Lockdown Brewing Company Rainbow Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Jul 042012
 

Another one from Sacramento. Well Folsom really but that’s essentially Sacramento. The brewery is named after the famous Folsom prison (gotta lock em down you know) and has many of their brews named after places in Folsom. Rainbow Root Beer is named after … the Rainbow Bridge of course. Not sure why it’s called that other than it has an underside arch so maybe that’s like a rainbow, or perhaps when they built it they were hoping to extend all the way to Asgard or something, whatever. Not to let a good gimmick go to waste though, they claim their root beer is made with “a rainbow of flavors” and then proceed to list licorice bark, orange peel, cinnamon, and vanilla. Ok, I see the rainbow; brown (black), orange, red, white. But orange peel? Seriously? Well it’s a new ingredient for my list but I don’t think that will make it taste particularly good, I could be wrong. Other than that the label is pretty cool though the actual name of the root beer is so off to the side you can’t see it in photo. I don’t appreciate labels that are that busy as it messes with the format I like to have. Oh well.

This one tastes different for sure. The Body is sweet and mild on first contact, and then gets a sour fruity cinnamon flavor with some vanilla accents. There’s that dried orange peel. The Bite is a sour and spicy from said orange peel and the cinnamon. The Head is decent a medium height and froth. Not exceptional by any means, but adequate. The Aftertaste is more fruity cinnamon with a bit of vanilla.

So they almost pulled it off with the orange peel. It’s not bad, but it’s just too fruity. I don’t really like fruity root beers but with the vanilla and the cinnamon the strong fruity flavor almost works, kind of like a sarsaparilla. Now it says on the bottle a “true old fashioned style root beer … just like you remember!” But I don’t EVER remember orange peel in my root beer. See how it rates against other root beers.




Polar Classics Premium Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Jun 272012
 

So this one comes in a rather unique bottle. I’ve only ever seen this style on Johnnie Ryan Root Beer. There must be some Northeast bottle maker that does these or something. One really unique thing about this root beer is that it comes with a warning, and not some playful warning about it being too delicious or something, but a legitimate warning. “WARNING: Contents under pressure. Cap may blow off causing eye or other serious injury. Point away from people, especially while opening.” Wow. I’ve never considered root beer a dangerous weapon before. Maybe it’s just this root beer. Though, if you try and hold up a store with a bottle of this, I doubt they’ll be very afraid. Unless of course they’re root beer experts at which point I’m sure it’ll work. I can see it now; “Give me your money!” “What’s that a bottle of soda … Holy Crap! It’s Polar Classics Root Beer! Take it all!” Or something along those lines.

The Body is sweet and creamy with lots of vanilla, yet it is a little less full than it should be. There seems to be something not quite right about it, but not really any bad flavors. There really isn’t much Bite at all, yet it isn’t smooth, it is prickly and goes down prickly. The Head is proper, tall and very frothy, so it lingers around the whole time you drink it. The Aftertaste is lovely vanilla that last just about the right amount of time.

So not bad. This root beer almost pulls it off, but not quite. It just seems not quite right though the vanilla and nice Head give it a boost. I’d drink it again. In fact, if I were held up, I’d offer to buy it first. It’d go well with pizza I’m sure. See how it rates against other root beers.




A&W All American Food Root Beer

 Root Beer Stand Root Beers  1 Response »
Jun 252012
 

So just after I decided to start reviewing root beer stand root beers (since I the Standards Committee of the International Association of Gourmet Root Beer (IAGRB) declared them gourmet) I found myself in Dearborn Michigan for another electric vehicle conference. The only root beer that I could locate in walking distance was the A&W stand. I was planning on doing my review of A&W either with the one near my parents house or the original stand in Lodi (near my grandma’s house if I ever got down there), but on day three of the conference, I felt I needed a root beer. I trekked to stand in a suit in 95 degree Michigan heat and ordered a nice frosty mug of root beer, just to drink, not review. As I was enjoying the infinite refills for only $1.90 the manager told me a bit more about their root beer and their stand. That they hand make their root beer in batches every morning for the freshest flavor. That they still use the original secret recipe, and that, unlike the bottled A&W, there are no preservatives. That means it is a different recipe and thus technically classifies it as a different root beer in my book according to the IAGRB Standards. They tap the syrup straight out of the vat and mix it with soda water in the fountain, definitely higher quality than your bag-in-the-box swill. Also the Dearborn A&W is very close to corporate (since all of the stands are currently owned by franchises and corporate only does the bottled sodas) and is used for training. It includes a conference room and an oversized kitchen. Wow, I didn’t even know any of that at the time. I vowed to return the next day with my camera in tow to give them a proper review. The next day also happened to be June 20, the Birthday of A&W so it seemed appropriate to have my review then.

The Body is sweet and full with creamy vanilla and a spicy caramel flavor accenting the core. It is almost candy-ish. The Bite is pretty mild but there’s a small kick from the carbonation and spices. I do like it smooth though so no harm there. The Head is medium height and frothy so it lasts a good while. The Aftertaste is creamy vanilla with caramel and spice hints.

So yum. I find nothing at all bad in this root beer and they’ve got a lot right. There is a reason that A&W stands still dot the land after all. The crisp fresh taste with the lack of preservatives really pushes it over the top whereas the bottled root beer fell a bit shorter. I’ve had better brews of course, much better, but this is delicious and well balanced. I give it the Seal of Approval (and a trip to the Wayback machine will reveal that I originally stated it was a 4 from the draft at the restaurants), though just barely. I’d say it’s the cutoff point. The food is pretty good too but nothing compared to the XXX Root Beer Drive-in.

A bacon cheese burger and fries with root beer. Pretty good.




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