GourmetRootBeer

Northwoods Wild Bill’s Root Beer

Jun 062012

Not to be confused with Wild Bill’s Rocky Mountain Root Beer. The same way Vinepark River City Root Beer is not to be confused with River City Root Beer, or Route 66 with Root 66 with Old Town Root Beer 66. Ok, people, what’s up with this. I mean, can’t you think of unique identifiers for your brews? Have you ever thought of doing a Google search on your root beer name before you start your company? I mean, whenever I write a technical paper, the first thing I do is search the title in quotes to make sure no one else has the same title. I did the same thing with my name, E. Sortomme, there aren’t any other technical authors that use E. Sortomme so if you read something from him, it’s from me. See, nice and simple like. Not saying that Northwoods Soda and Syrup Company is the primary offender (they could have had the name first for all I know), but finding them was just the straw that broke the camel’s back if you will. They do have a much classier label than the bullet riddled other Wild Bill’s, so I suppose this is after Wild Bill went into retirement and became all high society or something. A last note on these guys, they proudly declare in the ingredients that this soda is sweetened with “Michigan Beet Sugar.” And why not? What’s wrong with beet sugar anyways? I think pure cane sugar is really overrated. Plus I once spent a summer weeding a sugar beet field for $5 an acre. So beet sugar will always hold a special place in my heart. Especially after the sugar beet factory co-op failed miserably and went bankrupt, wiping out the financial resources of many farmers in the region … Anyways, the root beer.

A sweet carmely flavor with some creamy vanilla and hints of licorice make up the full Body of this brew. The Bite is good as well from some spices and carbonation. The Head is ok. It foams up to a decent height but then quickly fizzes down. The Aftertaste is caramel with some licorice accents and vanilla.

So, not bad at all. It’s definitely a solid brew, yet it doesn’t really do anything for me. I don’t know why, but when I drink it I just don’t feel moved the way I should by root beer. Oh well. See how it rates against other root beers.

Happy Root Beer – A Tale of Friendship, Adversity, and Root Beer

Root Beer Books 3 Responses »

Jun 022012

When I first learned about this I knew immediately that I had to have it. With a 2 1/2 year old and a 7 month old, I spend a fair amount of time reading children’s books and was thus eager to work some root beer curriculum into their early development. Especially since my toddler son already knows and loves gourmet root beer as I’ll occasionally share a bottle of Seal of Approval brew with him, pouring an ounce or two into a child size A&W mug. Whenever he sees me drinking it he asks “roo bree?” It’s way cute. I also knew that he would therefore love the book since he could relate to the characters.

SPOILER ALERT! This book is the story of a bottle of Happy Root Beer, who becomes very sad when he is the last bottle on the shelf. He is rescued from his solitary gloom by a young boy with a newly acquired allowance. The new friends then live happily ever after. This is a wonderful tale that is surely destined to become a classic along the lines of Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar in my opinion. Why do you ask, because in addition to a loveable character (a bottle of root beer) and cute artwork, it teaches valuable life lessons that aren’t found in most other children’s books. First and foremost is that root beer should come in glass bottles. The importance of this cannot be overstated and this book makes it very clear, that Happy Root Beer is in bottles with crowns, hence glass bottles. Children reading this will be much more inclined to ask for “root beer like in the book” which can help fight Childhood Canned Root Beer Syndrome.

Another important lesson is the value of friendship, that a lifelong friend is worth your allowance, and that no one should be lonely. It also gives hope to all lonely children that they need not despair, for like the root beer, better days are ahead. And finally, that true happiness can be found in a bottle of root beer, the earlier learned the better. Therefore I am proud to give Happy Root Beer my Seal of Approval. If you have young children, you should get this book.

My son loves reading about Happy Root Beer

Even the baby likes a good root beer book

Vine Park Brewing Company River City Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 2 Responses »

May 302012

Quite a long name. And not to be confused with River City Root Beer. You’re probably wondering why it’s River City Root Beer when there’s nothing about River City on the label. I too am wondering such a thing. On their website it calls their root beer River City Root Beer but the label says otherwise so I put both. But these guys seem to want to make my life difficult anyhow. Their brew doesn’t even normally come with a label. I had to ask for one when I dropped by. They have a really small operation in St. Paul where they not only brew beer and root beer, but they let others come in and brew their own concoctions as well. I had been trying to get this one for awhile. I had a friend who lived near there and I asked her to bring me some if she came for a job interview over here. She was invited but ultimately got another job before she came. Then I finally got to go over there to give a seminar at U of M. Acquiring this was my third and final root beer objective for the trip, with the first being find a new draft only brewery root beer (Town Hall) and the second getting 50 bottles of Spring Lake Root Beer to take home with me. Sadly, despite all of my crumpled paper and bubble wrap. Several bottles of root beer were smashed in each of my three pieces of checked bags, including one of my two bottles. I hate to do a review with only one bottle, but I had no choice.

This has a nice full Body that is sweet and creamy and even a little spicy from clove I think. There is some delicious honey and wintergreen in there as well. The spices give a solid Bite that still goes down smooth. The Head builds to a decent height and is moderately frothy. It lingers long enough but there are much better. The Aftertaste is sweet vanilla with hints of wintergreen, honey and spices. It lingers just the right amount of time.

Wow, what a brew! I knew after about the third drink that it was getting the Seal. But where to rank it. I was torn between high 4, and low 4.5. Why did I have to lose the other bottle?!? I ultimately decided to give it the lower of my inclinations, to play it safe. Though, still being in the top 20 is hardly a punishment. Between Town Hall Brewery, Glewwe’s Castle Brewery, and Vine Park Brewery, they’ve got quite the trifecta of micro-brewed root beers. I just hope those people living in the Twin Cities appreciate how fortunate they are. See how it rates against other root beers.

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