Root Beer Reviews – Page 127 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer

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.

Rocky Mountain Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jan 082014

Rocky Mountain Root Beer Bottle Another acquired through trade from anthony. I should probably be more diligent in getting these Western root beers without having to appeal to the East Coast to get them. I almost love this label. The shiny, the bighorn sheep, the mountain scenery, the classy seal that … doesn’t quite … line up with the text … gaaaah! Really, why? Why would you put your classy shiny seal slightly off center? Just to grate my nerves I suppose. This root beer also has the distinction of being made with “Colorado Water” which I hope has some tasty minerals or something. I’m still going to just leave it as water in the root beer ingredients list (fun fact, I actually don’t list water as its pretty much given). Another curiosity is that they claim it’s “All Natural” so I suppose the potassium sorbate is naturally occurring. Maybe that’s what’s special about the Colorado Water.

The Body is mild but spicy with licorice and wintergreen and I almost want to say vanilla. It’s also a little bitter. There’s a solid spicy Bite and the carbonation level is nice too. The Head is very tall but fizzes down very quickly. The Aftertaste is mostly a sugar. The first bottle of this that I had, however, was really hollow with no spice and with a bitter chemical flavor.

Hmm, it is rare to have two bottles of the same brew be so different. I know it is batch brewed but I shouldn’t think that the difference between batches would be so pronounced. Though the second bottle was much better than the first, and raised the overall rating substantially, I don’t think I’d risk drinking it again just in case. See how it rates against other root beers.

Bedford’s Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jan 012014

Bedford's Root Beer Bottle Bedford’s is another root beer that comes from close to my home. Their company is from Port Angeles, and though it seems that they originally bottled it there, it is currently listed Orca Beverages as one they bottle. Ironically, I didn’t find it anywhere in Washington, but down in Provo, UT. It was several years ago and you can see that whoever bottled it then, used aluminum screw caps which you almost never see anymore (and Orca doesn’t currently do). Jones also uses those bottles so maybe it’s a Puget Sound thing. As an aside, even the first A&W I had from glass bottles was like that but more on that another day. I like the medieval-ish banner and logo. Then there’s the fact that they used the same font for all of the text and the label’s a winner in my book.

The Body is sweet and creamy but a little weaker than it should be. Also, there is a hint of something strange in the flavor that just doesn’t belong. The Bite is really non-existent. The Head is nice, but not frothy so even though there is a lot of it, it doesn’t linger. The Aftertaste is pleasant, but that same strange flavor is there.

This root beer on the whole has got the right stuff, but just not enough. The first two bottles of this stuff that I drank were actually wonderful, but the rest were lacking and so you get my average review. I feel consistency between bottles is important after all. I want to be sure of quality if I’m going to recommend this to someone. But even at its worst is still a decent brew. See how it rates against other root beers.

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