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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Saranac Diet 1888 Root Beer

June 27, 2002
Filed under: diet root beer reviews — anthony @ 2:32 pm
Type: Diet Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: NJ, NY Obtained in: Poughkeepsie, NY
Head: Large Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup, aspartame (NutraSweet)
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.saranac.com/

so Saranac has a diet soda… hhhmmm, can one of the best root beers be translated into a diet with any success? and how diet can it be with corn syrup as the second ingredient? let’s find out… actually it is good. weird. quite creamy and well carbonated. a very large foam. the taste is not real big but enough to be decent 35 calories which is not exactly none, but it is very low. you can taste the aspertame aftertaste for sure, but it takes a little while and it is not overpowering at all. of course, this is not good for diabetics as it has sugar, but those just on a diet will probably appreciate this greatly. personally i do not need to be on a diet so i will stick with regular Saranac, but perhaps one day… this is even better than the Diet Pennsylvania Dutch that i was so impressed with.
Anthony’s Rating: 61
Your Rating: 82
# of ratings:20

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Gilded Otter Barley’s Rootbeer

June 10, 2002
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 2:41 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 64 oz glass growler
Available: NY Obtained in: Gilded Otter Brewpub, New Paltz, NY
Head: Tiny Sweetener: unknown
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.gildedotter.com/

so i was about to come home from my 6 year college reunion and i recalled that i had found a brewpub online that was very close to the old alma mater. so i went to the ole computer lab and got directions via my own site. i drove a bit out of my way home but i got there fine. i saddled up to the bar and order a tall frosty one. it was rather tasty so i inquired of the bargal if they bottled it. they said they could put it in a growler for an obscene price. of course i bit and got it. so here i am at home, 2 days later, kicking back with a growler of soda. aw yeh! i enjoy this soda. it has a real “rooty” quality to it, a slightly bitter thing going on i guess even though it is quite sweet. decent carbonation although no real head. it seemed to have one when they dispensed into the bottle though. perhaps it has disapated with time or else i should shake it a little. i feel like i can place the unique taste of this but i can’t… oh well, some sort of root.
Anthony’s Rating: 90
Your Rating: 70
# of ratings:7

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Pennsylvania Dutch Diet Birch Beer

June 3, 2002
Filed under: diet birch beer reviews — anthony @ 2:39 pm
Type: Diet Birch Beer Comes In: 2L plastic bottle
Available: NJ, PA Obtained in: Bound Brook, NJ
Head: Medium Sweetener: aspartame (NutraSweet)
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.daretogodutch.com/

a red diet birch beer… hhhmmm, unique. and, even more unique, it is good! yeh, there is a little bit of that bad aspartame taste, but it is very minimal. i would safely say this is the best diet birch/root beer i have had. don’t get me wrong, it is not comparable to a good, regular soda, but it is better than many bad ones and a few mediocre ones. the taste is sharp, not wintergreen at all really. i suppose it is even a good deal as it is always on sale at my local supermarket.
Anthony’s Rating: 60
Your Rating: 79
# of ratings:38

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