Rolands Place
“A Modest Root Beer guide”
Ever heard of the Pepsi dilemna? You are either a Pepsi person or a Coke person. You cant be both. Personally I cant stand Pepsi (I cant even finish a can), so I definitely am a Coke person.
However, the only Pepsi product I drink, and even enjoy is Mug Root Beer. Why is that? Because Root Beer, unlike all other sodas (please dont say 'pop'), is independent from the 'Pepsi Dilemna'. Root Beer is in a class of its own, not governed by the laws of cola-like drinks. Both Pepsi people and Coke people can enjoy a good bottle of Root Beer, and thats what its all about folks. :)
Before we continue, allow me to acknowledge some finer Root Beer sites than
my own:
Interesting Ideas Root
Beer - This one has some good info, and a strange list of some 'official'
taste test, which I am loathe to trust, but who knows.
Spike's Root Beer Reviews - This guy has
many many extensive reviews. I cant even find most of
these RB's in stores. He and I are in full agreement on the top Root Beer:
Henry Weinhard's
Anthony's Root Beer Reviews - This
is the motherlode. I had no idea there existed this many Root Beers.
A quick overview of the rankings:
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* Sampled as part of 1st official Root Beer taste challenge,
performed in
** Sampled as part of 2nd official Root Beer taste challenge,
performed in
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Henry Weinhard’s |
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Rating: |
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The mother of all Root
Beers. Made in Its pricey in grocery stores (as
much as beer, and these guys shuold know, 6 bucks for a six-pack), but you
can get a 12 pack of this stuff at Sam’s Club for about the same price,
and why not! The good thing is, its so creamy, you cant really empty the fridge on one
sitting. One bottle will pretty
much fill you up, and that’s a good indication of a perfect Root
Beer. It has the best head of all
the Root Beers I know, (just like beer!
Heeeeeyyyyy, these guys are clever!) I can only imagine what its like
to drop a scoop of vanilla on it, you’ll
probably end up with some scene out of ghostbusters, with all the foam
everywhere. If you really want to treat
yourself (to aobut 1000 calories, but what a way to go), get Henry
Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream soda.
This stuff is like “a pot of honey in a bottle”. Sorry Jud, if I didn’t get that
quote quite right. J Second tasting competition update: Henry Weinhard’s has once again risen to the challenge to top the second tasting competition! Undoubtably the finest Root Beer of its time! |
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Saranac |
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Rating: |
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Root Beer made by a beer
company? Always a good sign! These guys must know what they're
doing, because its almost indistinguishable from the
other 'Beer Company's Root Beer', Henry Weinhard's. Good foam
head that doesnt disappear instantly, nice and filling, and creamy. Its like drinking a dessert, really. Unfortunately, its probably only available in NY tri state area, because
Ive never seen it before in |
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Rating: |
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I’ve never had this in the
bottle, only on draft, which surely contributes to the bias of this Root
Beer. But I like to believe that
my judgement is still right on this one. Getting it is a little
tricky though. I go to the pub in
the 4 |
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Jack Black |
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The thing I liked about this one, funny enough, was the aftertaste. Creamy root beer-y aftertaste, and I wanted more. Even though I had parts of 15 root beers in me after the challenge, I still had to go back for more of this one to reaffirm my 4 star rating. Its solid. |
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Sprecker’s |
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This one rated pretty high amongst all 3 judges, a pretty solid 4 star rating here. Very creamy and full bodied. I was almost tempted to even rate it 5 stars, but lets not be hasty. We don’t just give out 5 stars to any old root beer. This one is still new to us, and has to stand the test of time. 4 for now is good. |
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Sparky’s |
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Robert raved about this one; it was his favourite of the tasting challenge. I gave it 4 stars as well, so I guess 2 taste buds cant be wrong. For this one, I wrote “very creamy”, in a pathetic attempt of notetaking after guzzling 9 root beers already. Still after all was over, we reaffirmed that we werent just in root beer coma, this one really is that good. Maybe can challenge the 5 star root beers one day. |
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IBC |
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I was surprised
in the blind taste test how high I rated this. Originally I thought it
was Barq's, which I love anyway, and was surprised to find out it was
IBC. No matter, I'll be true to my blind taste buds. Heck there
is nothing wrong with this brew, the only thing I dont like about it is the
bottle. Its cool how the bottle is
specifically made for them and all, being perforated. But you cant read it! (I’m talking about the regular
sized bottles, not the half-liter one in the picture) oh well.....its damn creamy
too, yummy. Speaking of
which, I have to put in a few good words about IBC Cream Soda. Look out
A&W!! Also, I thought IBC was based in
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Cap’n Eli’s |
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Don’t know what to say about this one. During the challenge, it was the 16th root beer we tried, so we were pretty comatose by that point. My notes just say “Solid good root beer”, which usually just means A&W style reliable good root beer, but all 3 of us ranked it 4 stars so that must mean something. Robert says it has a “pleasant taste”, and Jedi Cow even weighed it 4 stars based on its smell as well. |
