Seal of Approval – Page 25 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Maine Root Root Beer

Mar 272013

Maine Root Root Beer Bottle First off this has one of the most annoying names of any root beer I know. The company’s name is Maine Root, which will work well with any flavor other than root beer. While one could just chalk this up to an oversight on their part, Root Beer was the first flavor they offered. Clearly, with their attention on all natural, organic, free trade, and free-range (I’ll get to that later), they just couldn’t be bothered by not making their root beer redundant. It’s a forgivable offense, but will probably always keep them in the top 5 annoying root beer names (coming soon). Secondly, they have the amusing gimmick of Free-range Root Beer. That calls for all natural root beers that live (and are perhaps captured) in the wild. One of their stated goals is to fight corporate root beer, which I’ve seen before from that Flathead Lake Monster swill, but these people have a much better strategy.

The Body is crisp and well balanced. It is creamy with wintergreen surfacing after the initial contact. The Head is full and frothy. It lingers. It is less than the epic Head of a Henry’s, but sufficient for the most adamant connoisseur. There isn’t really much Bite. Though I like it smooth, some spices could improve it a bit. The Aftertaste is a creamy vanilla with hints of wintergreen.

This is a very delicious and well crafted brew. Overall it has all of the right flavors in the right proportions. It is very clean and crisp on account of the cane sugar and no preservatives. The lack of preservatives is wonderful as the slight soapiness or fruitiness that accompanies sodium benzoate or citric acid is gone, so all of the focus is on the wonderful mix of root beer goodness. They may be on to something with that whole Free-range business. I must say that this is the best all natural root beer I’ve had so far. The only drawback is the almost complete lack of bite and that something extra, like honey or cinnamon, to really seal the deal, however, I am still proud to give this root beer my Seal of Approval. See how it rates against other root beers.

Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 15 Responses »

Mar 132013

This was a root beer I was not excited at all to drink. While a caramel cream root beer is very intriguing, a brownie caramel cream root beer sounds terrible. I just can’t imagine putting chocolate in root beer and having it come out in any way good. I suppose Brownie might just be the name and have nothing to do with the flavor, but there’s a lot more wrong with this. There’s the Peter Pan wannabe ordering you to “Drink” his pixie concoction all framed on a what looks like a Chinese knockoff Pepsi logo. Is that even legal? Aren’t they violating at least two trademarks with that? Perhaps side text on the bottle gives some explanation. “With a Sprite on the label, it’s easy to see how this mischievous and delicious blend of root beer & caramel came about” … What? No, no, NO! That makes no sense at all, and now they’ve gone and violated a third trademark. Can it get any worse? “CONTAINS MILK” … Words fail me.

The Body has a very rich sassafras flavor that gives way to luscious caramel and cream that thankfully tastes nothing like brownies. It’s absolutely delicious. There is a prickly carbonation Bite but not much in the spice department, rather, it is nice and smooth. The Head is medium height but fizzes away in less than a minute unfortunately. The Aftertaste is more rich caramel and cream that lasts just long enough to make you want more but not so long as to be annoying when you can’t get it.

Well, I wasn’t prepared for that. I really love this flavor. I love creamy caramel flavored root beers and this takes it to a whole new level. You can really get lost in that caramel and never want to come back. It seems that the milk comes from real cream, but it works like I’d never imagined. Sweet and rich and smooth and lovely. This blew me away. The Head is disappointing but just barely good enough. I guess you can’t judge a root beer by it’s label. See how it rates against other root beers.

Bulldog Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers 2 Responses »

Feb 202013

Bulldog Root Beer Bottle This isn’t your regular gourmet root beer. It’s one of those few that are actually brewed using the highest quality ingredients (according to their site) such as cane sugar, real vanilla, and honey. The label itself is rather classy but falls victim to far too many root beer cliches. First is the dogs. So many root beers with dogs on the label. This one takes it a bit further since the entire brewery is named after a dog. The two dogs do have names, Barley and Hops, but so do most of the other dog root beers. Also, Bulldog sports “The Original”, a tag line whose disappearance from labels would bring nothing but immense joy, along with “Handcrafted” which isn’t nearly as overused but still too prevalent. Their bold “Unleash the Taste” (pun I’m sure is intended), though, is a nice and very appropriate slogan.

The Body is wonderful! Lots of honey, vanilla, and the other essential flavors. Sweet and creamy, the kind of flavor you could just snuggle up to if that were possible. The Bite is not much but sufficient. The whole thing has a very rich and smooth mouth feel from the maltodextrin. The Head is frothy but not much, not flat by any means just less than is desirable. The Aftertaste is of vanilla and honey and very pleasing though a little sticky.

When I took the first drink I exclaimed “Oh wow!” This is one of the best tasting root beers that I have ever had the pleasure to drink. “Unleash the Taste” indeed! I don’t care what their label is like, I’ll drink this stuff whenever I can get it. It’s really a shame about that Head, if it were tall and extra frothy this may have made it into the highest echelon of root beer rankings. However, I am still very proud to award it my Seal of Approval. See how it rates against other root beers.

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