Bottled Root Beers – Page 31 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Junior Johnson Original Root Beer

Dec 132017

Bottle of Junior Johnson Root Beer Question, what do you do after a successful career as a NASCAR superstar? If you thought the answer would be, get my own root beer brand, you’d be wrong. Because what you do is you become a successful NASCAR team owner. But what about after that is over? Root beer? Nay! You get your own line of fried pork skins and country ham. But when you get bored with that, then root beer? No, moonshine! Legal moonshine (is that even a thing?). And then, only after that many lifetimes’ worth of accomplishments, can you settle down and make a root beer. Or at least that’s what Junior Johnson did. If you didn’t know who he was before, you pretty much know it all now. He joins the likes of Gene Autry and Judge Wapner in the celebrity root beer market but unlike them, doesn’t have Rocket Fizz make his brew.

The Body is rich and sweet and creamy with a lot of vanilla. It reminds me of a root beer float flavor actually. There’s also a strong bitter herbal presence that surfaces. There really isn’t much Bite to speak about, smooth and rich creaminess instead. The Head is excellent! It can’t be better. In fact, pour with care, because it’ll build too tall and never go away. And the Head tastes strong to the bitter herbs. The Aftertaste is that earthy herbal flavor with some vanilla.

This reminds me of someone taking a strong herbal root beer and adding a scoop of ice cream to it, letting it melt and then bottling it. It’s pretty good, but just a little too off. Especially the Head. Since the first and last drinks of the root beer are mostly the Head, the bitter herbalness is very intense, which I don’t like at all. It was those two extremes at the start and finish that just knock this out of the coveted four kegs. See how it rates against other root beers.

Crooked Oak Root Beer

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Dec 062017

Crooked Oak Root Beer Bottle This root beer is made by the same people who make Penny Frosted root beer. I learned this fact when I was trying unsuccessfully to get the Penny Frosted Root Beer direct from the company. According to some guy named Ryan who works there, Crooked Oak is “a similar root beer flavór with a lot more love and time going into the process and ingredients.” So it’s their premium brand offering, the Lexus to Penny Frosted’s Toyota. That’s a new one in the craft soda world. The label itself tries really hard to drive this point home, saying things like “of the finest quality” and “Handcrafted” and “Limited production” and whatnot. There’s even signatures by people who approved this particular batch of root beer. And there’s also a large number 10 in red, but there is no explanation as to what it means. Maybe 10 ingredients? 10 painstaking days making this? 10 steps for the approval process? We may never know. Whatever it is, all of this really clutters up the label and makes me think of official forms and stuff. I guess the most important question is, how does it compare to Penny Frosted.

This has a sweet crisp body with a standard creamy root beer flavor and a hint of what seems sarsaparilla in there. The Bite is sour and sharp and spicy. But the sourness stays in the Bite and goes away later so it doesn’t really ruin anything. The Head is tall but fizzes down quickly. The Aftertaste is very light vanilla and some sarsaparilla. I think.

This is a pretty good root beer, AND it’s better then Penny Frosted in basically everything. Good job guys. I don’t like it enough to give it a Seal of Approval, but I’ll acknowledge their effort to make a better root beer than their entry brand. You know, after you’re more established in life, get some raises and a nice bonus, you can move up from the Penny Frosted and impress your friends and neighbors with Crooked Oak in your fridge. See how it rates against other root beers.

Best Health’s Root Beer

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Nov 292017

Best Health's Root Beer Bottle Another one that I’d been after for a long time. I was afraid I’d never get it, but then anthony saved the day, as he often does. The Brooklyn Bottling Company, who makes this, has been around since 1937 but I’m not sure if this root beer has been around that long. They do go for that old fashioned soda fountain look with their labeling. The label itself is painted on the bottle, which you don’t see often and makes me happy because it will last longer in my collection and it doesn’t get ruined with water like those paper labels. It’s naturally flavored, which you would expect from something with the name Best Health’s, but the name doesn’t stop them from using sodium benzoate, so maybe there’s a Bester, er Bestester? Health’s out there…

The Body is rich and full. There’re caramel and vanilla flavors as well as sort of a creamy cotton candy taste. It’s strange but not bad. The Bite is mild and not noteworthy. The Head is medium but fizzes down quickly. The Aftertaste is some wintergreen and more of that creamy candy with a hint of vanilla.

This is pretty good. I like it but the Head could be better and then it doesn’t quite taste right. Not anything bad or wrong, but the flavor combinations just don’t meld the way I feel a proper brew should. I can’t really explain it but you’ll know what I mean when you drink it. See how it rates against other root beers.

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