Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog – Page 159 – The blog of the gourmet root beer site.

Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer

May 292013

Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer Bottle It’s nice to see that even the tiny state of Rhode Island can get their own brand of root beer, and an Olde one at that, even if it is made by Empire Bottling Works. In fact they’re so olde they don’t even have a website. They’re so olde that their New England recipe is just old in comparison. They’re so olde that their label looks as though it’s as olde as the company, or that they spilled some root beer on it. And they’re so olde that they don’t even care. They don’t have to, because once you become so old that you’re olde, you’ve moved beyond such things.

The Body of this root beer is dark and rich, I like it. It was even a bit sticky from the molasses. I wish it had a bit more vanilla in it though. The Bite was very harsh from carbonation but not much from spices which was disappointing. The Head was absolutely pathetic, especially considering the amount of carbonation in the brew. The Aftertaste was mild and creamy wintergreen which is very nice.

Over all it has solid flavor without any bad tastes, but it’s so olde that it is lacking in a few flavors that those old root beers will have. The poor Head (too olde for that) and harsh Bite were also major downsides. But what do they care, they’re olde in Rhode Island … Molasses! See how it rates against other root beers.

Mt. Angel Brewing Company Old Fashioned Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers Comments Off

May 222013

Mt. Angel Brewing Company Root Beer Bottle Mt. Angel Brewing Company is unique in that it is a soda brewery. They brew sodas and only sodas which can be purchased in either bottles or various keg sizes. Their original flavor was their Old Fashioned Root Beer though they’ve since expanded to unique flavors like Marionberry and Hazelnut as well as the more traditional Orange Cream. They’ve won several awards for their brew. They took the Silver Metal at 2012 National Open Root Beer Competition (a category of the National Open Beer Competition), where the Gold and Bronze went to Seal of Approval brews so I was excited to get this to say the least. Getting it was a bit of a pain even though it’s only about a 4 hour drive to their brewery. I didn’t want to mail order it at first, hoping I’d be down there for some reason or another, but eventually I got around to getting my two bottles. Their motto is “Venite et Gaudete” which is “Come and Rejoice” The motto seems to be on a seal of some sort which only appears on their labels, the website is quite mute on the subject.

The Body has a rich strong minty flavor with a hint of fruity. It isn’t really creamy and is a tad bitter and sticky. The Bite is pretty non-existent. There’s a little carbonation tingle and the slightest mint burn but really nothing. The Head is short, very short, but frothy. The Aftertaste is very minty and a little bitter and fruity.

So this root beer really reminds me of Ozark Mountain, minus the creamy vanilla and the beautiful Head. They even both have green labels. While the creamy minty brews are a favorite of mine, this only has the minty part of the equation. Then that hint of fruity detracts and the Head is poor. In fact on the second bottle I tried, the Head was non-existent but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and rated it with the Head from the first bottle, which was still really short. All in all, it’s a decent brew but not one of my favorites by any means. See how it rates against other root beers.

Squamscot Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 6 Responses »

May 152013

Squamscot Root Beer Bottle Deep in the heart of New Hampshire the five generations of the Conner family have at the Conner Bottling Works churning out Squamscot Old Fashioned Beverages. They called their label Squamscot because, why not? They have 22 different flavors including Fruit Bowl, Yup, and Half and Half, the latter of which sounds absolutely awful, unless they make a coffee soda to mix with it (imitation flavors of course, I don’t drink coffee). The label is very plain and kind of reminds me of the Avery’s label but thankfully they use a few different colors and don’t recycle letters. I’m not sure why they insist on everything being written in a different font but that seems to afflict a lot of small bottlers. Whenever I get a new root beer I think to myself, “this could be the best root beer ever.” This time, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Body is weak and watery with slight hints of root beer flavors. It’s not good at all. It’s not really anything at all. Then the Bite attacks you. It is a weird, sharp, baking soda-ish Bite. It comes out of nowhere, masking out the other flavors (which is next to nothing to be sure) and bites the tongue, leaving a sort of sickening feeling, and then dissipates into realms unknown. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. The Head is dismal. The first bottle I had was completely flat and the others were hardly better. The Aftertaste is a light cane sugar flavor haunted by the ghosts of the unknown Bite.

Ok, what the heck was that? It’s really hard to find a redeeming feature with this brew, there’s just nothing right about it. I don’t know how they’ve stayed in business so long with this. It must be the Yup sales that keep them afloat. Perhaps they should call the root beer Scumscot instead. See how it rates against other root beers.

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