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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.

B&S Soda Pop Chili Rootz #45

ok, so since the first B&S Soda Pop i had was seeming to lack in flavor, i thought i would turn this bottle over a couple times gently to get the flavor mixed in better. bad idea. i am lucky this is a thick glass bottle as there is some serious carbonation going on inside of this bad boy. every minute or so i open the top a little and let some of it out but it has been a while now and it still is ready to overflow with foam. so i have yet to taste it. i am a bit apprehensive anyway i suppose. i like a little bit of heat in food, occasionally, but not serious spiciness. and a chili pepper infused root beer promises to have some real kick to it. i have been told by the makers that this does not have the heat of the chili though, just the flavor. this is not on purpose mind you, they do want the spice in there too. so if you get anything other than batch 20101001 you may get spiciness. there is also a large chili floating near the top now. it may have been there before the near explosion, but i just couldn’t see it. now i can since it leaked all over my desk when i first opened it unknowingly and couldn’t close the stopper quickly enough. that pepper makes me think the makers may be joshing me and it will indeed be packing some heat.
ok, this is getting crazy, it has been at least 10 minutes and i still can’t open it long enough to get a drink. it is slowing down a lot though so perhaps soon i can try it. this one was also in the fridge for an extra week, so maybe that resulted in more carbonation even though it should not have. ok, i am going in.
they lied, this has a serious kick! whoa. holy guacamole! if you ever wanted to try a chili flavored soda, here you go. really i don’t taste much of anything else here, just chili pepper. you know, i like spicy ginger beers, but this brings it to another level. it is a weird experience, a drink this spicy. usually i drink things to quell the spice. there is no way i could chug this. which is fine. a sippin’ soda is good too. but to have to wait a couple minutes between sips because my mouth is still rockin is a bit much. i am not saying it is bad at all or that i don’t like it, as i do, but it is not awesome. it is different for sure. interesting indeed. really tasty, not so much. would i get it again? probably not. but i am very glad i got it this once. i gace some to a couple of my co-workers who love chili and put them in many things and they said it was not spicy at all. hhhmm, i still think it is. it burns me. well, at least i can’t say that this soda is lacking in flavor…
Ingredients:filtered water, sugar. natural flavors…

Anthony’s Rating: 72
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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B&S Soda Pop Rootz #45

wow, this is a very eagerly anticipated soda for me. i had found out about it the people behind it and immediately knew i had to try some of their drinks. they make this, their basic root beer, as well as several variations on it. i was able to get the chili root beer also so expect a review of that soon. hopefully i can get some of their coffee and chocolate root beers also soon. we shall see. the tricky part is that they yeast carbonate. as you may or may not know, yeast carbonated when the drink is at room temperature. and you allow it to do its work for about 2 or 3 days or so, then refrigerate it to stop the process. thus they basically have to send it immediately after bottling so that the time in transit allows for carbonation. i would think there must be a way to stop it otherwise, as Fentiman’s does it as well as other home brewers. also, being straight edge myself, i was hesitant to try it as the yeast does produce a slight amount of alcohol. after talking to the brewers some, they showed me that 7-Up actually has more alcohol from the ethanol in the flavoring than their soda. ok, so i am onboard with this.
the yeast carbonation definitely adds a unique type of bubble, smoother, smaller, not as sharp and harsh for sure. the taste though, i am not too excited about. it is rather subtle, not too upfront, perhaps weak? i did get two bottles of this one so hopefully the other one will be stronger. what is there i like. it is different. i am trying to put my finger on it but it is tough. i would say it is “hearty” and “hardy” both. i suppose it is a little yeasty but not very much. it comes across as more “root”-y than most other root beers. i feel more like i am drinking something authentic and natural. i enjoyed it for the change of pace but it is not as wonderful as i had hoped it might be.
Ingredients:filtered water, sugar, natural flavors…

Anthony’s Rating: 80
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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B-K Root Beer

I was driving between destinations in Indiana when I passed by this sign. for a moment i considered whether i had time to stop for some soda and if i would even be BK Root Beer or the sign was just old. of course i realized i had to stop so i turned around and went back, pulled in. it looks like they should have car hop service but they don’t anymore, which is fine by me. so i go inside and try to order some soda and food. after waiting for a good 15 minutes and someone in the back looking at me at least 10 times, they come out and take my order and i get some root beer. the brew was pretty decent. the carbonation level was very low as was the foamy head, barely any of either to speak of. the flavor had a slightly bitter taste while being a bit too sweet also. i know, a weird combo. it actually tasted somewhat unusual, so they get points for that. try it out.
Anthony’s Rating: 80
User’s Rating: 76
# of ratings:10
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Bad Bob’s Root Beer

