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Hello and welcome to the oldest, largest and frankly the best root beer reviewing site in the world! i also throw in birch beer and sarsaparilla review while i am at it. 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 soda review publishes every monday with the occasional random post or review of root beer related stuff. 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. anthony (me) started reviewing sodas in ’96 but has always loved the delicious joy of root beer and birch beer.

A-Treat Birch Beer

i got a keg of this for my friend mike’s birthday several years ago and it was quite tasty so i was excited to get to try it again. yup, tastes about the same. very very minty, wintergreen. yummy. i love wintergreen. the funny thing about getting a keg of root beer was we had like a month to get it back to them before we lost the deposit so it stayed in mike’s room for the whole time and was always good. never finished it i don’t think. oh well. anyhow, this is pretty good. a little over carbonated maybe but that is not so bad. this is probably the best soda i have had in a can.
Anthony’s Rating: 91
User’s Rating: 86
# of ratings:48
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Acme Birch Beer

very curious that it is red… sadly it is not too much like the only other red birch beer i have had, Boylan’s Creamy Red. this stuff has some weird sort of menthol smell / taste that is kind of subtle but still rather annoying. and it ruins a decent taste otherwise.
Anthony’s Rating: 28
User’s Rating: 50
# of ratings:52
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AJ Stephans Pure Cane Sugar Birch Beer

ok, so this is the final AJ Stephans product i know of. although i have a feeling there is a cooresponding “Olde/Old Style Birch Beer” out there somewhere. (does anyone else find it odd that the Sarsaparilla is “olde style” while the root beer is “old style?” at least keep the “o” or drop it consistantly.) ok, so anyway.. my first reaction to the initial sips i took was “yum, this is good, subtle birch-ness, not too fizzy” but that sometimes fades too soon. after a few more sips it seems to have accumulated on my tongue enough that the taste sticks around. and you know what? i like it a lot. crisp, refreshing, sweet but not insanely so. a hint of mint that, if anything, is a little TOO subtle. but defintely one of the better birch beers i have had
Ingredients:pure carbonated water, cane sugar, flavor, sodium benzoate (preservative)

Anthony’s Rating: 90
User’s Rating: 78
# of ratings:25
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Big Ben’s Blue Birch Beer

this is a first indeed, a blue birch beer! they actually have 4 kinds of birch beer but i was only able to find 2 of them on this journey so hopefully i can find the others some other time. anyway, i do not know if the blue really changes anything except the color of my stomach. i was hoping for a blue tongue but i think i’d have to hold it in my mouth longer. i think it is just coloring as the labels and ingredients seem identical (“… red #30 or blue #1 except white.”) but whatever. i like their 12 oz returnable bottles, reusing the bottles from past PA soda companies, mainly A-Treat but also Towne Club, which i have not seen in years! makes sense, bottles can be expensive, especially nice thick ones like this. so it is pretty tasty actually. wintergreen with a good sweetness level. the wintergreen seems slightly off, it is not biting like i would hope/expect, it is more of a slow developing, lingering taste.
Anthony’s Rating: 83
User’s Rating: 80
# of ratings:18
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Big Ben’s White Birch Beer

alright, so onto the white birch! i am sure it is my imagination but it does taste slightly different. more crisp and slightly sweeter. or maybe not… could have just been the soda settling a little bit as the top of both actually was tastier than the bottom. kind of silly to review this i suppose as it is exactly the same as the Blue Birch but without the color. i could copy and paste but that seems just as silly. well, whatever. kind of minty, kind of sweet. the mint taste is a little weird. not bad. not amazing.
Anthony’s Rating: 83
User’s Rating: 77
# of ratings:12
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Boylan’s Creamy Red Birch Beer

probably my favorite bottled birch beer. creamier than half and half, smoother than a baby’s tummy and tasty as anything you’ve ever had. the vanilla makes it just go down SO easy. incredible to make floats with as you may have guessed. and it is from the finest state in the US of A, New Jersey! aw yeh, what more could you ask? ok, fine it is RED! how rad is that?! answer me! plus it is on fountain at the 7-11 right by my house, aw yeh! 64 oz for $1.34, gotta love that!
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, pure birch oils, natural flavors, vanilla, natural yucca extract, vanillin, citric acid, caramel color, red 40, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness)

Anthony’s Rating: 96
User’s Rating: 82
# of ratings:346
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Boylan’s Original Birch Beer

i love this stuff too. it has a flavor that is very similiar to their Creamy Red variety, but this one has a little mint tinge to it, making it more of an authetic birch beer. still pretty creamy and great for making a float. this may be the finest birch beer ever made. from the big NJ of course.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, pure birch oils, natural flavors, caramel color, natural yucca extract, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness)

Anthony’s Rating: 95
User’s Rating: 78
# of ratings:209
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Briar’s Cane Sugar Premium Red Birch Beer

this was also at the grocery store that day. in contrast though, it is not at all superior to the regularly sweetened variety of Briar’s birch beer. it is much too carbonated and it has a slightly bitter taste, when there is a taste at all. it may very well be that i am affected by only sleeping an hour in the past 34 hours, but i have not had my taste buds be affected by such actions. i am not saying it is bad but it just tastes slightly sweet, slightly wintergreen and that is all. alas… cool, heavy bottle though.
Ingredients:carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, sodium benzoate (a preservative), citric acid, natural and artificial flavor

Anthony’s Rating: 78
User’s Rating: 82
# of ratings:10
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Briar’s Premium Birch Beer

well, this tastes like a root beer, strangely. a darn good one at that though so i am not complaining. a hint of wintergreen i guess could give away that it is a birch beer. but otherwise, a nice little kick to get you going and wanting more more MORE! ya gotta love a soda that smokes when you open it.
Ingredients:carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate as a preservative, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors

Anthony’s Rating: 88
User’s Rating: 75
# of ratings:43
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Briar’s Red Birch Beer

so i am not sure if this is the same as the birch beer above, well, either of the birch beers above. actually i know it is not the same as the cane sugar one since this does not have cane sugar. but it may have replaced the other one as i don’t see that anymore. anyway, this is a decent birch beer. strangely red birch beers seem to have a unique taste from clear or brown ones. not sure why that red #40 makes it taste different although i suspect it is something else more traditional. or even the yucca extractives in here. sweet with a slight kick and a not as slight but still slight fruity taste.
Ingredients:carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium citrate natural and artificial flavor, citric acid, acacia, red #40, and yucca extractives

Anthony’s Rating: 73
User’s Rating: 78
# of ratings:6
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