Feb 252015
 

Sioux City Root Beer BottleMy first ever gourmet root beer. I know what you’re thinking, what about Henry Weinhard’s? Well, this was the first that I ever tried. In fact, the very first gourmet soda I ever had was a Sioux City Birch Beer. Growing up we’d only drink our sodas from cans or plastic bottles. One day when I was between eight and ten years old, I think, my older brother told me about some amazing root beer like soda at the gas station several blocks from our house. The next day we walked there with some money and saw in the cooler fancy brown bottles of Sioux City Birch Beer, Sarsaparilla, and Root Beer. I was amazed. At the time I thought only beer came in brown glass bottles, never soda. Also the bottles were all fancy and embossed. I got a birch beer and was blown away by how good a soda could taste. Several days later I tried the sarsaparilla and then finally the root beer. Every week or so we’d trek down and buy one. After a year or so, the gas station stopped carrying it, and it would be another several years before gourmet root beer would come back into my life in the form of Henry Weinhard’s and then the rest. Once I started reviewing, I looked high and low for this but it was nowhere to be found in area around my hometown, only the sarsaparilla and birch beer. The year after my mission though, I found it at last in Sacramento.

The Body is average. Not too sweet and rather “soda-ish”. A good Bite, but on the harsh side and not too spicy. Only a fair Head. There is not much Aftertaste. All in all, good, but lacking in every department.

Well, I guess after all of those other gourmet root beers, this wasn’t so amazing in comparison. It still is a lot better than Cragmont or the following Safeway Select that I would pour out of a can. It also has one of the coolest bottles still with extra heavy glass and mister mustachioed cowboy with a six-shooter. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Feb 182015
 

Miners Brew Root Beer Bottle This was another brew that I thought I’d never taste, and never would but for the excellence of Jon. I’d read about it, but only after the brewery had closed up. It always breaks my heart to miss an opportunity to try a root beer. I think companies should mail me their last two bottles if they fold, so then they will at least be remembered. Anyways, Jon said he had some so we worked out a nice trade, being the gentleman trader he is. Now to complain about the name. You knew it was coming. Seriously, all that? I dream of a day when all root beers will be named a simple Root Beer. Like Jim Bob’s Rum Root Beer, or something like that. Then you get these people that just want to throw everything in there and it is really a pain. Why not just call it Miner’s Brew Root Beer and be done with it?

This has got a sweet and spicy Body that has a lovely caramel vanilla flavor to it. There’s also a slightest hint of some bitter fruity that I don’t really care for. The Bite is strong. It burns you when you first drink it and then again when you swallow. I like the spice in it, but there is a lot of carbonation burn. The Head is short and moderately frothy. The Aftertaste is vanilla that lasts a long, long time.

This is pretty good. I love that flavor, but it needs less Bite and more Head. Seriously, it burns hard and I really don’t appreciate that. A good brew should be equally enjoyable when sipped or quaffed. I know that there are those out there who like that kind of serious carbonation burn, and I’m sure they’d love this were it not discontinued. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Feb 112015
 

Haley and Annabelle's Vanilla Root Beer BottleSeal of ApprovalThere’s a lot for me to like about this root beer without even trying it. For one the inspiration for these girls to start their own root beer came out of a party at their French Immersion School. I love French. Then they use Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, and I lived in Madagascar. Then there’s the fact that it’s a vanilla root beer, one of my favorite kinds. They launched this brew as a way to pay for the girls’ college. While noticing the picture on the label of the girls in front of the Eiffel Tower, I’m going to have to say that if you’re short on college funds, trips to France generally don’t help. But some people want their college and their trips to Paris, and if a new brand of root beer is the ticket to both then who am I to complain. Now these aren’t the first siblings I’ve encountered using their own root beer to get to college, as D-n-A use the same gimmick. I wonder if they’ve ever met? What if they do meet in the same college and Alphonse (my name for the A in D-n-A) and Annabelle fall in love? Then they could combine their recipes to make Double AA Root Beer to rival/defeat Triple AAA Root Beer! One can only hope.

The Body is rich and creamy with a ton of luscious bourbon vanilla flavor. This perfectly complements a solid root beer core. There isn’t a lot of Bite on this one; they’re going for silky smooth. I do prefer a bit of spice, but the smooth is always good. The Head is tall and frothy like it should be. It foams up right to the top of my 20 ounce mug and hangs around for awhile. The Aftertaste is lots more bourbon vanilla that lasts awhile. I do love that.

Yummy! This is an amazing root beer. Such sweet, smooth, Bourbon Vanilla flavor. I’ve never had that flavor in a root beer save my own home brew. If you are a vanilla lover, this root beer is definitely for you. I’m proud to give this my Seal of Approval. D-n-A got one too … I think those boys should definitely meet these girls. See how it rates against other root beers.

4 kegs