Gale's Root Beer (Fan Review!)

They sell this at my local supermarket, so I thought I’d give it a try. I opened the bottle and it has a really different taste. It had a hint of vanilla but wasn’t very sweet, it has kind of a spiced flavor. This isn’t A&W. I tried to figure out what was making it taste so “different” and remembered those wise words from my father:

 “When all else fails, read the instructions”.

 So I looked at the label and found it is is flavored with cinnamon and ginger. It’s a unique taste and probably not going to suit everyone’s palate. Available in selected parts of the USA.

http://www.galegand.com/booksandproducts.asp#grb

Gray's Root Beer (Fan Review!)

150 years and five generations ago, Irish immigrant Joshua Gray moved to Janesville, Wisconsin to brew ales and soft drinks.  The Gray Brewing Company is now one of the family owned beverage companies in the country.

 The root beer recipe dates back 140 years and is made with pure cane sugar. It’s a nice grog, good creamy head, rich vanilla flavor and decent carbonation. It’s one of the better root beers I’ve tasted. It’s only available in southern Wisconsin as far as I know, so a road trip might be in order.  Definitely worth a trip to the brewery and the tied house in Verona, WI.

www.graybrewing.com

Black Bear Root Beer - (Fan Review!)

So when I was a kid growing up in Milwaukee in the 60s and 70s, we had loads of local soda bottlers. We used to drink Graf’s, Jo Jo, Jic Jac and Ting. Graf’s was the big one, they had a great Root Beer and a drink called 50/50 which was a grapefruit / lemon line blend. When Graf’s folded, the brands were sold to Canfield’s in Chicago which also eventually went bankrupt.

The one we liked the best was Jo Jo, which came in 7 oz returnables in a wood crate. It was dirt cheap and the only flavor really drinkable was the orange, some were well and truly bad. With clowns and balloons on the bottles, I think it was aimed at kid’s birthday parties, where cheap was the order of the day.  We used to joke the secret formula was crayons, water and a bag of sugar.

Unfortunately, they are all gone now, put under by the marketing machines of Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper / 7up. The only local bottler remaining is Black Bear of Oak Creek, which is doing remarkably well. Until recently, they also did the returnables in a wood case, but now have come into the 21st century with throw-a-way plastic bottles.

OK, so I’m not going to be 100% objective here. But it is a nice root beer, sweet with a whole bunch of vanilla. My bottle didn’t seem to be full, maybe they should check their QC (!). Black Bear also have a great pink lemonade for the summer which I recommend! Still family owned since 1920, not run by Harvard MBAs.  One of the minority shareholders is Junior Bridgeman, a former Milwaukee Buck.

http://www.blackbearbottling.com/

Berghoff Famous Root Beer (Fan Review!)

Berghoff has its roots in the famous Berghoff restaurant of Chicago, IL which specializes in fine German food. The restaurant has been in operation, nearly continuously, since 1898. At one time the Berghoff family also operated a brewery in Ft. Wayne, IN, which sold to Falstaff in the 1950s. The brewery closed in 1990.

Berghoff Root Beer is sold in liter bottles throughout Chicagoland, and is sort of to the root beer world what 40 oz. malt liquor is to beer. It’s a cheap and cheerful sugar rush.

It has a nice taste, a bit of vanilla and sweet and practically devoid of carbonation. One might say it almost tastes flat. A good brew, and easy on the pocket book compared to more upscale brands.

http://www.theberghoff.com/about_us/history.aspx

Triple XXX Root Beer (Fan Review!)

Triple XXX had its origins in the Galveston Brewery of Galveston, TX and dates back to 1908. Following the advent of Prohibition, the brewery put its full efforts into soft drinks in order to survive.

By 1923 Southern Beverage had licensed 150 Triple XXX bottlers and 100 “Thirst Drive-Ins”.  The Washington state distributor had developed a unique twin barrel design for his Triple XXX restaurants along the West Coast.

In the 1950s the brand began to decline and in 1960 the FDA ruled that Sassafras could no longer be used in food products which robbed Triple XXX of its distinctive flavor and head.  Eventually chemists were able to develop a substitute but sales and outlets continued to decline.

The brand changed hands a number of times and had a brief resurgence in the 1980s, but the brand was basically doomed as the number of independent bottlers declined, and both Coke and Pepsi had their root beer flavors.

The brand is now marketed by the Triple XXX Family Restaurant of West Lafayette, IN.