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Abita |
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The label isn’t anything special, and neither is the brew. I thought it had a funny aftertaste, Robert wasn’t crazy about it either, but the Jedi Cow really liked it. And he’s a Jedi so I guess we can call this a 3 star root beer. Heck I’d eat some fish n’ chips with it, sure. Not something to enjoy by itself though. |
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Rat Bastard |
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This is the really controversial root beer. I said it during the taste test, and I’ll say it again. This brew gets better with time! The first sip isnt all that, but it grows on you fast, I say. Something earthy, very “rooty” about it. (as opposed to “creamy”). I gave it 3 stars on the test, but who knows if I had another bottle it might have been 4. Robert and the Jedi Cow didn’t like it at all, however! So I’m invoking my “this is my website” privelidges for this one root beer and will stick by my 3 stars for this one. Heck its at least as good as Abita (above)! |
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Sea Dog |
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Kind of creamy, but there’s something funny about the aftertaste. Doesn’t leave you wanting more. An ordinary root beer with a fun label. Still 3 stars though. Don’t waste it or anything. |
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I tell you, I expected more out
of this one. The Sioux City
Sarsparilla is so famous and so good, I thought this
one would clean the plate. Not that it didn’t get good scores. My 3 star rating for this was very
strong; it was on the verge of being 4.
“Rooty” I wrote, with a capital R. I like Rooty. Robert gave it 4 stars too, although
Jedi Cow only gave it 2. (Jedi
Cows taste buds could be a little suspect….). Still, rest assured, |
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Mason's |
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Robert and Jedi Cow both ranked this higher than me during the test. I was also tempted to write in 4 stars instead of 3, but…hey what the heck. It’s a strong 3, lets leave it at that. |
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A&W |
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There is a world of difference between the draft in the stores (of course, draft always raises the rating a whole star no matter what the root beer is), and the bottle. Not to mention, A&W comes in many kinds of bottles! Stay away from the plastic, always try to get your root beer in glass bottles if possible. Plastic does something weird to the taste. Still, during the blind taste test, you can always tell the A&W. Not too bad, not fantastic. Middle of the road. The “table wine” of root beers. Enjoy it with a hot dog. |
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Barq’s |
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The so called
"Cola-like" Root Beer. Coke owns it, it's the best selling
Root Beer in The perfect afternoon drink out of the vending machine (for us cooped-up sw engineers!), and my favourite out of the 'big 3' (The major, nationwide brands). |
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Mug |
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I had to re-evaluate Mug because originally I had canned it pretty low-ball, and then I was in some pub recently and found myself drinking super-great quality Root Beer. Naturally I harassed the waitress until she told me whats going on back in the kitchen, and to my surprise I found out that it was MUG! This cant be, I thought, because Mug is just.......so, so. But what I realized is that CANNED Mug is much different than MUG ON TAP. Each fountain place can monitor how much the soda/syrup ratio is, and this place upped the syrup in the ratio a bit. Hence it was definitely creamier than the usual Mug. So now I guess the same thing would apply to A&W and Barq's (although thats already kinda cola-like, so it wouldnt make much difference there). Still, after going back to a can of Mug for the taste test, it didnt score especially spectacular, and I'm sticking with my rating. Besides, I hate Pepsi, and they own it, so take that! lol.... |
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Stewart’s |
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This is a very decent,
middle-of-the-line Root Beer. This one has yucca extract too, but
overall it tastes good, so that cant be the super bad ingredient responsible
for Root 66. I'd have this Root Beer anyday, but the thing is, If
a store has Stewart's Root Beer, they also probably have Stewart's |
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Briar's |
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This one just tastes “funny”, whatever that means to you. Drink it with greasy food and don’t think about the taste. Just use it as a throat clearer until your next bite, it’s probably better that way. |
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X |
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This Root Beer is God-awful. I couldn’t even finish my small sample during the test. And you can tell from the bottle too. What a God awful bottle design. The only reason it got 2 stars is because my crazy root beer tasting team members, probably a little syrup-tipsy by this point, agreed the root beer was “at least trying”. They are wrong, but I’ll save my “this is my site and my ratings go” trump card for a root beer more deserving. Take your pitiful 2 stars and shove it, you God awful brew! You’re pathetic! |
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Thomas Kemper |
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This stuff is available at any
starbucks I've ever been in (in |
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Virgil’s |
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I thought as I
was looking at this bottle: man this must be a terrific drink! I mean its micro-brewed, right? It must be good! How
wrong I was.... Well ok, at
first sip you think....hmm...not great, but not bad...sort of average.
