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!

 
 

Milwaukee Brewing Old No. 3 Root Beer

January 26, 2015
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: WI Obtained in: trade with Jon
Head: Large Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 180 Sodium: 90mg
Carbs: 45g Sugar: 45g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://milwaukeebrewing.com

I must admit, there are a few people out there who are super root beer hunters. somehow they find these sodas that i had no idea existed. now, i think i am pretty good at finding stuff, at least stuff online, not like lost children or my keys or anything in real life of course. luckily for me, a couple of these super hunters have contacted me and wanted to trade for stuff i have. one such contact is Jon. we did a couple trades over the years, both had kids named Maddie and recently touched base again for a new trade. this brew was among the ones i did not know existed.
i am a fan of the label, it is unusual and fun, with paper cut out style images and a photo face on the firefighter putting out a raging inferno. this soda is in face "a salute to firefighters for their bravery and courage." so that is nice too.
i am not a fan that they put the nutritional info as a serving being 8oz. that is just dumb, it is a 12oz bottle, don't make me do the math or pretend that this is lower calorie than it is when i do a quick glance.
the drink itself is decent. it is smooth and semi creamy. the vanilla makes itself known for sure. yet it is a bit watery and weak, especially when i get lower down into this bottle. it has a normal flavor profile, or at least within the norm. it leans towards the creamier, smooth side of he fence and away from the spicy, sharp side. no risks were taken here and that is just fine really. i wish they would up the flavor a bit but it is a fine soda anyway.
Ingredients:filtered carbonated water, pure cane sugar, natural flavors, dextrin malt, real vanilla extract, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate as a preservative

Anthony's Rating: 75
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Victory Brewing Co Root Beer

January 19, 2015
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle, On Tap
Available: PA Obtained in: trade with Brad
Head: Huge Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 168 Sodium: 35mg
Carbs: 41g Sugar: 41g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.victorybeer.com

i have been after this soda for quite some time, let me tell you! Victory distributes their beers a decent amount near my job so i would often call places around there to see if they had or could get the root beer. everyone said no. eventually i checked on the Victory website for their product finder which told me a couple places in Philadelphia that carried it. i went to three or four and they were either closed or did not have it. ug.
so along came Brad, a fellow root beer hunter, who contacted me saying me had this as well as some other root beers on my wanted list. we quickly worked out a trade and here it is.
i like the design work on this. it does come across as a bit more of a "beer" type design for some reason, but that is fine.
my initial reaction to this is it is very sharp, it almost stings your mouth with the high carbonation levels. that fades though to a creamy cinnamon taste. as i drink it more and the carbonation dissipates over time, the real flavor is coming out more. i am enjoying it but it is predictable and a common, yet very good taste. i am not struck with amazement but i am satisfied with the flavor. many sodas are much much worse, some are better but this would do just fine
Ingredients:water, cane sugar, phosphoric acid, caramel color, gum arabic, vanilla extract, yucca extract, sodium benzoate (as a preservative), natural and artificial flavors, citric acid

Anthony's Rating: 82
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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O-So Good Vanilla Butterscotch Root Beer

January 12, 2015
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: WA, online Obtained in: mailorder
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 170 Sodium: 40mg
Carbs: 43g Sugar: 43g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.orcabeverage.com/

i am always a little leery of drinks that says things like "Since 1946″ on them like this one does. i mean, ok, maybe it was made initially in 1946 and then abandoned for many years until 2013 when Orca brought it back, or at least brought the name back. this soda was not made in 2012 so i don't think one can claim "since 1946″ about it. i also have a hard time believing that a vanilla butterscotch root beer was made in 1946 either. maybe a regular root beer. sure it is possible of course, i really don't know. on their website this is listed as "O-So Good Butterscotch Root Beer" but no where on the bottle is the "Good" part mentioned. it does throw in a "Vanilla" though so i just crammed em all together to get the name.
in any case, let's get down to it. there are a couple of other butterscotch root beers out there. i liked them ok, but they were too intense even for my pretty extreme sweet tooth. thus i was hesitant to try this one. i do like butterscotch and root beer and think it can be done better so hopefully this one rocks it just right.
you know what, i think they do, just about rock it. it is not too overloaded with butterscotch, the element is added without taking away from the root beer itself and overwhelming the whole thing. it is a balance. some people may prefer a stronger butterscotch but i think this is about right. the vanilla adds to the creamy element of it, smoothing it out even more. maybe that mellows the butterscotch even more somehow. of course it is quite sweet still, but that is fine by me, i don't mind a sweet drink so much. so of the three butterscotch root beers i have had so far, this one is the best. it could be better overall but it is somewhat unique and rather tasty so it rates fairly well.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, natural & artificial flavors, caramel color, vanilla extract, citric acid, sodium benzoate (a preservative)

Anthony's Rating: 83
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Private Label Diet Root Beer

January 5, 2015
Filed under: diet root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Diet Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: MA, NH, RI, VT Obtained in: mail order
Head: Small Sweetener: aspartame (NutraSweet)
Calories: 0 Sodium: 30mg
Carbs: 0g Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.plspecialties.com/

on occasion i run out of sodas to review, or at least get low. so i go try to find some new ones. on one such occasion i happen to go back to the Zeb's website to check it out. they now had not only the root beer i had tried but also a sarsaparilla, birch beer and a diet root beer! i quickly ordered all of them as well as some root beer for trade bait. when they arrived i saw that they were all made by Private Label Specialties. as i had encountered their stuff before i assumed i had reviewed them all. it also made me question whether the Zeb's Root Beer i reviewed some time ago was in fact Private Label made also. i will assume not for the aggravation that will ensue if it indeed is. now, a year or so later i again am running out so i see what i have not reviewed and realized the Private Label Diet Root Beer as well as the Birch Beer remain unreviewed. sadly i drank the Zeb's Birch so i cannot review that, but not the diet root, so here we go!
i cannot speak to the label design work as that varies for each client.
as a diet soda this is ok. the metal taste is minimal. but the taste is general is minimal. i feel like i am drinking one of those weird flavored, diet waters. bland, watery, but not the worst thing ever. it smells a little like root beer and slightly tastes like root beer but barely and only for an instant. it is not creamy, it is not smooth, it just is. try it i suppose if diet drinks are your thing. i myself will not do so again by choice. my kidney hurts for some reason, see you later.
Ingredients:carbonated water, natural and artificial flavor, caramel color, aspartame, sodium, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative) and acadia

Anthony's Rating: 33
User's Rating: 1
# of ratings:2
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