GourmetRootBeer

Sprecher Root Beer BBQ Sauce

Oct 212020

Sprecher Root Beer BBQ Sauce The last good of my Sprecher Root Beer Products order. The Barbecue Sauce. I love me some barbecue sauce. I always put it on burgers, fries, chicken strips, ribs, etc. I always am pouring copious amounts of it on my barbecue. In my opinion, fries are merely a vehicle to eat barbecue sauce. So this was the one I was the most excited for. We waited for a special occasion and then made a nice rack of ribs topped with the sauce for a first taste.

It’s a rather runny sauce, which is unexpected. The flavor is a little ketchupy and tangy, with a bit of tart spice. The root beer doesn’t really come out like it does in their mustard. When cooked on ribs, it thickens nicely and gives a great flavor, though not the root beer flavor that I’d hoped.

That was kind of disappointing. I later tried it on a hamburger and a chicken burger and some fries and I’ll just give it an okay. It’s not really my style, and the root beer doesn’t really shine though. It isn’t bad by any means, just not what you’ll probably be looking for when you get a root beer barbecue sauce. I’m looking for something thick that I can dip all my things, whereas this seems more like a marinade sauce than a finishing/dipping sauce.

My rack of Sprecher Root Beer Barbecue ribs.

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Oct 072020

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer Bottle Another blonde root beer! I mean, they don’t call it a blonde root beer, they call it golden, but it’s clearly a blonde root beer, even though you’re just looking at an empty bottle it was a nice blonde color. I should probably take pictures of a full bottle but I didn’t from the beginning so I couldn’t for all of them which means inconsistencies which I hate and… I think this is only number three for me so far, so I’m excited. Also, a maple root beer, which I love. As a maple syrup maker, I love all things maple. Lakefront Brewery is in Milwaukee and was started in 1987. They have made their root beer for some time, but it used to always be in plastic bottles, which of course made me frustrated. But now they have seen the light, and put it in glass, where all gourmet root beers deserve to live (and kegs, but anyways). So now that I can finally, after all these years, try this, was it worth the wait?

The Body is sweet with a subtle maple flavor complimenting a solid core. There’s a hint of vanilla in there as well. The Bite isn’t very spicy but is a little harsh feeling. It doesn’t finish smooth and I like a smooth finish. The Head is nice and tall with medium staying power. The Aftertaste is a mild maple vanilla flavor that while pleasant, isn’t amazing.

This is good, just not great. It needs a little more, the maple is nice, but some more complexity of flavors would push it to the next level, the Seal of Approval level. But it’s still a fine root beer that if you’re a maple lover or a blonde root beer lover, or just a regular root beer lover, you’ll want to give it a try. See how it rates against other root beers.

BJ’s Handcrafted Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Sep 022020

BJ's Handcrafted Root Beer Bottle I remember back in 2014 I serendipitously discovered BJ’s and their root beer. Jump forward to 2017 and they started bottling it, but I had just moved away from any state that had a BJ’s and I was left to wonder if I should ever get a chance to try it again. Especially since I’d learned that they’d reformulated their recipe to have all natural flavors, including alginate, my very favorite ingredient! They have a very cool bottle too, with important dates in their root beer history on the back, which makes it easy for me to throw out facts without even needing to type key words into Google. So convenient. Anyhow, I was all locked down by Covid and the helpful Root Beer Tracker was able to make it to the post office and get some out to me. So finally, I could give it a review.

The Body is sweet with a little vanilla and a generic creamy root beer flavor. The Bite is rather lacking without any real spices to speak of. The Head is quite tall and foamy but does fizz down a little too quickly. The Aftertaste is a mild vanilla, cane sugar, and sassafras mix.

This is a nice middle of the road brew that everyone will enjoy but no one will rave about. It seems a little weaker than I remember from on tap, but has a better Head. I think all in all, it rates about the same. Good job at least BJ’s there are plenty worse brews out there. See how it rates against other root beers.

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