wow, this is why i love my readers! one emailed me, saying i had to get to Frankenmuth, Michigan to try this root beer as it rocked his socks. i googled the place, saw they mail-ordered, placed my order and less than a week later i have a new soda to review that i never knew about!
i had to add a new sweetener for this one, beet sugar! interesting.
i love the charm of the label design on this one. definitely homemade but well done for being so. we get a chicken in linder hosen along with some flowery border on the main logo stuff. well done. different if nothing else.
i will admit i know little to nothing about anything Bavarian so if there is some tie of root beer and Bavaria, or beet sugar and Bavaria or basically anything about this soda besides the label and Bavaria, it went over my head here. ok, even the chicken on the label is beyond me. alas.
i like the taste of this. the honey comes through but not too strong as in some others. i know it is there but it is not smacking my tongue around. the beet sugar i am not sure about, i am unsure what that tastes like actually. but there is a good sweetness here, not sickly so or syrupy but nice and smooth. the flavor beyond that is pretty standard although solid. it could be a little stronger or unique but it is fine as-is. i definitely applaud them for making their own root beer and doing a decent job, probably appealing to more of a broad audience than if it was more unique and turned people off. if i am ever in Frankenmuth, i will be sure to stop by, although i slightly doubt there is much vegetarian fare. well, deserts and there is nothing wrong with deserts for a main course. or maybe some sort of pancake, i feel like there must be Bavarian pancakes with some cool berry inside or something.
Anthony’s Rating: 83
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| Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | MI, online | Obtained in: | mailorder |
| Head: | Medium | Sweetener: | honey, beet sugar |
| Caffeine: | No | ||
| Website: | http://www.bavarianinn.com/ | ||
Ingredients: carbonated water, MI beet sugar, natural and artificial flavor, MI grade A honey, sodium benzoate (preservative)
Northwoods Wild Bill’s also has beet sugar.
Frankenmuth used to be the place to go for fried chicken dinners and probably still is although the food wasn’t all that (I grew up in Michigan). Nice to know they’ve expanded their repertoire to include root beer.
yes indeed, Wild Bill’s does too. i actually wrote this review about 2 1/2 years ago, if not more. it kept getting pushed back more and more. so when i wrote it, the beet sugar part was correct. now, it the context of publishing it, not so much. thanks though Eric! and thanks Karen for the info too!
Interestingly, Michigan Beet Sugar is also the same type used in Northwoods. I guess it’s the only beet sugar worth using…
My mom always bought beet sugar when I was growing up but I didn’t realize it was probably local; I know it was cheaper which is undoubtedly why she bought it. As I recall, it didn’t taste any different to cane sugar.
Frankenmuth is well known in Flint MI for their all you can eat and then some family-style fried chicken dinners, I know about the Flint connection, ’cause that’s where my uncle lived when he took us to Frankenmuth (got tired of feeding six growing teenagers all ranging in height from 6’2″ to 6’10”).
Anyway, that’s why the seemingly endless chicken dinners with plenty of buttered noodles on the side.
Generally speaking a manufacturer will always try and buy as local as possible to save on shipping costs, since Michigan grows sugar beets, it makes more sense to purchase the refined beet sugar locally than say get it all the way over in Nebraska, Wyoming or Montana, which are all large sugar beet growing states.
I hope this comment clears up some of your questions.
And about the family style chicken dinners, is it any wonder why my uncle arranged for us to stay in Frankenmuth for two days?
He needed time to restock the larder in his own house lest we eat him out of house and home, which seemed to be on a regular basis, a good thing we were just visiting.
HI ANTHONY-ITS NANCY FROM ILLINOIS. I KEEP LOOKING FOR ROOT BEERS ON YOUR WANT LIST,HAVE NOT FOUND ANY YET. WANTED TO CHECK IF YOU HAD ANYMORE BOTTLE CAPS FOR ME. I HOPE ALL IS WELL.
TAKE CARE,
NANCY
Did you know that they’ve changed their recipe? I just got finished reviewing it. It’s ok but they don’t use honey anymore sadly. It is really spicy now.
i did not know. weird, it was very tasty as it was. that is a shame. but it also gives me another soda to get. thanks Eric!