Root Beer Reviews – Page 141 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

DougieDog Butterscotch Root Beer

Apr 102013

DougieDog Butterscotch Root Beer Bottle No, I didn’t forget a space in the name. The website clearly states that they are “DougieDog” much to the chagrin of those who either love proper grammatical syntax or who inexplicably hate capital letters. I am one of the former myself and find this slightly annoying. It could be worse I suppose, they could put an exclamation point or some other punctuation in their name. This is one of only two butterscotch root beers that I know of and incidentally the other one, Dang! That’s Good Butterscotch, has an exclamation in their name. Maybe those who have a penchant for butterscotch root beers are by nature the sort who throw convention to the wind and hence the flavors and names. DougieDog (still hate writing it, it’s like a variable name in a computer program) continues the great American tradition of pairing a hot dog stand with root beer with a Canadian twist, because they’re Canadian.

The Body is very sweet like candy but not overly full. After the initial contact a butterscotch candy flavor comes in which is pretty good. The Bite is decent but nothing special. The Head is weak and fizzes away instantly which I despise. The Aftertaste is a creamy, sticky butterscotch flavor which is delicious.

So I like it. Overall it has a good flavor and it gets bonus points for working in something unique like butterscotch, but a horrible head sealed its fate. So I know the question you’re asking, how does it stack up against the other butterscotch root beer. I like this one’s flavor a bit more since the butterscotch is toned down and the rest of the root beer flavors are more balanced, the Bite and Aftertaste are about the same, but the Head here is so awful it ends up rating a bit lower. See how it rates against other root beers.

Ozark Mountain Bottleworks Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Apr 032013

A newcomer to the world of gourmet root beer, Ozark Mountain Bottling works was founded just 4 years ago in 2009 in Branson, MO. If you go to their website you’ll see that they have five different flavors of soda, each with a different color label. The orange soda has an orange label, the grape’s is purple, the lemonade’s is pink (pink lemonade), and as you can see the root beer corresponds with this color scheme and is green, wait, what? Why is the root beer label green? Is does seem to break the pattern unless the root beer itself is green (which it isn’t). I can see no reason to have the root beer label green and not brown. I’ll just imagine that someone there was dying to have a green label but their spinach soda was shot down by the board. Since they didn’t want to hurt his feelings too bad they decided to put a green label on the root beer for him. They say on the site that they use 100% pure cane sugar and their brew is “designed to highlight the classic flavors of Root Beer and Sarsaparilla to create a unique taste unlike anything else on the market.”

The Body is minty and creamy complimenting a full sassafras flavor. The vanilla hints give it a nice rich texture and flavor. The Bite is subtle; just enough to let you know it’s there but not too much. The Head is huge and very frothy! It rivals the other top root beer Heads out there. It lasts a long time as well. The Aftertaste is rich wintergreen and vanilla with the slightest accents of caramel.

Yum, yum, yum! I love this root beer. It reminds me a lot of River City with that creamy minty goodness. Maybe they have a green label because of all the mint. Whatever the reason, I wish I had ordered more. See how it rates against other root beers.

Maine Root Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 3 Responses »

Mar 272013

Maine Root Root Beer Bottle First off this has one of the most annoying names of any root beer I know. The company’s name is Maine Root, which will work well with any flavor other than root beer. While one could just chalk this up to an oversight on their part, Root Beer was the first flavor they offered. Clearly, with their attention on all natural, organic, free trade, and free-range (I’ll get to that later), they just couldn’t be bothered by not making their root beer redundant. It’s a forgivable offense, but will probably always keep them in the top 5 annoying root beer names (coming soon). Secondly, they have the amusing gimmick of Free-range Root Beer. That calls for all natural root beers that live (and are perhaps captured) in the wild. One of their stated goals is to fight corporate root beer, which I’ve seen before from that Flathead Lake Monster swill, but these people have a much better strategy.

The Body is crisp and well balanced. It is creamy with wintergreen surfacing after the initial contact. The Head is full and frothy. It lingers. It is less than the epic Head of a Henry’s, but sufficient for the most adamant connoisseur. There isn’t really much Bite. Though I like it smooth, some spices could improve it a bit. The Aftertaste is a creamy vanilla with hints of wintergreen.

This is a very delicious and well crafted brew. Overall it has all of the right flavors in the right proportions. It is very clean and crisp on account of the cane sugar and no preservatives. The lack of preservatives is wonderful as the slight soapiness or fruitiness that accompanies sodium benzoate or citric acid is gone, so all of the focus is on the wonderful mix of root beer goodness. They may be on to something with that whole Free-range business. I must say that this is the best all natural root beer I’ve had so far. The only drawback is the almost complete lack of bite and that something extra, like honey or cinnamon, to really seal the deal, however, I am still proud to give this root beer my Seal of Approval. See how it rates against other root beers.

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