Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog – Page 28 – The blog of the gourmet root beer site.

Virgil’s Handcrafted Root Beer

Nov 042020

Virgil's Handcrafted Root Beer Bottle Virgil’s has been around for a long time. It was ballyhooed to me greatly in the 90’s by many only to leave me quite disappointed when I finally tried it. Last year, however, there was a shake up in the company for some reason. I don’t know all of the details, but for some reason the bottling was moved to a new location, the fan favorite, Bavarian Nutmeg (the only one I liked) was discontinued, and the recipe and name was changed on the flagship root beer. Now it sports an all natural recipe and the name Handcrafted Root Beer as opposed to the original Micro Brewed designation. I guess the new bottler brews bigger batches and they do so by hand? I don’t know, but it means that I can write a new review on the new recipe with the new name cause it’s a new root beer and that makes me happy. The label picture is also slightly different yet similar and somehow not as cool, like the Digitally Remastered Edition… Anyways, root beer.

The Body is kind of dark and rather complex. There’s sarsaparilla, licorice, a hint of fruity, and some other stuff going on but it doesn’t really work. The Bite is mild with no discernable spices yet harsh at the same time in mouthfeel. The Head is tall initially but fizzes down really quickly. The Aftertaste is sarsaparilla with licorice hints and fruity notes.

I like this less than their original and I wasn’t a fan of that. I don’t know how they made it worse, but they did. It just doesn’t mix well. Their last version at least had a balanced flavor, even though I didn’t like it. This is all over the place while also failing to be good. So yeah, I don’t know what they hoped to accomplish by getting rid of their best root beer flavor and making their flagship worse, but I don’t have a lot of hope for this company. See how it rates against other root beers.

Sprecher Root Beer BBQ Sauce

Root Beer Condiments No Responses »

Oct 212020

Sprecher Root Beer BBQ Sauce The last good of my Sprecher Root Beer Products order. The Barbecue Sauce. I love me some barbecue sauce. I always put it on burgers, fries, chicken strips, ribs, etc. I always am pouring copious amounts of it on my barbecue. In my opinion, fries are merely a vehicle to eat barbecue sauce. So this was the one I was the most excited for. We waited for a special occasion and then made a nice rack of ribs topped with the sauce for a first taste.

It’s a rather runny sauce, which is unexpected. The flavor is a little ketchupy and tangy, with a bit of tart spice. The root beer doesn’t really come out like it does in their mustard. When cooked on ribs, it thickens nicely and gives a great flavor, though not the root beer flavor that I’d hoped.

That was kind of disappointing. I later tried it on a hamburger and a chicken burger and some fries and I’ll just give it an okay. It’s not really my style, and the root beer doesn’t really shine though. It isn’t bad by any means, just not what you’ll probably be looking for when you get a root beer barbecue sauce. I’m looking for something thick that I can dip all my things, whereas this seems more like a marinade sauce than a finishing/dipping sauce.

My rack of Sprecher Root Beer Barbecue ribs.

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Oct 072020

Lakefront Brewery Golden Maple Root Beer Bottle Another blonde root beer! I mean, they don’t call it a blonde root beer, they call it golden, but it’s clearly a blonde root beer, even though you’re just looking at an empty bottle it was a nice blonde color. I should probably take pictures of a full bottle but I didn’t from the beginning so I couldn’t for all of them which means inconsistencies which I hate and… I think this is only number three for me so far, so I’m excited. Also, a maple root beer, which I love. As a maple syrup maker, I love all things maple. Lakefront Brewery is in Milwaukee and was started in 1987. They have made their root beer for some time, but it used to always be in plastic bottles, which of course made me frustrated. But now they have seen the light, and put it in glass, where all gourmet root beers deserve to live (and kegs, but anyways). So now that I can finally, after all these years, try this, was it worth the wait?

The Body is sweet with a subtle maple flavor complimenting a solid core. There’s a hint of vanilla in there as well. The Bite isn’t very spicy but is a little harsh feeling. It doesn’t finish smooth and I like a smooth finish. The Head is nice and tall with medium staying power. The Aftertaste is a mild maple vanilla flavor that while pleasant, isn’t amazing.

This is good, just not great. It needs a little more, the maple is nice, but some more complexity of flavors would push it to the next level, the Seal of Approval level. But it’s still a fine root beer that if you’re a maple lover or a blonde root beer lover, or just a regular root beer lover, you’ll want to give it a try. See how it rates against other root beers.

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