Welcome!

November 14, 2011
Filed under: random junk — anthony @ 12:56 pm

Hello and welcome to the oldest, largest and frankly the best root beer reviewing site in the world! over 625 brands reviewed so far! i also throw in birch beer and sarsaparilla reviews occasionally while i am at it since to me, they are the same genre. once in a while i even detour into other branches of the root beer tree, such as spruce beer, dandelion & burdock and the like. a new review publishes every week on Monday with the random post or review of root beer related stuff every once in a while. feel free to submit your own ratings, check out the rankings from me and other visitors, see what sodas are available near you and more. make a float, tap a keg or mix some extract up and enjoy!

anthony (me) started reviewing root beer related drinks in '96 but has always loved the delicious joy of root beer and birch beer and just kept it going ever since. if you have any suggestions of features you'd like to see or sodas you want reviewed, let me know!

 
 

Boylan\’s Cane Sugar Creamy Red Birch Beer

September 25, 2017
Filed under: birch beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Red Birch Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: AZ, CA, CT, DE, GA, IL, IN, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, VA, WA, WI, online

Obtained in: somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 170 Sodium: 35mg
Carbs: 42g Sugar: 42g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.boylanbottling.com

one of the first sodas i ever reviewed was Boylan's Creamy Red Birch Beer. it remains one of my top sodas, which i will admit, now years later, it probably a little too high for it. which is not to say it is not a great drink, but maybe not that great. no matter. now they have this "Limited Release" version with cane sugar. i suspect the limited-ness is pretty much how many they can sell. i am a little confused if the regular version is still made as well or not. either way. i do very much like the bottle here, very classic and old time looking, they pull that off well.
the taste is super good. this is just what a red birch beer should be in my mind. it has some wintergreen happening but it is subdued and other tastes come through along with it. those tastes are more on the herbal side, a hint of sassafras as well as other tastes i have only really tasted in birch beer so i associate them with the birch itself. the soda has a sweet taste that is less sticky sweet than the other version, perhaps it is ever sweeter with a bit less of a bite as well. i am surprised how much of a head this drink has and it even lasts a while, that is unusual for birch beers. red birch beers are a curious thing, although i'd rather have a white birch in general, they can be quite tasty as well. this one pulls it off to a tee.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, pure birch oil, natural and artificial flavors, vanillin, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), red 40 for color, caramel color


Anthony's Rating: 93
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Tractor Soda Co Root Beer

September 18, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle, fountain
Available: ID

Obtained in: trade
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar, molasses
Calories: 118 Sodium: 0mg
Carbs: 29g Sugar: 29g
Caffeine: No
Website: https://tractorsodaco.com

this may have the longest ingredient list i have ever seen, at least character length which is mainly due to having everything be organic and pointing it out for every single ingredient. there is of course nothing wrong with being proud of that fact. they do proclaim it twice more, "organic crafted" and "made with organic ingredients" as well but those sort of blend into the image when i'd think they'd be much more prominent and obvious. no matter. so the company started off making gourmet, organic fountain sodas and only recently began being bottled by Rocket Fizz. that is an exciting thing, huzzah! i am very intrigued by their ingredient list, i love pretty much all the stuff they threw in here. i am not sure about juniper berries, that is a new ingredient for me.
whoa, you definitely taste how complex this is right off the bat. i think i expected something more licorice flavored but i am glad that is just a side note in the overall flavor here. the nutmeg and cinnamon shine as well. the wintergreen and birch are there if you try to pull them out. there are several other companies that try to pull off a multifaceted taste similar to this but i think this one does it very well. nothing overwhelms or controls it too much and that is key. it also is reasonably sweet and has a smooth feel. i quite enjoy it. for the natural sodas, this may be the best and for root beers overall, it is up there as well.
Ingredients:ultra-filtered carbonated water, organic cane sugar, organic blackstrap molasses, organic aged bourbon vanilla, organic wintrgreeen, organic sassafras, organic sarsaparilla, organic sweet birch, organic bark/ roots/ spices (including organic licorice, organic nutmeg, organic cinnamon), organic caramel color, organic juniper berry extract, organic quillaja


Anthony's Rating: 92
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Foodhold Cane Sugar Root Beer

September 11, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CT, ID, IL, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI

Obtained in: Stop & Shop in Somerset, NJ
Head: Small Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 160 Sodium: 5mg
Carbs: 42g Sugar: 42g
Caffeine: No

imagine my surprise when i perusing my local Stop and Shop and saw a new, glass bottle root beer on the shelves! wow! it is a very rare occurrence indeed to find a new soda when i am not really actively trying to these days. actually they also had a diet, so I found two (2!) new sodas in one day! what?! I can fully get behind pretty much any new root beer, especially glass bottled ones. granted i would rather it come from small producers as that makes it more fun to find and more fair for other small makers, but i have seen this industry change a lot in the past couple decades so i am sure it will survive some of the big guys as long as there is a superior product. now, just how small the "smell batches" this is brewed in is a big question, as well as if it is even actually brewed. that would be interesting to know. the label is ok, but kind of generic and dull. i do like the sort of screen printed appearance of some of the fonts and graphics but it is on a very dull monochromatic background.
this soda is actually rather unique, surprisingly. huh, never would have expected that! if i were to guess, i'd think it used a different type of sweetener, probably honey as it has that sort of taste and feel to it. although that could be among the "natural flavors" i'd expect them to proclaim that ingredient more loudly were it the case. it tastes rather herbal along side of that, almost tea-like but richer and more hearty. the head is very small yet it is carbonated well and goes down pretty smoothly. i am quite enjoying this in fact. i had actually put off trying it as i thought it would just be dull and predictable but i was wrong, i will admit it now.
Ingredients:sparkling water, cane sugar, natural flavors, citric acid, caramel color


Anthony's Rating: 91
User's Rating: 0
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Crim City Soda Renegade Root Beer

September 4, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: Canada

Obtained in: trade with Sagi
Head: Large Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 160 Sodium: 0mg
Carbs: 40g Sugar: 40g
Caffeine: No
Website: crimcitysoda.com

the label on this soda depicts a greaser looking dude with cheesy arm tattoos and a leather vest kind of watching a police officer who is missing half of the right leg of his pants manhandle another guy against his police cruiser while an angry dog is held back just off the label. i am not sure which side the dog is on, perhaps the assumed criminal as the aforementioned pants could have been damaged by said canine. but then shouldn't the cop be more worried? every time i look at this label i either think 1. did they forget the 'e' in 'crime?' maybe in Canada they lost it in translation. or perhaps it should just kind of sound like 'crime' but not be… or 2. this really looks like it should be the artwork from an 80s arcade video game machine. neither of these things are bad really.
how do they make root beer in Crim City is the question! very creamy is the answer in a nutshell. they must love vanilla in Crim City! perhaps that is what is being stolen on the label. the head is quite large and very long lasting, further enforcing the creaminess factor. yes, i know they are unconnected in reality, but it seems they should be, right? right. so it is ok. beneath the creaminess, which is not really my favorite direction to go in with flavors anyway, is a pretty ordinary root beer taste. i like the label a lot, yet the soda inside is mediocre at best. oh well, can't win em all.
Ingredients:carbonated filtered water, cane sugar, natural flavors, caramel color, yucca root extract, phosphoric acid, gum arabic


Anthony's Rating: 71
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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