Mar 062019
 

Foodhold Root Beer BottleBack in April, when I was in New Jersey, I met anthony and traded for this brew. It’s made for Foodhold, USA, which is a company that makes food for supermarkets, it seems. I googled it and I couldn’t get a straight answer for what exactly Foodhold is, other than there were a lot of complaints about their products. Putting it in Google Maps didn’t come up with any locations so I’m assuming it isn’t a store that I don’t know about. I didn’t even ask anthony where he got it. Yeah, I’m much lazier than I once was, and I don’t care to do more investigating. Anyone’s welcome to tell me off in the comments for not making your lives easier, or better yet, tell me what Foodhold actually is so everyone can know. I’ll be more diligent in the future, I promise. It has a very generic sort of label, but I like it. All the black and what not.

The Body has a nice sweet sarsaparilla flavor that isn’t of the fruity type, more on the spice side. The Bite is mild in total spices, yet prickly with carbonation. The Head is of medium height, but fizzes away quickly. The Aftertaste is of sarsaparilla.

So year, it’s a pleasant enough drink, but nothing at all special. It seems like a middle of the road sarsaparilla type, though I don’t review sarsaparillas so I can’t say how good or not it is as one of those, but as a root beer. It’s not bad. Nay, it’s beyond not bad, it’s down right drinkable! See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Feb 132019
 

A pint of Ideal Root Beer From Indeed BreweryLast Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity to meet one of the world’s leading collector’s of root beer paraphernalia, Vince. He was up in Minneapolis for some reason and I had empty bottles to get to him for his collection. I told him to meet me at Indeed Brewing Company, cause I knew they had a brew that I needed to try. To be honest I don’t know much about this brewery, other than one of my coworkers told me they have root beer. It’s a rather larger brewery by some railroad tracks about half an hour from my house. They don’t have any food in their taproom, owing to those pesky Minnesota laws, but not even the popcorn or peanuts that are quite common in others. I met Vince and his friends and got down to business.

The Body isn’t overly sweet and it’s a little dark. There’re distinct honey and wintergreen flavors as well but the proportions aren’t quite right. The Bite is a little spicy but still on the mild side. The Head is very nice, it pours out tall and stays foamy for awhile. The Aftertaste is of honey and a little wintergreen with some bitter notes.

This isn’t my favorite root beer by any means. It’s got the right flavors but not in the right ratios. I don’t know why this is called Ideal Root Beer, maybe it’s their ideal but it surely isn’t mine. It’s still drinkable and was worth the trip to meet another root beer lover. He was able to get one of their root beer taps to add to his collection, so a success all around.

Three kegs




The Indeed Brewing Company.

Feb 062019
 

A pint of Mill Street Brewing Distillery Root Beer Last week I was in Toronto for work, doing the things I do when I go off to travel for work. I’d been there in the summer, for less than a day, and had been frustrated that the Mill Street Brewery pub in the airport was in a different terminal than the one I flew out of, so I couldn’t get any root beer. This time I had many a evening free, but I was determined to get it my first night, just in case. Though Mill Street Brewery has expanded to several locations, their original, in the Distillery District, is where I went. The whole district is in a 19th century whiskey distillery, and it all arts and crafty now, the sort of place you’d hope to find a craft brewery with their own root beer.

The Body is nice and sweet and rich and creamy. Definitely my favorite flavor profile. The Bite is rather mild, however, and the Head is pretty dismal, though it is there, it’s short and gone by the time the glass reaches the table. The Aftertaste is a nice vanilla with hints of caramelized sugar.

Yum, it’s tasty for sure, but doe lack some depth in the Bite and Head department. I think it’s the best root beer I’ve gotten in Canada. The best draft root beer I’ve gotten in Canada at least, though, now that I think about it, maybe the only draft root beer I’ve gotten in Canada so far. The food there was amazing. I didn’t get a picture of my burger, but I did for my double smoked poutine, with bacon and a root beer reduction, it was divine. This place is definitely worth a visit.

Three and a half kegs




My heavenly Double Smoked Poutine

My heavenly Double Smoked Poutine

Mill Street Root Beer Description

Mill Street Brewery Vats

Some of the brewery vats. I always try to get a picture of these.