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.

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Polar Wild West Sarsaparilla

November 30, 1997
Filed under: sarsaparilla reviews — anthony @ 2:42 pm
Type: Sarsaparilla Comes In: 1L plastic bottle
Available: NY Obtained in: Fishkill, NY
Head: Tiny Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.polarbev.com/default.html

not so strangely, this tastes an awful lot like their root beer, but more so in the bad aspects. it just makes you feel ill real quick and has this flavor that makes you think it is bad even before it hits your stomach. perhaps i got a bad shipment of all of their line of sodas as they all are just not good at all and how can a company keep going with terrible products for very long? perhaps the majority of the world just disagrees with my taste buds but that just cannot be the case.
Anthony’s Rating: 20
Your Rating: 49
# of ratings:18

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Polar Root Beer

November 30, 1997
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 2:41 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 1L plastic bottle
Available: NY Obtained in: Fishkill, NY
Head: Small Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.polarbev.com/default.html

a strange taste, a bit spicy, but really not something i would want very much, too syrupy and false i think. tastes a bit like it has gone bad somehow and i will shortly be getting sick from it. hope that isn’t the case…
Anthony’s Rating: 24
Your Rating: 49
# of ratings:54

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Polar Birch Beer

November 30, 1997
Filed under: birch beers reviews — anthony @ 2:39 pm
Type: White Birch Beer Comes In: 1L plastic bottle
Available: NY Obtained in: Fishkill, NY
Head: Tiny Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.polarbev.com/default.html

where in the wide world they came up with the belief that carbonated sugar water is somehow birch beer i will never know. there is really no flavor here. don’t get me wrong, i like birch beers that have that pretty faint taste thing going on, but there is nothing for me to even grab onto here.
Anthony’s Rating: 15
Your Rating: 56
# of ratings:44

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Shasta Root Beer

November 28, 1997
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 3:56 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, online, everywhere Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Medium Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.shastapop.com

it has a taste that is a bit different. the underlying thing is somewhere between fruity and cough syrup. after a while that is no good but for the first few gulps it is pretty good. for as cheap as this is, i approve.
Anthony’s Rating: 48
Your Rating: 48
# of ratings:278

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Price Chopper Root Beer

November 27, 1997
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 2:46 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: CT, MA, NH, NY, PA, VT Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Medium Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://pricechopper.com/

yet another pretty lame flavored root beer, or so they claim. the root beer part that is. there is some flavor here, but you have to find it and it is not a very good one when you do.
Anthony’s Rating: 23
Your Rating: 38
# of ratings:35

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Sensational Root Beer

November 24, 1997
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 3:52 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: NY Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Medium Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup, sugar
Caffeine: No

pretty awful on the whole. i thought it was decent at first but after a few more sips and tastes and junk, the truth was clear: not yummy. what can you do though? drink something else i suppose. so go do that. although they have a satisfaction guarenteed policy so you could drink on them for free i guess, but i’d rather pay for better stuff.
Anthony’s Rating: 22
Your Rating: 26
# of ratings:18

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Keiko Draft Root Beer

November 23, 1997
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 7:00 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: discontinued Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Small Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup, honey
Caffeine: No

this kinda totally stinks. fine, part of the money goes to help this whale rehabilitate or whatever. but that does not make the root beer taste any better. it still stinks. they’d think they might make something good so people would buy it and they could make more money. instead i am stuck with 5 cans from a six pack and a sick feeling in my stomach. perhaps they are going for the natural root beer crowd or whatever, but it is not all that natural. oh well.
Anthony’s Rating: 22
Your Rating: 40
# of ratings:8

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Health Valley Old Fashioned Root Beer

November 2, 1997
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 5:25 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: NJ, NY, online Obtained in: Berkeley Heights, NJ
Head: Small Sweetener: molasses, fructose
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.healthvalley.com/

well, at least their root beer is somewhat better than the sarsaparilla, but it still a funky taste to it. it is much like a too creamy licorice or something similiar. if that makes any sense to anyone, i don’t think i have ever had a creamy licorice myself, but perhaps you have… i am also not sure where in the world to obtain this either since it is not carried where i got the sarsaparilla. not something i’d actively look for but it is a decent change.
Anthony’s Rating: 39
Your Rating: 64
# of ratings:39

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