I first came upon this company a few years ago. they called the soda something else, “Slammer Root Beer” i do believe it was. then the website disappeared before i had a chance to order some and i was sad. but then i heard about how they changed the name and junk. and i still did not order any as i had about 20 root beers in my fridge to review. then Tony emailed me and offered to send a bottle! of course i accepted, offering to pay postage and whatever. Tony rocks! anyway, here it is now. apparently this company employs mainly ex-cons, fresh out of prison, giving them a chance to transition and have a job and junk. that is rad. and the soda is really good too! the honey is apparent but not overwhelming. sweet like i enjoy them, but not syrupy sweet. wow, really good stuff! i think i will definitely have to order some when their website comes back up. somehow they have achieved a different taste than any root beer i have had before. wacky.
Anthony’s Rating: 95
User’s Rating: 82
# of ratings:28
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Barq’s

this is not really even root beer, and was not intended to be until Coke bought it and claimed it was. ( more info) that “bite” isn’t much of anything either. probably the dumb caffeine or something. i dunno, sometimes i am into Barq’s but not usually. it is probably my last choice among major and most minor root beers. yes, the Barq’s i get has caffeine! perhaps some places in the US or abroad it does not, but here it does. actually the “real” Barq’s is quite tasty and i always get it when i go to New Orleans or the vicinity, that seems like something else entirely to me.
Ingredients:carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sucrose, caramel color, sodium benzoate (to protect taste), citric acid, caffeine, artificial and natural flavors, acacia

Anthony’s Rating: 45
User’s Rating: 62
# of ratings:1513
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Barrel Brothers Root Beer

i have been meaning to order this stuff for a long time and i finally did. i think this is the only root beer (as they claim on the bottle) brewed with Vitamin C and calcium. granted it is less than 1% of your RDA of calcium and only 67.5% of vitamin C but it is still weird. and i think it throws off the flavor. i think the most annoying thing though is that the serving size listed for the nutrition info is 8 oz for this 12 oz bottle. why did they do that?! i had to multiply and even add to figure this stuff out to share with you people! but really, it does not make much sense, perhaps they want to be seen as having less sugar or carbs or something than the competition, but does anyone care that much when you are drinking microbrewed root beer? well, whatever. the soda is a bit watery, but not quite flavorful enough to really be good and not exactly close enough to something refreshingly crisp or whatever. i am disappointed i must admit. now i understand why my dad did not finish the bottle i gave him last week when he visited my house. i thought it would be better. alas, Barrel Brothers, go brew something yummier!
Ingredients:carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate

Anthony’s Rating: 58
User’s Rating: 52
# of ratings:34
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Baumeister Root Beer

i like this soda. but there is something stopping it from being in that upper sphere of root beers. i mean, the packaging is kind of lame, but besides that, maybe it is a little watery or a bit of a lack of carbonation. yeh, both of those things are faults and accurate ones at that! don’t get me wrong, it is tasty, but just not amazing. kind of creamy, kind of sweet, just not enough of anything i guess.
Ingredients:carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors, citric acid and sodium benzoate (preservative)

Anthony’s Rating: 86
User’s Rating: 84
# of ratings:27
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Bawls G33k B33r

i believe i have mentioned before that i tend to avoid caffeine in my daily life. sure i will occasionally have a cup of coffee, but never really to stay alert, it just tastes good and the decaffeinating process scares me a little. perhaps that is partly why i like root beers a lot, it almost never has caffeine.
yet this beverage exists in large part in order to give easy, tasty access to caffeine to the drinker. i believe the company’s market is video game players. they encourage you to have a server party with your friends and enjoy their beverage while doing so in order to prolong your party time and evade that pesky sleep nonsense. they even make the bottle with bumps, studs and ridges so you can more easily grasp it. although there may be a different motivation and item they are trying to resemble, i will go with this, my first impression. the actual caffeine content is around 64g, more than the 55g of a can of Mountain Dew and probably about as much as a cup of brewed coffee, which is not really so much i suppose. especially for something marketed as an energy drink. i have never had any others of this genre but i always figured they had a whole lot more caffeine than that.
now, coincidentally i am rather tired today after getting to bed late and being woken up a couple times by my newborn daughter, which is an entirely different scenario and potential market for the Bawls people.
so for a drink that is mainly a liquid vehicle for caffeine, this tastes pretty decent. it is somewhere between a natural brew with a slightly bitter undertone and a mainstream soda with high carbonation and high sweetness levels. it is pretty smooth overall and goes down well. i know it is root beer even! this seems a difficult line to walk. to me though it loses point for being caffeinated
Ingredients:carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate (as preservative), caffeine, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, and guarana extract

Anthony’s Rating: 71
User’s Rating: 68
# of ratings:17
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Bedford’s Gourmet Root Beer

hhhmmm, very unique indeed. actually it tastes way more like a black cherry soda than a root beer. i am almost wondering if they put this in the right bottle. i will have to assume they did though for the sake of this review deal. sweet, fruity, yummy goodness. i like black cherry soda actually so i am not at all opposed to this drink. i wouold guess it is made with corn syrup even though no sweetener is listed. the whole ingredient list seems shady but whatever.
Ingredients:caramel color water, natural and artificial flavors, gum arabic quillaia, citric acid, and sodium benzoate

Anthony’s Rating: 90
User’s Rating: 79
# of ratings:15
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Bennett’s Big Bear Root Beer

i don’t think i have ever seen a soda with “root beer extract” as an ingredient. wacky. it also has molasses, which you can actually taste quite well. that is good as i am a fan of molasses, it really should be in more food stuffs. it gives this brew a hearty sort of taste. i am rather fond of it i must admit, it is not your run of the mill root beer. i hear it is even better as a float but i just have this one bottle and not enough left to float it up! maybe i will order some more though one day.
Ingredients:filtered water, high fructose corn syrup, root beer extract, molasses, sodium benzoate

Anthony’s Rating: 94
User’s Rating: 43
# of ratings:10
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