Bottled Root Beers – Page 88 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Tommyknocker Root Beer

Feb 192014

Tommyknocker Root Beer Bottle My first car was a little Ford Ranger without AC. This matters because when I moved from Eastern WA to Provo, UT for school in late August some years ago, driving in that heat for 12 hours presented a bit of a problem. My solution was to drive at night. So I left at 8 pm and arrived at 8 am. Along the way, I stopped for gas in Baker City Oregon and, as I am wont to do, I checked for any new root beers. I found Tommyknocker and bought some bottles to review at my destination. I absolutely loved it. I went back to visit my parents for Christmas and made sure to stop at the same gas station and got more. They thought it was amazing too. This was once the 3rd highest rated root beer for me. Then one day, I found it in a store in Provo. I bought a six pack and happily told a friend and we each had a bottle. She didn’t think it was that good, and I thought it was off a bit as well. I checked the label. They’d changed it! They took away all of the premium ingredients and replaced them with artificial and generic ones. I was crushed, but dutifully got to reviewing it again.

The Body is mapley, but kind of empty and not overly sweet. I do love that maple flavor though. There is not really much Bite at all, and, though I do like it smooth I like a little more. The Head is frothy but nothing too spectacular. I would class it as Ok. The Aftertaste is of maple but it doesn’t linger.

This brew gives a good first impression but falls short afterwards. Compared to it’s original hearty, sticky, super mapely former self, this was simply an empty shell. What a disappointment. I angrily emailed the company to castigate them for their foolishness. They replied that their recipe hadn’t changed at all. I retorted that I’d saved bottles from both reviews and the original, good one, not only had different ingredients listed but different nutritional values. They ceased their correspondence. Losers. Ruin a near perfect brew and try to lie about it. Oh well. When taken on it’s own the new one isn’t actually bad, just nowhere near it’s former glory. See how it rates against other root beers.

Sea Dog Root Beer

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Jan 292014

Sea Dog Root Beer Bottle It seems that Ol’ (young actually) Capt’n Eli taught his dog how to brew root beer. At least that’s what the first issue of the graphic novel said if I remember correctly. Sea Dog is made by the same people and I learned about it after I sadly told them that while good, they wouldn’t be getting the Seal of Approval. I asked if they had any other root beer, specifically the Sea Dog that was mentioned on their site at the time, if it was a different recipe. They said that it was and they said they’d send me some Sea Dog to try. Sea Dog is also a brewery for those other beers and actually predates Capt’n Eli yet it seems that Eli was the one who made it. Confused yet? You should be. Since the Sea Dog mascot is the same as Eli’s dog in the novel (plus him teaching the dog was part of the flashback origin story), maybe it does actually form a single root beer continuum. Eli taught his dog to brew root beer with the root beer machine, then later he wanted to make his own root beer because, let’s face it, dogs will eat anything and just because a dog likes it doesn’t mean people will. Glad that’s all cleared up.

It has a full flavored, smooth Body but unfortunately too much anise (I expect that he learned that from the Cap’.) There is not much Bite. It is really smooth which I do like though I think it should have a little bit more too it. The Head is excellent! It is difficult to pour a whole bottle into a mug. The head lasts almost as long as a diamond. Unfortunately it doesn’t taste so good. The Aftertaste is a creamy vanilla and anise. Not really bad but not overly good. Overall it is a solid brew but not quite exceptional.

I must say, Sea Dog is pretty good. There is a lot of attention to details for a dog. It reminds me a lot of Capt’n Eli’s but it’s got a better head and the flavor is a little different as well. I’d say I like Eli’s better, which fits with the whole root beer continuum, but not much better. See how it rates against other root beers.

Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 1 Response »

Jan 152014

Capt'n Eli's Root Beer Bottle One day, out of the blue, I get an email from the people at Capt’n Eli asking me if I’d like to try their root beer. Yes, I responded, that is my primary reason for existence. If only more companies would follow suit. They sent me a 4-pack and a comic book about Capt’n Eli, an orphan boy genius who loves the sea, has a pet dog, builds his own submarine, and may be descended from Captain Nemo (I only had the first issue so I’m not sure how the plot developed). It’s called the Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli. One of his first inventions was making a root beer machine. I’m guessing that the root beer they’re selling is supposed to be from his root beer machine. This is the first and only time I’ve encountered a root beer with its own comic book, unless you count Snoopy with A&W though Snoopy wasn’t invented to push root beer so it’s a bit different. They’ve since expanded their soda line because why not.

The Body was sweet and creamy but with too much anise and no honey. The Bite was spicy and the Head was perfect. The Aftertaste was of vanilla and anise that wasn’t bad but at the same time not overly good.

This is a well crafted brew with attention to detail. I could taste the fact that they used natural flavors. It was really good, but I just don’t like the anise flavor too much, if they just had a little less of that and some honey or something. It pained me to not give them a Seal of Approval because they were so nice, but the root beer wasn’t quite up to my tastes. See how it rates against other root beers.

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