than their root beer. Since it’s from Pennsylvania and is old fashioned-ish, it has some German written on it in a font that is difficult to read. I think it says “Nix Besser” which means “None Better” so it makes sense. I actually like the label a lot, with that blue background, the circle, and the frosty mug. It also says “Original Premium Recipe” at the top.

The Body is very dark and rooty with a hint of vanilla and wintergreen. The cane sugar is noticeable, but it isn’t overly sweet. Though it is a strong flavor initially, it seems watered down afterwards. The Bite is ok, but not really good. The Head is moderate height but fizzes away quickly. Not too quickly, but doesn’t linger long like it should. The Aftertaste is sort of a sticky, licorice, herbal flavor that thankfully vanishes quickly.

I don’t really like the really dark licorice type brews, and that herbal note at the end isn’t good. It’s kind of sad that they didn’t make this more birchy. It was a tough call, it’s not really that bad, but I didn’t really like it that much, and if I didn’t like it much, it isn’t really that good, and since my standards are high, it needs to be good to be drinkable. See how it rates against other root beers.

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