Root Beer Reviews – Page 69 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Root Naturals Apothecary Root Beer

Jan 182017

Root Naturals Apothecary Craft Soda Root Beer Bottle This root beer gets its start back in 1937 when a fellow by the name of Deno Spaccarelli opened an apothecary in Cincinnati. In addition to prescriptions he made custom sodas at the fountain. Some 80 years later, the last Deno Apothecary closed, and his descendants decided to keep the family tradition alive by bottling three flavors of Apothecary Sodas, cream soda, black cherry, and this root beer. I have a hard time getting the proper name of this brew. As the bottle says “Apothecary Craft Soda” and “Root Naturals” while the website calls it “Apothecary Root Beer”. As you can see I went with a mix of website and label. I actually really like the label, with all of the plants and just shades of brown and black with old-timey fonts. It looks like some archaic apothecary scroll for some elixir of heath or something. This is also an all natural soda with no preservatives so I had to drink it quickly after I received it.

The Body is sweet and a little fruity with herbal and vanilla flavors. It’s got a mild Bite but isn’t overly smooth. The Head is nice and tall. It fizzes down a little quicker than I’d prefer but still fine. The Aftertaste is a fruity, herbal, and vanilla. The herbal isn’t the nasty bitter sort, so it’s okay.

This wasn’t really my favorite, but it isn’t bad. It does taste like something an apothecary would mix up from any a different herbs and roots and things. I wish it didn’t have that fruity tinge to it. Even so, it’s still a drinkable brew, just not top tier. See how it rates against other root beers.

Silver Creek Brewing Company Blonde Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jan 112017

Silver Creek Brewing Company Blonde Root Beer Bottle Seal of Approval This was the first blonde root beer I’d ever heard of, and only one of three that I know of. It’s made by the Silver Creek Brewing Company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. They’ve been around only since 1999. They’re small but they still do a unique root beer which is pretty cool. I like the blue and orange-ish label. You don’t get a lot of bright blues on root beer bottles. I’m not so sure about their logo. It has the historic Grist Mill in which they brew, and then a big squiggly blue line all over the picture. Like they wanted to emphasize the creek after they made the picture and just drew it in there. It’s also made with pure cane sugar. I had the hardest time tracking this down but luckily another craft root beer lover, Tony, hooked me up with a sweet trade.

This has a sweet creamy Body with a lot of vanilla. There’s some mint in there as well. Its core is mild but not lacking. It is a smooth brew with not a lot in the way of Bite. I like ’em smooth though I wish there were a bit more spice. The Head is nice and tall. It does dissipates a little faster than it others but hangs around for long enough. The Aftertaste is a nice minty vanilla that lingers awhile.

I truly enjoy this rather unique take on root beer. I liked the other blonde root beer too. This one’s got that nice minty hint to it as well. Definitely worth drinking whenever you can get it. See how it rates against other root beers.

Happy Camp’r Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jan 042017

Happy Camp'r Root Beer Bottle Another home brew from Minnesota. It reminds me a lot of Spring Lake Root Beer. They both have black and white labels that are home printed on standard printer paper glued to the bottle. They both are little home brew operations only about 40 minutes apart. And, they both say something about grandpa on the bottle. If I didn’t know any better I’d say they were made by the same guys, but I do know better and their ingredients are different as well. It seems like Happy Camp’r is trying to one up Spring Lake, as Spring Lake says “As Good As Grandpa Remembers” and Happy Camp’r says “The best root beer grandpa’s ever had!” I wonder what will be next in the War of Grandpa Root Beer One-upmanship. But label aside, the real question is how I like it.

The Body is sweet and a little creamy, but much more dark and with licorice and molasses flavors. The Bite spicy but a little harsh. I wish it were a bit smoother. The Head is very tall with decent staying power but by no means top tier. The Aftertaste is licorice and molasses that finishes a little bitter.

So this is decent but not my style. When I’m a grandpa, I know which of these Minnesota brews I’ll be recommending. I don’t know what my grandpa would say about them, as I’ve no grandpas left, but maybe he would try this and say its the best he’s ever had. See how it rates against other root beers.

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