Mar 232016
 

St. Arnold Root Beer BottleOne day a fan emailed me and told me that I should try St. Arnold Root Beer. So I got on Google and went to find where it was made and learned about the St. Arnold Brewing Company and their root beer. It’s made using Imperial Cane Sugar which sounds like it should be used to make Empire Root Beer and not this. The label sports a picture of St. Arnold himself, a man who was a 6th century bishop and an ancestor of Charlemagne whose blessed remains caused beer to multiply in abundance to quench the thirst of fatigued pilgrims. I’m thinking that’s what inspired the owners to name the brewery after him. He is also not to be confused with Saint Amandus who is the patron saint of all who brew beer. This is the only second known root beer to be named after a religious leader (Brigham’s Brew being the first) and gives me great hopes that I’ll see more in the future (I’m looking at you Hare Krishnas, I want my Swami Prabhupada Root Beer).

It has a rich, dark, rooty Body that is at the same time very creamy. The Bite boldly hits you as soon as the brew enters your mouth and stays with you a bit. It is sharp and spicy. The Aftertaste is very creamy and lingers a long time, which is to be desired. The Head however, is weak, too weak. It is, however, frothy.

Another otherwise excellent brew ruined by the lack of a good Head. It always makes me sad when that happens. This is a delicious root beer but doesn’t excel quite enough for the Seal. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Mar 162016
 

The Grizzly Paw Soda Company Root Beer Bottle About the time I was emailed about the Brewski another Canadian, dare I say my very favorite Canadian, informed me that he had found this and wanted to know if I needed to try it. I say my favorite Canadian because he was my longest and last mission companion in Madagascar so many years ago. Our root beer relationship went back to then, with me sending him some A&W as soon as I got back home (I got home first) to help end the root beer dearth that country suffers from. I even visited him in Alberta and found the FLM and Red Jammer along the way. Anyhow, I traded him some Steelhead and Hank’s for this. It comes in the standard Canadian 341 ml bottle which still makes no sense at all. The label makes me think of some nature park warning sign which is appropriate for the region. The coolest part about it is the whole “Racinette” because, Canada.

The Body is rich and sort of creamy with a rather generic root beer flavor. There’s nothing that really jumps out at you. The Bite has got a lot of carbonation fizz but not really much in the spice department. The Head is short and doesn’t last very long. The Aftertaste is a light caramel licorice with a bit of vanilla that doesn’t last long enough.

This is pretty meh but not unpleasant in any way. It’s just one of those generic, decent root beers that might as well have a white label with the words “Root Beer” in black text. I’d drink it again if I needed a brew to go with dinner, but only if it just happened to be laying around. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Mar 092016
 

Deerfield Trading Company Old Fashioned Root Beer This was renamed to Good and D’Lish Root Beer sometime after I initially reviewed it. It was the first new root beer I found when I moved back to Seattle for grad school. I found it at the local Wallgreens and was very pleased to do so. I checked with the manager and found out that it was their premium store brand. They also have a Walgreens root beer in plastic. That’s something I’d like to see more of. Stores with their own gourmet root beer lines in addition to their cheap swill, or maybe just eliminate the cheap stuff all together like H-E-B and have your brand be something awesome. What’s cool about this is that it’s a 16 ounce bottle with a unique shape and one of those resealable caps. You don’t see those often on glass bottled sodas. They boast on the bottle that they don’t use any HFCS but they also don’t use pure cane sugar either, so it’s sort of a halfway effort for people who care about that sort of thing.

The Body is sweet and creamy though with a tad too much licorice. The Bite is nice and spicy. The Head is short, with a medium froth, which is rather disappointing. The Aftertaste is dark and almost candyish.

This is good, but the licorice is a little too strong for my tastes. Also the Head is too weak, so sorry Deerfield, no Seal for you. However, for a store brand this is pretty near top notch. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs