Brooklyn Soda Works Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Sep 192012
 

When I first learned about this one I was in the process of seeking out new brews to try so I immediately sent them an email to see if they would mail order it. They said they couldn’t since they didn’t bottle much and it had to be refrigerated at all times. This was rather saddening but I figured if I ever go to Brooklyn, I’d look them up. A few days later I received a root beer shipment (part of a trade) from the one and only anthony which had an ice pack and two bottles of this root beer. What joy! anthony, you read my mind. I think that this has elevated him to the status of Root Beer Wizard. The bottle itself sets a new record I think for low budget labeling. The label itself looks like those blank name-tag stickers with “brooklynsodaworks” printed all over it in courier font with “Root Beer” scrawled on there in Sharpie. Though, at New York wages, plus benefits, it may actually be the most expensive label there is. When I poured it out however, it was orange-ish color. I said out loud, “I’m … hesitant”

The Body is different, that’s for sure. It tastes fruity and herbal with ginger and some vanilla coming through. There really isn’t a sassafras flavor to it at all, but rather, lemon and herbs and spices. It reminds me of those lemon ginger herbal teas that I love so much. The Bite has a decent ginger kick with a light carbonation tingle. The Head is on the short side, but very frothy and lingers a long time. The Aftertaste is light lemon and ginger with the slightest hints of vanilla that fades quickly.

So, this is basically a cold, carbonated herb tea. It is very light and refreshing. I do like it, but if I were blindfolded and tasted it, or actually if I were just given a glass and asked what it was, root beer would probably be at the bottom of the list. It’s probably the best doesn’t-taste-like-root-beer root beer I’ve had yet, but to be rated as a drinkable root beer, it actually needs to taste like a root beer. See how it rates against other root beers.




Barrel Brothers Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Sep 122012
 

Way back in the fall of 2003, I had just arrived at BYU to restart my undergrad career. I’d been off of my mission for a mere six months but I’d jumped back into root beer reviewing with a tenacity after two years of being completely dry (there was no gourmet root beer in Madagascar nor South Africa that I could find). On one of my first days in Provo, I went with my sister to the BYU creamery to get some of their amazing “squeaky cheese”, which is just a high quality cheddar cheese curd but it squeaks when you eat it so everyone calls it squeaky cheese. While I was there I of course checked for root beer and found a six-pack of Barrel Brothers. Excellent, more root beer for me. The label is interesting to be sure, two guys without necks wearing barrels with mugs of root beer. It’s like they’re depression era homeless people who found some root beer or something. And they also don’t have necks. That really bothers me. The other interesting tidbit on the label is that it is “brewed with both vitamin C & calcium” I’m not sure if they were setting out to make a root beer that sub for your morning glass of OJ or if their formula just happened to call for those ingredients and the marketing department (the thinner of the neck-less brothers perhaps?) decided they could pitch that as a benefit or something.

The Body was good at first but then a strange herbal flavor surfaced that was not the tastiest one to have in my mouth. It was creamy though. The tingly herbal Bite attacks you with the first drink. The Head is excellent and frothy, just as the bottle boasts and the Aftertaste is that herbal flavor and some vanilla.

So yeah, it starts out good enough and has a great Head to boot, but that strange herbal flavor really ruins it. Maybe they put too much yucca in it or maybe it’s the attempt at making a healthy orange juice substitute root beer but whatever it is they failed. Probably the reason that they have to wear barrels as the brew won’t sell enough for them to afford clothes. See how it rates against other root beers.




Hippo Size Beverages Jumbo Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Sep 052012
 

Was at the Root Beer Store the other day and noticed that they finally started carrying this. I’d known about it for some time from the Orca Beverages website but they utterly refused to make arrangements with me to get some, claiming that I could get anything they sold from the Root Beer Store, when the Root Beer Store clearly didn’t have it. But at last, they did and now I have it. With a name like Hippo Size and Jumbo, you’d think that this would come in some half gallon spring top growler or something. At least a 22 oz like Sparky’s does or at the very least some fat 16 oz bottles like Sprecher. However, it comes in just a regular 12 oz bottle like almost every other root beer. The did put it in the short fat bottles though, so they put in some effort. Then they realized that everyone would be let down by the lack-of-oversized bottle so they flavor texted it with “Small Bottle, Big Taste” I guess it was easier than getting bigger bottles. Despite this, they still say in the fine print that this is “The original Texas size drink” which contradicts their flavor text about it being small. It also claims a recipe that dates to 1927 though I hear they’d been out of business for some time and just recently resurrected.

This has a dark Body with a prominent licorice flavor along with sassafras and some wintergreen. It reminds me of a generic root beer barrel candy flavor (not the A&W ones). There is a strong carbonation Bite like sharp needles on the tongue. You can feel and even hear a bubble release unless it is poured from higher than normal into the glass, strange. Yet, despite all of said carbonation it still sports a “two second Head” which is quite a letdown. The Aftertaste is wintergreen and licorice that is a bit sticky.

Honestly after every drink I just think, generic stout. There really isn’t anything to distinguish this from all of the other dark and licoricey root beers other than the strange bubble release and the lack of distinguishing features. Perhaps that’s the reason it originally went out of business (and not a vast corporate conspiracy to deprive us of root beer variety). I don’t know but I do know that I’d never touch this again. See how it rates against other root beers.




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