Apr 082015
 

Rat Bastard Root Beer BottleI’m generally a person who spurns vulgarity in all forms and wish the rest of the world would follow suit. I have no misconceptions however that I am, in fact, in the minority in this respect. However, I do feel that there are some, extenuating circumstances when such words may be acceptable. This is one of those times. However, to avoid being too crass, I’ll stick with the expletives printed on the bottle. Oh Rat Bastard, who conceived of you and why? Was it to make sure that one root beer could fail my easiest of metrics, coming in a pretty bottle? Perhaps. And honestly, that is the reason I sought it out. I had reviewed many root beers by that time, the summer after my mission, but I’d never given a zero. Even the vilest of brews still had at least a somewhat of a pretty bottle at that point, but not this. Also it seemed from their tag line, that they didn’t actually want it to taste good. To that end they filled it with all manner of unhallowed ingredients never seen before in a root beer like, jasmine, shiitake, mad dog weed, goldenseal, and the list goes on. Nevertheless, I approached my three bottles with an open mind. Maybe it was all for show and it was another rather generic soda. I was so wrong.

The Body was gross, strange, kinda fruity with a dash of cola? The Head was near nonexistent. There was a harsh Bite, but it was from the many strange herbs and things that should NEVER be put in root beer. It made me stick my tongue out of my mouth repeatedly after each swallow (I guess that my tongue was trying to wipe the flavor off or something.) But then came the Aftertaste which was the same rancid flavor that made me stick my tongue out in the first place.

Oh what utter vileness, what pox upon all that which is called root beer. And I drank three whole bottles of it just to make sure of the review. Truly it is as the bottle boasts, it “tastes like a son of a bitch.” I think that forcing someone to drink that many bottles of this is actually banned by the Geneva Convention. Add the ugly and offensive bottle and I finally got my zero. I don’t think it was quite worth it though. See how it rates against other root beers.

keg0




Apr 012015
 

Ben's Brew Root Beer BottleFinally I have a root beer from Alaska. I’d often wondered if I’d had one from all 50 states but always knew without even checking that I’d never had one from Alaska. But now I have. This brew comes from Sitka on Baranof Island. There’s only one retail location in the lower 48 states that sells it and thankfully they happen to be in Seattle. The ingredients have to be ferried on to the island and the root beer than takes another ferry off. Needless to say that it was pretty expensive. Interestingly, there are no ingredients listed on the bottle, so I haven’t a clue what’s in it. The only thing it does say is that it’s “Great for kids, teetotalers, and those on antibiotics” … I had never heard of a teetotaler before but it’s someone who completely abstains from alcohol, so yeah, this would be good for them. People on antibiotics? Yes, absolutely. The essences in root beer double the power of your prescription without any ill side effects. So drink up all you with staph, you can trust me, I am a doctor after all. This is the third root beer that I’ve had with Ben in the name. I wonder what it is with guys named Ben and the desire to put their name on a root beer bottle.

The Body is creamy and spicy with a very traditional flavor. There are hints of licorice and caramel in there as well. It’s pretty good. The Bite is sharp and sassy. The Head was short and very frothy with the first bottle, and tall but fizzed away with the second. Either way it is pretty good. The Aftertaste is a light licorice with hints of wintergreen.

Not bad, not bad at all. This tastes like a mix between the dark spicy type and the rich creamy type of root beers. I wish the Bite weren’t so sharp but that’s just me. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Mar 282015
 

NORKA Root Beer Bottle This root beer comes from Akron, Ohio. They liked their fair city so much that they wrote the name backwards to use it for their brew. It was founded in 1924 and died out in 1962. Then, last year, a resident of Akron realized that the city’s iconic brand was missing and decided to bring it back. And thus NORKA was reborn. They make three flavors of “sparkling beverages” in addition to their root beer and use all natural flavorings and pure cane sugar. You don’t see many brands calling their sodas sparkling beverages anymore, but maybe that’ll change. They kept the original logo and name. Though why the founders of NORKA thought making their name in all caps was a good idea is beyond me. I can think of approximately one person who’d be bothered by it more than me. The makers of it were kind enough to send me a four-pack to review, as all new root beer makers should.

This has a mild Body with a noticeable vanilla flavor to it. The cane sugar shines as well, though the other flavors are very subtle. The Bite is harsh; a lot of carbonation but not a lot of spice. The Head is very tall yet lacks staying power and fizzes away much too quickly. The Aftertaste is vanilla and cane sugar, which is pretty nice.

This is alright. I wish it were a little stronger and spicier, and the Head stayed a little longer. That said, it’s a decent brew with no unpleasant flavors, though nothing overly special. I wouldn’t make this the flagship of a soda line, but it certainly doesn’t hurt one. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs