Another recently resurrected brand bottled by Orca Beverages. I’m not sure (as of the time of this writing) if Orca is the one doing the resurrecting or if there’s just a mad rush to find a brand as part of the Great Root Beer Revival and these people are sending them all to Orca. As with the others (Red Arrow, Brownie Caramel Cream, Anchor Ginger, Hippo Size), this has a retro looking label with a prominent centered picture and then a few sentences written vertically off to the side that give some explanation about the brew. This particular iteration is supposedly named after a bull called Red Eye who was old and cranky. The only way to coax him out of his pen to do his daily “duties” was to pour his favorite root beer in a bowl for him first. I’m not sure then if his favorite root beer was this one, and if it was, how that all worked, maybe they took over another brand or it was homemade or something. I’m also not sure about what a bull had to do daily that required some coaxing. Last I checked a bull’s job, when not fighting colorfully dressed Spaniards and Lusitans, was breeding, so you’d think he wouldn’t need to be coaxed into it.
It has a full Body with a rich sassafras flavor with creamy wintergreen and the slightest hints of licorice. There are a lot of spices as well. It has a strong Bite with a lot of spice and sharp carbonation burn. Too much for me. The Head is tall but fizzes down very quickly so it looks good when you first pour it out, but not much left once you get to drinking it. The Aftertaste is minty with a tad bit of licorice that tastes like black jelly beans plus spices.
This really makes me think of an old fashioned soda fountain for some reason. There’s a lot going on here but it isn’t really my favorite. It’s more sharp and sassy than rich and creamy, but even then it’s got a darker flavor than I prefer. This still is a solid drinkable brew though. See how it rates against other root beers.
As you know, I wholeheartedly endorse any and all efforts to increase the world’s supply and diversity of gourmet root beer. But this is on a whole new level. The 
Crater Lake holds a special place in my heart. My family, on the way back from Sacramento, took a detour to visit Crater Lake when I was 17. It was the summer before my senior year. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. I even took some pictures that I used as senior pictures. I’ve longed to return and camp and hike and fish and whatnot. When I first saw this root beer at a local QFC, I was immediately flooded by the good memories. The picture on the label, while nice, doesn’t capture the true majesty of the place. With pure cane sugar to boot, I hoped that this root beer would capture the majesty of the lake and caldera in a brew beyond description. Sadly it was not to be. 
