Olde Philadelphia Old Fashioned Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Oct 142011
 

The first question that I had was why did they call it Old Fashioned root beer and not Olde Fashioned? I mean it is Olde Philadelphia. Perhaps old fashioned root beer isn’t old enough for the extra ‘e’. The second question I had was “why is the label almost pealing off?” and crooked for that matter. A crappy crooked label doesn’t help convince people you have a “gourmet soda.” But then again, this is from Philly, the home of Hank’s. Ever since Hank’s, I’ve had a soft spot for Philly. So perhaps this root beer from the same city got some of that awesomeness that Hank’s exudes.

It does have a nice full Body that is rich and creamy. It is also pretty sweet from all of the invert sugar. The Bite is a sharp on the tongue, mostly from carbonation but there are some spices in there too. It still goes down smooth. The Head is medium height and froth. It lasts long enough. The Aftertaste is sweet hints of vanilla that lasts just about the perfect amount of time. This is a solid brew that is very enjoyable.

It seems that this is at least the second and most recent iteration of root beer from the Olde Philadelphia Soda Co. Also a perusal of the web reveals that the previous iteration was not near as good as this one (though it had a much cleaner label). So pat yourselves on the back Olde Philly Soda Co. You did it right this time. See how it rates against other root beers.




So Duh! Rockin’ Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Oct 122011
 

So Duh! Rockin' Root Beer BottleA lovely pun though I didn’t get it myself until I was telling my sister about it over the phone. What struck me about this was just how unimpressive the bottle and label look. I mean, a Valley Girl on a root beer bottle? I suppose it is more original than a dog. Even before I looked up the company, I just knew it was from California. So with low expectations and quotes from the movie “Clueless” going through my head, I cracked this one open to give it a try.

When I poured it into the mug and the Head built I said to myself, “Ah, now that’s a proper root beer head.” It is tall and frothy. It lazily built to the top of my 20 ounce mug and just sat there enjoying its freedom from the bottle. On the first drink I was delighted with the Body, the fairy tale marriage of cane sugar and honey, and it didn’t stop there. The sassafras and other root beer flavors were creamily mixed with natural vanilla. It could use a little more sassafras though. The Bite is fantastic too with spices aplenty in the right proportions and a little prickly from the carbonation while still keeping it smooth going down. The Aftertaste is sweet honey with vanilla and spices coming out as it drifts away leaving the tongue begging for more.

The final keg assignment was a tough call. I really like this. I think it is one of the best sodas I have ever drank. I drank a bottle of Henry’s and a bottle of Bulldog in between bottles 1 and 2 to make sure I really liked this one as much as I did. Giving it a 5 was something I wanted to do even though it has a light bodied sassafras flavor instead of a full. I see this as a delicious honey root beer (my favorite type), much like the original Tommyknocker was an amazing maple root beer.  But ultimately, I felt I just couldn’t do it. See how it rates against other root beers.




Cooper’s Cave Ale Company Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Oct 102011
 

Cooper Cave Root Beer Bottle My first blog post! I’ve been running the site for over 10 years and a lot has changed in the web since then and so I’m adding the blog to get more with the times. I’ll write a “long format” blog post review of every root beer I taste test from now on and as time permits, go back and write up blog posts of the old “short format” reviews. Other blog posts will be added as seems appropriate. So, another root beer with a dog on the bottle. What is it with dogs on the bottles of root beer, I mean; mug, dog n suds, sea dog, bull dog, etc. Everybody (and their dog it seems) wants to put a dog on their root beer bottle. But beyond my canine quipping, it is a pretty sweet bottle. It’s got a fancy label and it doesn’t have a twist cap. I like it when they do that. I had to use a bottle opener like with Mason’s and Mendecino Taubold’s Private Reserve. It’s more old fashion (maybe its cheaper too?) So how did this old doggy root beer stack up?

The Body is solid with the standard root beer flavors and slightly creamy. It has a nice cane sugar flavor. The Bite is good on carbonation but light on spices. It is nice and smooth but I like a little more spice to it. The Head is on the short side sadly, with medium-light froth so it’s gone pretty quickly. The Aftertaste is sweet and creamy.

This is a pretty solid brew but it could be better in several areas so it doesn’t quite earn the coveted Seal. See how it rates against other root beers.




 Newer Entries