the final birch beer in the extensive Big Ben line up! phew! at last. i imagine this one is less “Patriotic!” than the red, white and blue birches, but i guess there is some country with dark brown in their flag where this would be ‘Patriotic!’. where that country is i do not know. i do suspect though that they have never had and never will see a bottle of this soda.
this one seems to be a little heavier to me, more substantial, more hearty. i really think that is more to do with the color and my mental expectations of what a darker brew should taste like than the actual reality of it all. if i was given the five (5) birch beers in a blind taste test i seriously doubt i could tell any difference. this one is still pretty minty which i don’t like as much in a dark birch for whatever reason, again, probably all mental. but the heavier-ness of it balances that out a little. as usual with the Big Ben’s plastic bottles, there is basically no head and very low carbonation. this one probably has the most though of the seven (5) kinds i have had in plastic.
i do support small bottlers. i love em. they make me smile and happy and warm inside. yet i wish some of them made better product. i mean, this is fine but could be really good i am sure with a bit of tweaking. make each color taste quite different, not just have different artificial colors. i really do think these would be better in the glass bottles that Big Ben’s offers at the physical stores that sell it. i think i still have to seek that out and see what is what there.
Anthony’s Rating: 81
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User’s Rating: 97
# of ratings:3
| Type: | Brown Birch Beer | Comes In: | 20 oz plastic bottle |
| Available: | PA, online | Obtained in: | mailorder from company |
| Head: | Tiny | Sweetener: | corn sweetener, sugar |
| Calories: | 142 | Sodium: | 6mg |
| Carbs: | 34g | Sugar: | 34g |
| Caffeine: | No | ||
| Website: | http://www.catawissabottlingco.com/bigben.htm | ||
Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar and/or corn sweetener, natural and artificially flavored, caramel. red #40 or blue #1 except clear
Where can I buy this soda? The company website seems to be down.
try their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CatawissaBottlingCompany?fref=ts it seems to still be active.
I just tried this one in the glass bottle. It is a pretty good Birch Beer. I really like the bite that this has. It has a really strong bite. It also has a slight mint edge, yet not in a gross toothpaste way. It tastes akin to the delicious wint-o-green lifesavers that I love. It also has a bitter bite to it that is not that bad at all. I think this is one of the better birch beers I’ve tried, and I’d love to try this one again. Compared to their root beer, I like this one a little less, but compared to their ginger ale – I think this might be equal. I’d give this an 84 or 85.
By the way, Catawissa Bottling makes great products. Out of the 5 sodas I’ve tried, their root beer, ginger ale, and cola are very very good. Compared to corporate brands, they are far superior and definitely are tempting to purchase by the case. The only one I did not like was their red cream soda which was not that good.