Jun 072017
 

Twisted Root Root Beer BottleSeal of Approval From a family owned and operated Ocean City Brewing Company in Ocean City Maryland comes this Twisted root beer, but it’s actually Twisted Root Root Beer, which makes spell check angry. You might think that it’s some mistake of mine, misinterpreting their original intent, but the label picture clearly has trees with twisty roots. For whatever reason they thought the double “root” was a necessity. Perhaps they did it so as to be able to pour it into a square glass and not have it turn into regular beer. If you square root root beer you’ll get beer after all. I should have asked them when I ordered it. I was more concerned about getting them to send me some at all. Some places can be finicky about that sort of thing. It joins Maine Root as the only other brand (that I know of) with the whole double root-ness.

The Body is rich and creamy and sweet and delicious. There’s cinnamon and vanilla accenting the rooty core with caramel undertones. Yum! The Bite is mild and pleasant with a smooth finish. The Head medium and frothy, lingering through the drinking experience. The Aftertaste is a mild vanilla with some hints of wintergreen coming through.

This is a proper root beer. It’s well balanced and has the quintessential creamy root beer flavors, with some added spices for an extra zip, but not too much. This is the sort of root beer you can drink time and again and it’ll never get old. That being said, it doesn’t completely blow me. It get’s 4 kegs and the Seal of Approval. See how it rates against other root beers.

4 kegs




May 312017
 

The Three Stooges Wise Guy Root Beer Bottle So Rocket Fizz is back with another old TV show personality root beer. Since it’s their third, they decided triple down as it were, with the Three Stooges, perhaps a plug at their own inanity in continuing to make ever more root beers which compete primarily against the old TV personality root beers they’ve already made. The “Wise Guy” is a nice touch though, as is having all of the label in black and white other than their hats. Perhaps they’re planning on discontinuing one of the others. Perhaps they’ll keep cycling new ones. That’s good for me as a reviewer, as long as they don’t recycle recipes. This one has ester gum, which is a new ingredient for my list, so at least this one’s new. Now the real question is, will drinking it be like getting poked in the eye or watching someone else get poked in the eye?

It has a rather generic Body that’s rich and creamy. Licorice and something out of place and herbal are also present. There really isn’t much Bite other than carbonation, but it isn’t smooth either. The Head is really tall and foamy, no complaints there. The Aftertaste is vanilla with a little licorice.

This is good but rather unremarkable. It’s better than a poke in the eye, but not quite as much fun as watching those Stooges poking each other’s eyes. It is better than the previous two Rocket Fizz root beers, so they’re improving. Maybe in the future they’ll make one worth buying for more than the novelty factor. But not yet. See how it rates against rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




May 242017
 

Pint of LTD Brewing Company Root BeerSeal of Approval Yesterday and Monday I was in Minneapolis for another job interview but this time for a different company, doing different things. Choices choices if I get offers from both. So anyhow I was in Minneapolis and looking for root beer. Remembering the fabulous brew at Town Hall Brewery and others, I had high hopes for another amazing Minnesota find. I discovered the LTD Brewing Company was not far from my hotel and immediately set off. LTD stands for Limited Batches, Unlimited Possibilities. It was started by two friends who met at college in 2003 and set off on a quest to make their own beer. This eventually turned into a brewery rather than some college kids trying to get drunk cheaper. Early on in the process, though, they made a commitment to have quality root beer, the kind Minnesota is known for. They didn’t disappoint.

The Body is oh so sweet and creamy and rich and utterly delicious. There’s tons of wonderful vanilla flowing through it. It also has quite a sharp and substantial Bite from a myriad of spices yet manages to finish smooth. The Head is amazingly tall and it takes the multiple pours before the glass can actually fill with brew instead of foam. The Aftertaste is strong vanilla with some wintergreen undertones.

Wow! This is so good. So sweet and spicy, yet smooth and creamy and just really what I want to see in a root beer. Dang Twin Cities area, you have got the highest concentration of Seal of Approval brews I know of. This might be the place for me to live.

4.5 Kegs


The LTD Brewing Company.

The LTD Brewing Company.

The LTD Brewing vats.

The LTD Brewing vats.

Only $2.50 for a pint of some of the world's best root beer.

Only $2.50 for a pint of some of the world’s best root beer.