Ben’s Old Fashioned Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Oct 242012
 

Another root beer sent my way by that Sage of Sassafras, anthony. This one hails from New York and can only be found at Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant. There are five of said restaurants in New York and one in Boca Rotan, FL. No doubt to serve to all of the rich snowbirds that winter down there. Why give up your delicious kosher deli just because your over a thousand miles away from New York after all. The label is rather plain with the flavor text “More Than Just Your Neighborhood Kosher Deli”. I’m not sure why every word needed the first letter capitalized but I wholeheartedly agree with the statement, if for no other reason than my neighborhood kosher deli doesn’t have their own brand of bottled root beer, or even exists for that matter (Wait there is a kosher deli in my neighborhood, Blazin’ Bagels, still no root beer though).

It has a sweet generic tasting Body that isn’t quite full. There is a slight vanilla hint to it that is sort of a candy vanilla flavor, like a vanilla tootsie roll. Maybe they use artificial vanilla. It is really smooth without much Bite at all. There’s a bit of a fizz to it but that’s all. The Head is a modest height and fizzes down quickly. The Aftertaste is more of that candy vanilla flavor.

Overall it’s kind of refreshing and pretty generic. Nothing bad, but overall, just ok. I’m not sure what’s old fashioned about this though. I can imagine the lighter flavor would go better with certain sandwiches at the deli or something, but probably not a whole lot of effort went into it’s creation. Just some off-the-shelf extract, chuck in some vanillin and call it a day. So while they do offer their own root beer to distinguish themselves from other neighborhood kosher delis, it’s not a root beer worth its own dedicated trip. See how it rates against other root beers.




Miss Lady Small Batch Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  1 Response »
Oct 172012
 

Just look at that root beer. What class! A tall 22 oz wine bottle sealed with red wax. It is small batch brewed and you can only buy it in the Hamptons. Of course such a fancy and high class bottle, with a name like Miss Lady, features an elegant woman clad in a flowing white lace dress holding a parasol, right? Wrong! You’d think that’s what it’d have, but as you can see it’s an old wrinkly dog there instead. Really? A dog? I mean, you went to all of that work and then put a dog on your label, like so many others have? And not even a snooty rich people dog like a poodle but a wrinkly pug? I must say that I’m disappointed. Other than the label picture though, this is pretty cool. They even hand write what bottle number you purchase (I got 315 and 316 in case you were wondering) so this is a really exclusive brew. It’s all natural as well. All of that coolness doesn’t come cheap though, it’ll cost you $6 a bottle and that’s before shipping. Or you can go to some farmers markets in the Hamptons (you do have a summer home there, right?) and skip the shipping. I must say that I was excited to try this, as well as a little concerned, since I like to always recap the empty bottle and make it look as close to as it was before I opened it. The whole wax seal presented a new and unique challenge. As you can see though, I didn’t do half bad.

This has a very light Body with mild honey and sarsaparilla flavors. There’s the slightest hint of licorice as well but really the whole thing is very subtle. It isn’t overly sweet either. It reminds me of an herb tea sweetened with a little honey. There is a small Bite that’s a little prickly, but it isn’t very strong. the Head is nothing special. There’s nothing on the way of spice burn either. The Aftertaste is honey and anise that doesn’t linger very long.

So another herb tea root beer eh? It’s not the first one I’ve had from New York, nor the best I might add. What is it with them over there? Maybe such light, refreshing, herbal brews are more common in that region than I know. It isn’t bad, and I do enjoy drinking it if it were called something else. It has a lot of the right flavors but not a lot of them, sadly. A cold carbonated herb tea is not what I would reach for when I want a root beer. See how it rates against other root beers.




Olde Heritage Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Oct 102012
 

This is the second Amish home brew type root beer I’ve ever heard of, and the first that allowed me to buy online. My wife asked if Amish are allowed to use the internet, and I think the answer is no, so I’m not sure how it wound up for sale online. Reading the about section on the website though seems to indicate that the owners aren’t Amish, but merely live among the Amish (and have internet somehow) so mystery solved. Though I hadn’t heard anything good about it, I knew I needed to see for myself. I just needed to order it from Dutch Country Pantry and give it a try, or so I thought. Ten days after I ordered, it arrived but the bottles had spilled everywhere. I sent them an email and pictures and they apologized profusely and vowed to send another shipment. They asked what was the cause and I said that I thought it was because the bottles were bundled in the same plastic bag and laid on their side. Well, at least I’d get my root beer with the next shipment I thought. Alas no. This time, the individually bagged and upright root beers were still half spilled everywhere. They did include a small sample of wonderful Amish maple nut fudge in there though which is amazing beyond belief. Since this is a yeast carbonated brew, I figured the problem was that it was taking too long in transit, over carbonating and pressurizing, and then breaking the seal and spilling. I emailed them and told them thus. I told them that I didn’t need another shipment since they’d spent too much money on me already and they did give me the fudge, but that they should make sure to always send the root beer two day FedEx to make sure no one else suffers the same fate as I. They replied that customer satisfaction is their top priority and sent another shipment, overnight delivery no less! And this time, it was intact! Yay! At last the root beer was mine for the drinking.

The Body has a light generic root beer flavor and a good amount of yeast. It is only mildly sweet and kind of sour as well. The yeast is pretty dominant but not overpowering. There really isn’t any Bite at all, no spice and hardly any carbonation fizz (despite the yeast). There is no Head at all. That’s really surprising. The Aftertaste is a light sour yeasty flavor.

Hmm, this root beer has a lot wrong with it and not a lot right. Of the two bottles the first was much yeastier than the second, but the second was still rather weak and yeasty. I’ve heard that this has an amazing Head so it is probably a function of the carbonation (shipping) time. The longer it is out of the refrigerator, the more carbonation and the more yeast, and the less time in the fridge, the less carbonation but less yeasty flavor. It sadly doesn’t seem to present a winning situation either way you look at it. I had kept the second failed shipment in the fridge and tried those. Eww, so much yeast it a few sips was all I could handle. Though the Head was much nicer. Therefore, my theory was confirmed. So how to rate it. It doesn’t make me gag, but I do shudder if I take a big gulp and swallowing is always a conscious decision. So, assuming a two day transit time and carbonation/Head like I had, I give it 1 Keg. I could see it possibly as high as a 1 1/2 for optimal carbonation and yeast and as low as a 0 for four or more days in transit, but I’ll stick to my rating for the two bottles I officially had, assuming that they’ll always send it two day shipping from now on. See how it rates against other root beers.




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