Then that aftertaste kicks in. I dont know about you, but I dont care
for aftertaste in ANYTHING I drink. Yeck, didnt they notice this in
their taste tests? Its the same kind of sugary
sacchariny crap that Root 66 had, although not quite as strong. I
didnt really finish this bottle either, even though it was still better than
Root 66. **update from
second taste test: these guys dissapoint me. I was so excited about trying this one again, because in between taste tests 1 and 2, I’d grown fond of this brew, especially during my trips to the grocery store where they have this on tap. But what I came to realize during the taste test, in betwixt 15 root beers, is the licorice flavour! Its not even noticable when drinking it by itself, but when drinking it in the midst of other good root bers, its extremely noticable, and tastes bad at that. I’ll stick with the crappy 2 stars for the bottle, and reserve a secret 3 or 4 stars for the good stuff on tap at the market. J |
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Root 66 |
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"Be
Forewarned! This product could kill you." Thats
what they should print on the bottle. I was seriously caught off guard
at how horrible this brew was, I mean, heck, the bottle looks pretty sharp,
dont it? After mulling it over Ive decided that the "Sweetened
with pure cane sugar" is the culprit that's responsible for that horrible
aftertaste. I mean, I kid you not, I couldnt even finish the
bottle. I had to pour it out, and bleach my mouth with A&W (I
would have used Saranac, but hey, thats a little
expensive for bleaching, heh). I'm not alone either. Both Brett and Jarrett during the blind taste test could tell that this was crap, so I really dont know what Spike and those other reviewere are smoking! I guess you have to be used to that taste, or something, but it sure doesnt taste like any Root Beer I want to drink! (and come on....yucca extract?) |
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Hansen’s |
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Wow this stuff looked bad when I
bought it, it sounded bad when I read the
ingredients, and sure enough, it was just plain.....bad.
"Creamy Root Beer" it says. Well yeah, Root Beer is SUPPOSED to
be creamy, aint it? You dont need to specify that on the bottle!
Just make some good Root Beer, dang it! No sodium either. Hmm, I
dont know what sodium actually tastes like but I know all the other Root
Beers have a fair amount of sodium. "Natural spices of
wintergreen, birch, anise"....holy crap they put all kinds of
stuff in here, no holding back for these guys! Maybe one of these
ingredients is the problem, maybe all of them, but one things
for sure, it tastes really funny. Like it only starts to fizz when you
put it in your mouth and swish it around. I'll pause for a second to
let that picture sink in. OK so its not as bad as Root 66 or Virgils, where I couldnt finish the bottle. I could. I even finished a six pack. Barely. But Hansen's should stick to those lime-grapefruit type drinks instead and please leave Root Beer alone, cause i'm not buying any more! |
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John Barleycorn |
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This one has a WEIRD taste, and I’m not even sure it qualifies as Root Beer. Maybe “root beer”, all lower case, is more like it. And the sample we tasted was flat! All around yucky, please don’t buy this. And the label is just creepy, isnt it? |
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Desert Sage |
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More of the same yuck, with more of the same creepy barrel-dude on the label. Who are these guys trying to fool? Actually, if possible, this one is even worse than the John Barley. If I could give 0 stars this would be the time. ALL TIME LOWEST RATING AWARD, right here! |
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Big Bear |
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Maybe not as revolting as Desert Sage, but an all-caps YUCK all the same. Zero thought put into this root beer. Seems like some dude in the mountains trying to make a buck, rather than craft something fine. TERRIBLE! |
