Dec 182013
 

Fitz's Root Beer BottleSeal of Approval Fitz’s originally appeared in St. Louis in 1947 at a root beer stand. It shut down in the 1970’s like so many root beer stands but was resurrected in 1993 by Fitz’s Bottling Company. Not content to merely bring the root beer back, they wanted a vintage bottling line as well to ensure authenticity. Luckily they found one in some barn in Wisconsin because where else are you going to find a 1940’s vintage bottling line? I must say that’s pretty unique to them compared to a lot of the other resurrected brands. Their bottle is slightly different than your standard long neck as well, which I suppose is related to all of that authentic vintageness. The label is also the original from before so it’s as if the esteemed root beer never left.

The Body is dark and rooty, with a clean crisp flavor on account of the luscious cane sugar. The spices and fizz level make for an excellent little Bite. The Head is average at best but frothy and lingers. The creamy vanilla and wintergreen Aftertaste is very desirable.

This is a quality brew by all metrics. I wonder how it could have died off in the first place. All of their attention to detail in authenticity clearly shows through. The results are impeccable. Drinking this root beer is a pleasant experience that should be repeated often. See how it rates against other root beers.

4 kegs




Dec 112013
 

Rootin Tootin Root Beer Bottle Another one from anthony as part of our on going root beer trades. The picture on the label is hilarious/ridiculous. The root beer keg, while firing off his six shooters, is actively trying to drink the drops of root beer coming out of the tap. But since the tap is where his nose would be, it’s akin to being excited to drink out of one’s own runny nose. But then the fact that he’s a root beer keg means, that what he drinks will go back into the keg, so maybe he just doesn’t want to waste any root beer. And then he’s shooting as well and … maybe I’m just over thinking it. Fun back story. About three weeks before I tried this I had bought some blue agave nectar from Trader Joe’s to see how it went with waffles. I liked it a lot and mused that it would taste really good in root beer while lamenting that the other non-blue agave flavored root beers I’ve had have not been stellar.

The Body is full and rich with creamy vanilla and blue agave nectar featuring prominently. It has a rather heavy feel to it which I think is from said nectar. Everything mingles together to give a wonderful flavor that’s familiar and comforting as well as unique. The Bite is very mild. There’s a little spice but the carbonation is really lacking. The Head is poor, there’s no point mincing words over that. It’s very short, yet frothy so as to be better than the two-second-Head. It’s just that it isn’t carbonated enough to build a Head. The Aftertaste is a delicious combination of the blue agave and vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

Wow, yummy. I was right about blue agave in root beer. The only flaw in this is that it really doesn’t have much carbonation, which was their stated goal on the bottle. They wanted to make it so that it would go better in floats so no over foaming. I can respect that, but without a better Head, it can’t get the Seal, what a shame. Give this sucker a Henry’s style Head and some more Bite and we’re talking top 10 root beers ever, maybe even top 5. Oh well, it would make some amazing floats at least. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Dec 042013
 

Old Town Root Beer Company Root Beer Bottle The first root beer that I encountered from Old Town Root Beer Company is ironically the last I end up writing about. I know, I know, I wish everything were chronological too but that’s what happens when you’ve been reviewing root beers for longer than blogs have existed. Give me another year or so and all the old ones should be worked through. Anyways, the fact that we have three different root beers from the same company makes them one of the coolest companies in the world. Then they go and ruin it for themselves by putting their url on the label of this root beer and then not even bothering to pay the $10/year fee to keep said website so it doesn’t work when you visit it. I mean, seriously, it’s not that expensive. Their label is also really busy with small text and not near enough emphasis on their logo. They just have so much to tell us and not hardly enough room. Some of that text is to claim to be a “premium micro-brewed root beer” made with only the “Finest” ingredients, which evidently includes sodium benzoate and “other Flavors.”

The Body on this is medium and slightly creamy. It has a very simple taste to it. There isn’t much Bite to it, though, it does tingle the tongue a bit. The Head is very disappointing. It is on the low side and fizzes away in seconds leaving the root beer nearly flat. The Aftertaste is creamy vanilla with accents of honey and is honestly the best part of this brew.

There isn’t really anything bad tasting, but it needs a lot more good. It’s interesting that their generic named root beer is, in fact, the most generic and average tasting of the lot. So if you’ve got the choice between this or the other Old Town Root Beer Company offerings, take them instead. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs