anthony's root beer barrel

A & P Premium Draft Root Beer

August 29, 2010
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 12:22 pm

Type:	Root Beer	Comes In:	12oz glass bottle
Available:	CT, NJ, NY	Obtained in:	A&P store in Bedminster, NJ
Head:	Large	Sweetener:	high fructose corn syrup
Calories:	170	Sodium:	45mg
Carbs:	47g	Sugar:	46g
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://www.apfreshonline.com

to celebrate their 150th anniversary, this east coast grocery chain released this soda. kind of like Foodtown did a couple years ago although i am not sure Foodtown had any such motivation for their glass bottled soda line. one of my co-workers told me about it and i soon after rushed over to the closest A&P to get myself a 4 pack.
i am surprised this has a non-twist off cap. it is pretty rare actually that sodas do the bottle opener needed thing, especially in this day and age of people not really having them as handy and available. luckily i do for just such an occasion, but the common everyday soda drinker may not and i suspect that A&P does not have one mounted on their wall for customer use.
also surprising is the use of 2 different forms of potassium as preservatives. this stuff will probably survive as long as twinkies and cockroaches! wacky. i guess it will preserve my organs and junk if i drink enough. that would be strange so i will not do it.
this has to be one of the sodas i have had this the most carbonation and foam. perhaps that non-twist cap really does seal in the freshness better! it has actually overflowed with foam twice now. the second time i tried to stop it with my hand by cutting off the air supply but that just made it spray all over my phone next to it. i should clean that off soon or i will have a sticky phone forever. although soda is still slowly dripping out of one of the seam areas, several minutes later. weird.
i like their labels and design work pretty good too. at least the front label. an old photo of an A&P store with the soda info over it. they even sprung for a neck label too! after trying to do neck labels for my wedding root beer, i realize how hard it is to get them to go on with no bubbles. this bottles fails that area worse than my efforts did. no matter though.
this soda is mysterious. at first it was very sharp and stinging, but as i get closer to the bottom it is more smooth and almost creamy. perhaps that is a function of the carbonation being let out and the true taste coming through. interesting… in the beginning of the bottle i was pretty disappointed in it, but now i like it pretty well. it is still too generic and not a whole lot better than many bottled root beers, but it is better than other store brands canned offerings. the taste now is mellow, smooth, rather sweet and pretty normal. so a solidly good normal root beer is what we have here. i think it is worth the price, check it out if you are in A&P territory.

Ingredients:

carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, natural and artificial flavor, potassium benzoate (a preservative), citric acid, potassium sorbate (a preservative)

Anthony’s Rating: 71
User’s Rating: 75
# of ratings:1
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Fizzies Root Beer Drink Tablets

August 20, 2010
Filed under: other reviews,root beers — anthony @ 2:27 pm

Type:	Root Beer	Comes In:	tablet
Available:	online, everywhere	Obtained in:	mailorder from popsoda
Head:	None	Sweetener:	sucralose/splenda
Calories:	0	Sodium:	150mg
Carbs:	0g	Sugar:	0g
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://www.fizzies.com

my friend Rob Base got some of these for me several years ago for my birthday or some such holiday. i tried em at the time and was amused by them but did not think to review them. then i just never saw them in stores myself when i did decide i should do so, they are a form of a root beer beverage after all. finally i was ordering some soda from popsoda.com for my dad and dad-in-law and noticed they sold them so i threw in a box for myself. in the intervening decade or so, they had redesigned the packaging, as is to be expected in that time. i think before it was not even in a box.
the concept is kinda of interesting. it is a tablet, you get eight in a box, which, must like Alka Seltzer, when plop plopped in water causes it to fizz fizz. strangely though it does not fizz nearly as much as Alka Seltzer or Airborne even. once it is all dissolved, there is no carbonation remaining. by the time i had entered all of the ingredients (did you check that crazy list out?! scary!!) it had fully dissolved and just sat there in my carefully measured 6 oz of water.
it tastes like a watery, ok diet root beer. i wish they had made this fully sugared but i suppose sugar takes up more room than weird sweet non caloric chemicals so that may not have worked in a dissolving tablet. sugar also is harder to dissolve in cold water. so it tastes funny, gives you that aftertaste. i shall use less water next time, maybe that will resolve the watery issue. it should. it does vaguely taste like root beer and is not awful besides the artificial sweetener thing happening.
i suppose if you are backpacking or going to jail or doing something else where you absolutely have to have something that tastes sort of like root beer but you have very limited space or need to smuggle it in or whatever, this may be for you. or it may entertain small children who don’t care too much how stuff taste as long as it is presented in an entertaining fashion or environment (ie Chucky Cheese).

Ingredients:

citric acid, sorbitol, sodium bicarbonate, natural and artificial flavors, potassium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium benzoate, polythylene glycol, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, FD&C yellow #5 lake, FD&C yello #6 lake, FD&C red #40 lake, FD&C Blue #1 lake, docusate sodium

Anthony’s Rating: 35
User’s Rating: 5
# of ratings:1
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Jackson Hole Soda Company Snake River Sarsaparilla

August 19, 2010
Filed under: sarsaparillas — anthony @ 2:03 pm

Type:	Sarsaparilla	Comes In:	12oz glass bottle
Available:	CA, OK, WY, online	Obtained in:	mailorder
Head:	Small	Sweetener:	sugar
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://www.jhsodaco.com/

so this is one soda i feel very bad about. you see, the company sent me some to review a couple years ago, along with the new formulation of their Buckin Root Beer but for some reason i just drank it or served it to guests by mistake. i thought i had more i suppose. but i did not. so finally i realized this and just ordered some. yet i still feel bad as this should have appeared years ago. alas.
i think green glass is my favorite way for a soda to come. i don’t know why exactly but the green is just such a great shade and look. it just works better for me than brown or clear glass. i don’t think i have had any other colored bottles so perhaps blue would tickle my fancy or something also. beyond that, the label design is ok. they go for the Old West/wanted poster sort of motif, which is the sense one gets when drinking a sarsaparilla i suppose. there is an olde tyme photo of 2 ladies carrying some fish skewered through their gills by a stick between them in one hand and their fishin’ poles in the other. i am not sure what that has to do with sarsaparilla, perhaps they caught these fish on the Snake River? the world may never know. i suspect that this the case as the photo copyright is from the Jackson Hole Historical Society.
the taste here is actually very good. it is complex and definitely feels olde tyme too. the licorice is very apparent after the swallow. the initial flavor is that of sassafras with a hint of wintergreen possibly alongside a bit of anise. the sweetness is solid, not overpowering at all. this is an excellent drink, one of the best sarsaparillas i have had i will say. at least to this point. i am very glad this company is still around and i hope they are doing well as both of their offerings which i have sampled have been excellent.

Ingredients:

carbonated filtered water, real sugar, natural and artifical flavors, caramel color, citric acid & sodium benzoate as a preservative

Anthony’s Rating: 94
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Wild Bill’s Rocky Mountain Diet Root Beer

August 8, 2010
Filed under: diet root beers — anthony @ 4:02 pm

Type:	Diet Root Beer	Comes In:	12oz glass bottle, On Tap
Available:	NJ, NY, PA, online	Obtained in:	mailorder from company
Head:	Medium	Sweetener:	aspartame (NutraSweet)
Calories:	0	Sodium:	40mg
Carbs:	0g	Sugar:	0g
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://www.wildbillssoda.com

yes yes, the sole diet offering in my wheelhouse from this company. will it be The One? the diet soda that tastes good? i doubt it, that is a very tall order. especially with aspartame as the sweetener. but who knows…
the basic design is very similar to the regular root beer, the same color scheme and bullet holed label and so on. which is fine, it worked for the other one, may as well stick with it.
the weirdest thing, in my mind is that i live about 10 miles from where this is made but i have never seen it in a store or restaurant. but then again, i don’t exactly get out all that much these days so it could very well be everywhere except the couple of places i do go.
wait, WAIT, hold the presses and the horses and your water! i think i may be losing my mind (this time i’m losing my mind, this time…) this actually tastes ok. what? yeah, did you just say that? yes, italicized emphasis, i did. and no, it is not April Fools day or anything.
my mouth does not taste like metal, even after a waiting period. it does have a little aftertaste, but not too much. and this stuff actually tastes like root beer! great googly moogly! wow. i did not think it could be done. if i did not distrust all artificial sweeteners i might drink this more. wacky. well, leave it to a NJ company to pull off such a thing. good work garden state!
it has a pretty creamy taste, smooth with a decent sweetness level. it is not a great root beer, it is ok, but for a diet soda, this is now the one to beat!

Ingredients:

carbonated water, caramel color, aspertame, sodium benzoate (preservative), citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, quillaia extract, acacia, and yucca extract

Anthony’s Rating: 70
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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IBC Diet Root Beer

July 29, 2010
Filed under: diet root beers — anthony @ 12:34 pm

Type:	Diet Root Beer	Comes In:	12oz glass bottle
Available:	everywhere	Obtained in:	somewhere
Head:		Sweetener:	aspartame (NutraSweet), saccharin
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://ibc.com

yes, that is right, it took me fourteen (14) plus years to finally review this soda pop. i lose track of stuff like this after a while. i just assume i have reviewed it. actually about a year ago i tried to make a list of the more obvious, pretty readily available sodas that i have yet to review and i carry it with me at all times. there are actually a good amount still on there, so perhaps i will get to 500 after all.
i was surprised to not see the “this product contain saccharin which may cause cancer” warning after i saw this has saccharin. so i investigated and discovered that the link to cancer was determined to be questionable and the warning is no longer required. shows what i know. whatever, i still don’t want to drink much of it.
regular IBC is a mediocre drink so its diet equivalent i don’t have too high expectations for…
i have had people ask why i don’t get someone who likes diet sodas to review them for me. the answer of course is then it would be “anthony and some diet soda lover’s root beer barrel” and that is hard to fit in a logo. plus it is a form of root beer, so i shall review it personally.
in that same vein, this is not so tasty. it is just harsh and sharp and mean to my tongue and taste buds and belly. for a diet soda, it is ok as that is what most diet sodas taste like. the flavor otherwise is sort of like regular IBC but with a bad aftertaste and a more harsh mid taste. i don’t recommend it. there are better canned diet root beers out there.

Ingredients:

carbonated water, caramel color, sodium gluconate, sodium benzoate (preservative), natrual and artificial flavors, food starch – modified, citric acid, aspartame, sodium saccharin

Anthony’s Rating: 31
User’s Rating: 63
# of ratings:3
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III Dachshunds Old Fashion Root Beer

July 18, 2010
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 1:45 pm

Type:	Root Beer	Comes In:	12oz glass bottle
Available:	WI, online	Obtained in:	mailordered from company
Head:	Small	Sweetener:	high fructose corn syrup, sugar
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://www.3dachshundsbeer.com/RootBeer.html

this one slipped through the cracks for a long while. i knew it was out there but couldn’t get any. but then they started to mail order it so i placed my order and promptly received a case. but then i got a whole load of other sodas which i suspected where not as fresh as this one, straight from the factory. thus i have not reviewed it for a bit. i still think it is ok and as it was before. i will try to drink a few bottles in the coming days to make sure they are all the same.
this soda has an ingredient i have never seen before, “dextrin malt.” i had to google that stuff. apparently it enhances mouth feel, foam retention and body without affecting flavor or color. as there is barely any foam here i can’t exactly comment on its effectiveness. i suspect that since these guys are primarily a beer brewery, they know what they are doing. at least as far as brewing beer is concerned.
i must admit that for at least a year or 2 i thought this soda was “Ill Dachshunds” as in sick dogs. i guess the roman numeral 3 (III) threw me off, especially starting off a name. and the lower case “l” and upper case “I” sometimes have the same exact appearance. oh well.
this root beer is pretty good. above average but not extraordinarily so. it is a straight up normal root beer. sweet but not too much so and not syrupy. these types of brews are always the hardest to write about, it does not distinguish itself but is solid and fine all the same.

Ingredients:

filtered carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and or sugar, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors, dextrin malt, citric acid and sodium benzoate as a preservative

Anthony’s Rating: 73
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Johnnie Ryan Root Beer

July 6, 2010
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 11:10 am

Type:	Root Beer	Comes In:	12oz glass bottle
Available:	NY	Obtained in:	sent by Martin
Head:	Small	Sweetener:	cane sugar
Calories:	180	Sodium:	50mg
Carbs:	45g	Sugar:	45g
Caffeine:	No
Website:	http://www.johnnieryan.com

if what the website tells us is true, then this stuff has been made continuously since 1935 in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY area. the key word there being ‘continuously’. i say that because a lot of soda companies now say ‘since 1927′ or whatever but really they operated from 1927-1965 or whatever and then their grandkids found the recipe and started it all up again in 2008 or so. the 40 year lapse is not really mentioned. whether it should be or not is somewhat irrelevant but i just wanted to note it. the company was also very helpful in trying to assist me in finding their product. it is supposed to be in many Wegman’s stores or else inter-store order-able at least, but my local Wegman’s had no idea what i was talking about. oh well, a kind reader sent some to me in a trade anyway. perhaps the company will do mail order at some point also as right now they are mainly available only in that western upstate NY region.
i was surprised too that this company does the very old school thing by having the same bottles for all of their flavors and only differentiating the packaging with the bottle cap. most of the companies i have seen that do that seem to use the returnable bottles so this may be a first for the more universal non-returnables.
speaking of the bottle, i do enjoy the design work of it mainly. my only qualm is the use of a variation on the Comic Sans font in a couple spots. if it were not for that i would buy into it being an old timey sort of beverage. i do appreciate the screened bottle graphics though, nice touch.
the soda itself is merely decent. the flavor is a little weak for my tastes, as if some ice had melted in the drink. the carbonation is pretty good when drinking it but it is one of the quickest dissipating heads i have encountered. the bubbles pop and die within 2 seconds of putting the bottle down. i enjoy the flavor that is there, the sweetness is at a good level, the flavor is an interesting slight variation of the expected ‘root beer taste.’ i cannot place what it is in the taste that is different. maybe cinnamon? just a hint of whatever it is. despite that, the flavor is a little weak and i am a little let down and can’t rank this too terribly high. i enjoy drinking it yet could survive without having it again.

Ingredients:

carbonated water, cane sugar, citric acid, sodium benzoate (a preservative), natural & artificial flavor and caramel color

Anthony’s Rating: 77
User’s Rating: 86
# of ratings:3
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welcome to anthony's root beer barrel! here anthony reviews root beers, birch beers & sarsaparillas, randomly rambles about the topic and probably some more stuff. so check it all out, feel free to comment on reviews or rate brews yourself.

A & P Premium Draft Root Beer

Fizzies Root Beer Drink Tablets

Jackson Hole Soda Company Snake River Sarsaparilla

Wild Bill’s Rocky Mountain Diet Root Beer

IBC Diet Root Beer

III Dachshunds Old Fashion Root Beer

Johnnie Ryan Root Beer

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