Bulldog Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Feb 202013
 

Bulldog Root Beer BottleSeal of Approval 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.

4.5 Kegs




H-E-B Old Fashioned Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  1 Response »
Jan 302013
 

I love my coworkers. They’re always willing to bring me back root beers from their trips. This one was brought back from Texas by my esteemed colleague Jimmy Jeff, who has family there and goes often. H-E-B is a grocery store chain in Texas and northern Mexico. The fact that they not only have their own root beer in glass bottles, but have one of the coolest and completely original bottles puts them in a class above almost any other grocery chain in existence in my opinion. An added bonus, if you like being bilingual, is that the label is also in Spanish, which sets this also in a class of its own since all other root beers I’ve encountered with bi-lingual labeling did so in French and English (to keep the Québécois happy). So they’ve got about everything going for them up to this point. How is the brew itself?

The Body has a rich medium sassafras flavor that is creamy with vanilla hints surfacing. There are nice caramel overtones as well. The Bite is well balanced between spice and carbonation while not being overly strong. The Head is tall and moderately frothy though it fizzes down faster than I prefer. The Aftertaste is a light vanilla and caramel flavor that turns slightly bitter at the end before vanishing. The bitterness doesn’t build though, so it doesn’t affect the rest of the brew the more you drink. It’s kind of like eating bread dipped in olive oil, the slight bitter notes at the end.

Yum. I like it. It’s got the right attributes and still has a unique flavor. Is it good enough for the Seal though? I was right on the line with this so I drank a third bottle (because I had one) and freezer chilled it to see if it gets better or worse in the frosty mug. I normally don’t need a third bottle, and usually don’t have one but this one was just so on the line between 3.5 and 4 I figured it could help. The head turned incredible and everything else was just as rich and developed as before. I was convinced. The Seal of Approval it is. I really want to go visit an H-E-B now. If this is the quality of their store brand root beer, I wonder what other treasures they’ve got there. See how it rates against other root beers.




Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  3 Responses »
Jan 092013
 

Every year for Christmas I receive at least one new type of root beer from my family. It’s a pretty safe bet on their part that if they give me a new glass bottle brew, I’ll be thrilled. About four years ago my sister gave me a six pack of this. She picked Zuberfizz because it had such a funny name. I must admit, it is a pretty funny. I imagines that it must be zuber fizzy with a name like that. It’s made by Durango Soda Company and has a simple yet attractive label with some catch phrases including “Feel the Fizz!” as the official flavor text plus some of the standard “classic” and “draft” and whatnot.

The Body is very crisp and clean with all of the right flavors in the right proportions. Love that cane sugar. The Bite is very mild. It is a nice and smooth brew. The Head is a little weak but frothy and lasts. You can “feel the fizz” to the end. The Aftertaste is sweet and creamy that lingers just the right amount.

Yum! I really like it. Also, I find that it is zuber fizzy and I can feel it. Congrats on that Zuberfizz! It could be better of course but this is a solid brew worth getting more of. My sister, of course, was extremely happy that I loved it and that I gave it the Seal. I even had four bottles of this at my official launch party for the updated and improved website. See how it rates against other root beers.




 Older Entries  Newer Entries