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.


 

 

Olde Brooklyn Williamsburg Root Beer

March 21, 1998
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 9:23 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: NJ, NY, OK, online Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Large Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar
Calories: 180 Sodium: 37mg
Carbs: 48g Sugar: 48g
Caffeine: No

if you are going to make a root beer taste like licquorice, it should be like this one. i don’t know if i would choose to do such a thing but i honestly am quite a big fan of how they pulled this off. not strong or overpowering or anything, but it is definitely there and you taste it. a very enjoyable root beer that does not have the generic or usual taste to it. and it has a really nice head on it. creamy and smooth all the way.

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

Anthony’s Rating: 87
Your Rating: 55
# of ratings:24

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Olde Brooklyn Bayridge Birch Beer

March 20, 1998
Filed under: birch beers — anthony @ 9:18 pm
Type: Red Birch Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: NJ, NY, OK, online Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Small Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar
Caffeine: No

i think this got opened a bit when i was transporting it from Po-town, so there may actually be more of a head to it than i got from this bottle. anyhow, “this is one darn good birch beer” were the first words out of my mouth after i swallowed this. sweet, but not overly so, a hint of wintergreen. maybe it could use a bit more of that. but it is definitely one of the best birch beers i have ever had.

Ingredients: water, pure cane sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, sodium benzoate (a preservative), citric acid and red #40 (artificial color).

Anthony’s Rating: 90
Your Rating: 83
# of ratings:74

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Squeeze Birch Beer

March 20, 1998
Filed under: birch beers — anthony @ 4:18 pm
Type: White Birch Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: MA, online Obtained in: Northampton, MA
Head: Small Sweetener: cane sugar
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.xstreambeverage.com

i would say this is a decent birch beer. nonetheless the flavor is a bit hard to find, as with most clear birch beers, but it stands out more with this one than with the others. it is a nice wintergreen taste at that, which i find really tasty in a birch beer. so if you are looking for a fine clear birch beer that you can actually taste, i’d go for this one.
Anthony’s Rating: 79
Your Rating: 54
# of ratings:11

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Mystic Seaport Sarsaparilla

March 19, 1998
Filed under: sarsaparillas — anthony @ 7:38 pm
Type: Sarsaparilla Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CT, NY Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Small Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 180 Sodium: 10mg
Carbs: 44g Sugar: 43g
Caffeine: No

strangely, this is a million times better than the root beer… that is a good thing since that stuff was toxic i think. it is not the tastiest thing ever or anything but it is pretty good. quite sweet, yet it has a little bit of a different taste, the vanilla and wintergreen i guess combining together.

Ingredients: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, pure vanilla extract, natural flavors & oils (including anise, cassia, wintergreen), caramel color

Anthony’s Rating: 72
Your Rating: 44
# of ratings:20

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Mystic Seaport Root Beer

March 19, 1998
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 7:34 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CT, NY Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Small Sweetener: brown sugar, molasses
Caffeine: No

finally got a hold of some of this and as i was warned, it is pretty awful. it is another case of throwing too much stuff with strong flavors into one thing. things from molasses to anise to wintergreen to camomile to ginger just make it taste rancid and wretched. although i suppose it is better than some of the brews of this type, it still is not something i’d want to have again really.
Anthony’s Rating: 17
Your Rating: 47
# of ratings:60

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Goose Island Root Beer

March 12, 1998
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:11 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: IL, online Obtained in: Rolling Meadows, IL
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.gooseisland.com/

the cane sugar here adds a different little zing to this root beer. makes it more carmel-y i suppose. it is quite a tasty little brew also in any case. i’d drink it more if i could get it anywhere near me at all. alas… such problems…

Ingredients: carbonated water, pure cane sugar, caramel color, natural and artificial flavoring, sodium benzoate and citric acid

Anthony’s Rating: 87
Your Rating: 84
# of ratings:275

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Berghoff’s Root Beer

March 10, 1998
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 8:52 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle, 32oz glass bottle
Available: CA, IL, OK, online Obtained in: Chicago, IL area
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 120 Sodium: 30mg
Carbs: 29g Sugar: 29g
Caffeine: No

yet another brand that i had heard a lot about and was told it was very good and junk. i was not terribly impressed though i must say. not that it is a bad drink, it is just rather regular and generic. i’d drink it before i’d have A&W or any major brand really but not before a lot of the really superior and unique micro brews. that they have 32’s is a major plus for them as far as i am concerned

Ingredients: carbonated water, pure cane sugar, caramel color, sodium benzoate (preservative), natural flavor, and citric acid

Anthony’s Rating: 73
Your Rating: 83
# of ratings:136

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