anthony's root beer barrel | best root beer, birch beer and sarsaparilla reviews anywhere!

 

 

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!

 
 

Rock Steady Gene Simmons Moneybag Root Beer

August 13, 2018
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 11.5oz glass bottle
Available: CA, online

Obtained in: trade with Sagi
Head: Huge Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 180 Sodium: 50mg
Carbs: 45g Sugar: 45g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.genesimmonsmoneybag.com/

well, there is a KISS root beer out there and i think Gene Simmons did not get a cut of using the name, or perhaps not big enough of a cut or whatever, so he course had to make his own root beer. and several other flavors while he was at it. or at least lend his name and likeness to the people making it. whatever, that is all a moot point. if it causes there to be more root beers in the world, I am all for it.
the labels and junk are kinda silly, lots of moneybags and dollar signs, with several hands making devil horns and Gene Simmons' signature also in a few spots. of course all is gold and brown ink.
in the end though it has to taste good. i have not had the Kiss soda so can't compare them but this is good. super smooth, very creamy, huge foamy head that lasts forever. it also has a little bit of an extra taste in there, some wintergreen i think. it is a pleasant drink and they did a good job with it. not that it is the best soda i have ever drank, but it is indeed better than most. i am pleasantly surprised, i kind of expected this to be mailed in and generic. Gene-style!
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, citric acid, sodium benzoate (used as a preservative), natural flavour, and caramel colour.


Anthony's Rating: 90
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Oak Creek Barrel Aged Root Beer

August 6, 2018
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 8:08 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CA, online

Obtained in: online somewhere
Head: Medium Sweetener: sugar, brown sugar
Calories: 150 Sodium: 35mg
Carbs: 41g Sugar: 41g
Caffeine: No
Website: oakcreekbarrelagedsodas.com

so this is the other offering so far from Oak Creek. it too is aged in charred oak barrels for a year. it is supposed to be more robust and all of that and perhaps it is, but perhaps it just has more caramel color. either way, it is different, despite the ingredients being identical.
but how does it taste? it is kind of meh, to me at least. i hoped for something really lively, unusual and popping out. but it is just kind of bland and dull. the carbonation even is lacking. i thought maybe this was an anomaly so i opened a second bottle, which luckily i had around, and it was the same. it could be a bad batch of course but it is what i have. there is some caramel there, some sassafras, but mainly it doesn't have much. i don't dislike it, it is decent yet it could be so much more.
Ingredients:water, sugar, brown sugar, natural & artificial flavor, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate


Anthony's Rating: 72
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer

July 30, 2018
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CA, online

Obtained in: online somewhere
Head: Medium Sweetener: sugar, brown sugar
Calories: 150 Sodium: 35mg
Carbs: 41g Sugar: 41g
Caffeine: No
Website: oakcreekbarrelagedsodas.com

i am fully a fan of what this company is doing. they are expanding the root beer world really, innovating and creating whole new types of soda in a way. each batch of their soda spends at least a year in a charred oak barrel! now, i don't know if that is before or after carbonation, i would assume before really. or maybe just the syrup is aged? it doesn't sound like it. in any case, it seems quite complex and involved. i had heard tales of this brewer from Sagi, who seems to have his ear to the pulse of most new root beer happenings, quite a while ago. i believe there was some incident where all of the batch went bad or something and it wasn't discovered until it was opened after the year of aging. but i could be dreaming that or just making it up. in any case, i am glad this is around and i do hope they keep making new types of things.
although it says it has caramel color, i am suspicious of that as this is the color of cheap, watered down apple juice. i don't mind that personally, the less added color the better in my book. it is made with 25% brown sugar and 75% white sugar, so I am expecting a good brown sugar taste, but not too much. i think i'd prefer a strong brown sugar taste personally but whatever. there is no real info on what the spices and junk that are in here on the bottle, but the website says it has ' Madagascar vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and “allspice”.' i do not know why allspice is in quotes though. i can taste the cinnamon a little, the nutmeg a touch but not really the vanilla or allspice. the brown sugar comes through a little, but again, i would want more of it. it has a light taste, as i figured it would. nothing really complex or developing or too unusual in the flavor either. it is fine. i hoped for an 'oaky-ness' to come through somehow. or maybe a char sort of taste but there is really nothing like that here. i will drink the rest of the case i got but i won't rush to do so.
Ingredients:water, sugar, brown sugar, natural & artificial flavor, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate


Anthony's Rating: 82
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Calvin’s 1836 Barrel-Style Root Beer

July 23, 2018
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: MO

Obtained in: trade with Tony
Head: Large Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 160 Sodium: 45mg
Carbs: 40g Sugar: 40g
Caffeine: No

i knew of this brew but never had a way to get any until Tony came along and posted in the root beer hunters facebook group that he had gotten it himself. as he is a very kind fellow, i inquired if he had any extra. lo and behold he did! woo and hoo as well to that news!
the label tries to look like an old document to play up the 1836 thing i suppose, browned paper with a slightly darker brown drawing of a couple of buildings and the like. that is fine. i am less of a fan of so many different fonts going on here though. i believe there are at least five on the main part of the label.
when i see a root beer with something in the ingredient list like 'root beer flavoring' or 'root beer extract' or whatever, i am kind of disappointed. it seems a cop out. i am aware that it could really mean that they make their own flavoring or extract or whatever and are not not revealing the secrets of it, but it seems more like they are just buying it from someone else. drinking this really doesn't lead me to believe much different. it is fine, tastes pretty good really, but it isn't anything special. there is a ton of foam and a very long lasting head, but that is purely aesthetic anyway. the added vanilla is a nice touch and does make it probably smoother and creamier than it would be otherwise. overall it is ok. drinkable and better than many, but just mediocre in the grand scheme of things.
Ingredients:water, cane sugar, root beer flavoring, pure vanilla extract, citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate


Anthony's Rating: 78
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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