Chuck Wagon Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Nov 072012
 

Who doesn’t like a chuck wagon with a bunch of wooden soda kegs on it? It seems that the people at Chuck Wagon Old Fashioned Sodas decided to capitalize on that sentiment and thus they own and sell these wagons to people to set up stands at various county fairs and festivals. It is a pretty cool concept when you think about it and is doing it’s part in the Root Beer Revival. Though I’m curious, other than the cool old-fashioned wagon, what makes this an “OLD-FASHIONED SODA?” I’ve been wondering because there are so many root beers out there that claim old-fashioned, yet their flavors and ingredients vary widely. Unless, of course, root beer itself is an old-fashioned flavor which would mean all root beers would be old-fashioned. Hmm. This sounds like a great topic for the next IAGRB Standards Committee Meeting. Anyways, they also bottle their sodas as evidenced by the fact that I was able to procure two bottles to review, which makes them extra cool in my book.

This has a sweet medium Body with a pronounced caramel flavor that is nice and creamy. It has a nice mouth feel to it as well. I really love that flavor. There isn’t much Bite; it is nice and smooth with some subtle spice accents and fizz. The Head is medium height and froth, adequate. The Aftertaste is caramel with slight vanilla hints coming through. Delicious!

Wow! I love the taste of this brew. The creamy mouth feel is an added bonus as well. Good job! There’s nothing wrong with this root beer at all. There could be more right, like an even better Head and more spices for additional complexity, but they’ve essentially captured the proper root beer drinking experience and emphasized that amazing flavor. It is as the say, “SODA-LECIOUS”. I’m proud to give them my Seal of Approval, and look forward to drinking more of it in the future. See how it rates against other root beers.




Spring Lake Root Beer Adds Eric’s Seal of Approval to Their Labels – The First Root Beer to do So!

 Root Beer News  5 Responses »
Jul 072012
 

One of the world’s most delicious and unique root beers, Glewwe’s Castle Brewery Spring Lake Root Beer has just gotten even cooler. As the photos show, they have just added Eric’s Seal of Approval, which they so justly earned, to their labels in the top right corner above the castle. They are the first root beer to date to do so, though I’m sure they won’t be the last.

True, the Seal is a little small on their label but it is still quite legible in real life. They had to request a special black and white version since they currently don’t print in color. I must say that this is the fulfillment of a dream I have had ever since I came up with the concept of the Seal of Approval, and thus my joy is overflowing. One more lifetime goal accomplished! So now if you’re ever in a store and want a good root beer but can’t remember if Spring Lake is worthy of imbibing, rest assured, my Seal of Approval will be there, reminding you that it is.





Spring Lake Root Beer in all of it’s many forms.

A closeup of the standard bottle.


A&W All American Food Root Beer

 Root Beer Stand Root Beers  1 Response »
Jun 252012
 

So just after I decided to start reviewing root beer stand root beers (since I the Standards Committee of the International Association of Gourmet Root Beer (IAGRB) declared them gourmet) I found myself in Dearborn Michigan for another electric vehicle conference. The only root beer that I could locate in walking distance was the A&W stand. I was planning on doing my review of A&W either with the one near my parents house or the original stand in Lodi (near my grandma’s house if I ever got down there), but on day three of the conference, I felt I needed a root beer. I trekked to stand in a suit in 95 degree Michigan heat and ordered a nice frosty mug of root beer, just to drink, not review. As I was enjoying the infinite refills for only $1.90 the manager told me a bit more about their root beer and their stand. That they hand make their root beer in batches every morning for the freshest flavor. That they still use the original secret recipe, and that, unlike the bottled A&W, there are no preservatives. That means it is a different recipe and thus technically classifies it as a different root beer in my book according to the IAGRB Standards. They tap the syrup straight out of the vat and mix it with soda water in the fountain, definitely higher quality than your bag-in-the-box swill. Also the Dearborn A&W is very close to corporate (since all of the stands are currently owned by franchises and corporate only does the bottled sodas) and is used for training. It includes a conference room and an oversized kitchen. Wow, I didn’t even know any of that at the time. I vowed to return the next day with my camera in tow to give them a proper review. The next day also happened to be June 20, the Birthday of A&W so it seemed appropriate to have my review then.

The Body is sweet and full with creamy vanilla and a spicy caramel flavor accenting the core. It is almost candy-ish. The Bite is pretty mild but there’s a small kick from the carbonation and spices. I do like it smooth though so no harm there. The Head is medium height and frothy so it lasts a good while. The Aftertaste is creamy vanilla with caramel and spice hints.

So yum. I find nothing at all bad in this root beer and they’ve got a lot right. There is a reason that A&W stands still dot the land after all. The crisp fresh taste with the lack of preservatives really pushes it over the top whereas the bottled root beer fell a bit shorter. I’ve had better brews of course, much better, but this is delicious and well balanced. I give it the Seal of Approval (and a trip to the Wayback machine will reveal that I originally stated it was a 4 from the draft at the restaurants), though just barely. I’d say it’s the cutoff point. The food is pretty good too but nothing compared to the XXX Root Beer Drive-in.

A bacon cheese burger and fries with root beer. Pretty good.




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