One of the first root beers that I had after I moved to Redmond and discovered The Root Beer Store, it was reviewed shortly before I had finished my big website overhaul so it didn’t get a post about it until now. This is made by the Kutztown Soda Works in … wait for it … Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It’s been around since the 1850’s, which is cool that they’ve been making sodas so long. They’re more famous for their birch beers, of which they have three different types, than their root beer. Since it’s from Pennsylvania and is old fashioned-ish, it has some German written on it in a font that is difficult to read. I think it says “Nix Besser” which means “None Better” so it makes sense. I actually like the label a lot, with that blue background, the circle, and the frosty mug. It also says “Original Premium Recipe” at the top.
The Body is very dark and rooty with a hint of vanilla and wintergreen. The cane sugar is noticeable, but it isn’t overly sweet. Though it is a strong flavor initially, it seems watered down afterwards. The Bite is ok, but not really good. The Head is moderate height but fizzes away quickly. Not too quickly, but doesn’t linger long like it should. The Aftertaste is sort of a sticky, licorice, herbal flavor that thankfully vanishes quickly.
I don’t really like the really dark licorice type brews, and that herbal note at the end isn’t good. It’s kind of sad that they didn’t make this more birchy. It was a tough call, it’s not really that bad, but I didn’t really like it that much, and if I didn’t like it much, it isn’t really that good, and since my standards are high, it needs to be good to be drinkable. See how it rates against other root beers.
Another recently resurrected brand bottled by Orca Beverages. I’m not sure (as of the time of this writing) if Orca is the one doing the resurrecting or if there’s just a mad rush to find a brand as part of the Great Root Beer Revival and these people are sending them all to Orca. As with the others (Red Arrow, Brownie Caramel Cream, Anchor Ginger, Hippo Size), this has a retro looking label with a prominent centered picture and then a few sentences written vertically off to the side that give some explanation about the brew. This particular iteration is supposedly named after a bull called Red Eye who was old and cranky. The only way to coax him out of his pen to do his daily “duties” was to pour his favorite root beer in a bowl for him first. I’m not sure then if his favorite root beer was this one, and if it was, how that all worked, maybe they took over another brand or it was homemade or something. I’m also not sure about what a bull had to do daily that required some coaxing. Last I checked a bull’s job, when not fighting colorfully dressed Spaniards and Lusitans, was breeding, so you’d think he wouldn’t need to be coaxed into it. 
Crater Lake holds a special place in my heart. My family, on the way back from Sacramento, took a detour to visit Crater Lake when I was 17. It was the summer before my senior year. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. I even took some pictures that I used as senior pictures. I’ve longed to return and camp and hike and fish and whatnot. When I first saw this root beer at a local QFC, I was immediately flooded by the good memories. The picture on the label, while nice, doesn’t capture the true majesty of the place. With pure cane sugar to boot, I hoped that this root beer would capture the majesty of the lake and caldera in a brew beyond description. Sadly it was not to be. 