It is a pretty good root beer, not too sweet, but seems to have too much carbonation and a bit of seltzer kind of aftertaste. Not bad, though I’ve tasted both better and worse.

John

http://www.triplexxxrootbeer.com/history.html

Zevia Ginger Root Beer (Fan Review!)

       The last time the sweetener Stevia & I met it was not a pleasant experience. Me & Mrs. G were on a sugar substitute diet at the time & were trying everything. Let’s just say we & Stevia went our separate ways leaving on non-speaking terms. So you could imagine my apprehension when Mr. A asked if we could review the Stevia infused Zevia Ginger Root Beer drink. But I believe myself to be a man of second chances especially since Mrs. G has been giving me those second chances since 1997, so why couldn’t I do the same for this drink? (Not exactly the same, but it is…)

       First I gathered the group & popped open the can. Before giving each of them a sample, I took a whiff of the drink & found it to be surprisingly pleasant. It was a nice blend of a ginger & root beer scent, which apparently is the flavor the can says they’re going for, so that’s a good start. Now let’s get to the group’s reaction.

       Five year old Miss S’s initial reaction to the drink poured into her glass was:

       “Ooh, it’s so bubbly!” So far so good I guess.

       “And how’s the taste?” I asked.

       “It’s spicy & sweet. I like it!”

        I was surprised. Was this the same sweetener that left such a terrible taste in my mind I swore I wouldn’t touch the stuff again? Maybe my kid’s got a different set of taste buds. Let’s turn to three year old Miss P & see what she thought.

       Once I poured it into her sippy cup, she started to drink…

              …& drink…

                     …& didn’t stop drinking till it was all gone. “Can I have some more?”

       I was getting the sneaking suspicion this drink might be pretty good.

       However, Mr. Little O was next. He’s in the copycat stage of his two years so though he may have said,” It’s sweet,” like his sisters, his scrunched up face told me the story. To top it off, he shoved the drink right back at me & wouldn’t drink another drop. I guess that’s a no for him.

       Next were Mrs. G. & myself. When I mentioned to the missus that we were doing this, she wasn’t too thrilled. We braced ourselves. The first sip hit me with a strong ginger taste. Then the root beer flavor was next. “Exactly as advertised” I thought. I looked over at my wife & saw the same reaction. Now we waited for that dreaded Stevia aftertaste...& we waited...& waited. To our surprise, it never came!

       So to sum up we were pleasantly surprised by the taste of this Stevia flavored drink. Little O may not have liked it too much, but four out of five of us found it quite nice & flavorful.

- RGSPO

Not even Twist could compete with the level of adorable this review has now reached.

Stars and Stripes Root Beer (Fan Review!)

   After failed attempts to clarify how the wacky Germans mix sodas, the Soda Jerk guys asked me to stop sending emails and in a "put up or shut up " like invitation asked me to write a review.  Now first off you need to realize I'm in Europe and American commodities have their price.  After a few years of residence you soon learn to live without things you never imagined you'd miss. Like Root Beer!

   Some of the upscale supermarkets sell US stuff in a limited section at the end of an aisle at outlandish prices. My daughter had been shopping and mentioned seeing Root Beer and I suddenly had a hankering for it so I made the 15 minute trip (to Kaufhof) only to find out that either she was hallucinating, or they were sold out.  Well after coming this far, I was not giving up.  I then went 10 minutes further to their competitor (Karstadt) in the central shopping district and found these brown 12oz cans of Stars and Stripes for... get this $2,05 per can.  Flush with my Christmas bonus I bought 4 cans. The last time I had Root Beer was probably 3 years back so I splurged.

   This is indeed a US product and the can is marked for deposit in many US states. I haven't found but one German who tried and liked Root Beer.  Germans travel to the US a lot and many have had the experience and it's always a negative one.  "Bahh"  (eng.=Yuck) Apparently they relate the taste to medicine.

   Well the Stars and Stripes can decoration is Ok nothing elaborate. Thank god it's not decked out for 4th of July.  Simply done in a rust brown, it bears a similarity to another Root Beer can I saw here called Jones.  This product carries markings for Hoover's Barrel and uses a  "Y" emblem with H,R;B. (HMmm, isn't there a brand called Hire's Root Beer?)  So let's crack it open and see what we get.  Well no immediate aroma breaks forth just cold steel.  It's well cooled and some noisy carbonation cries for joy.  I placed it down to type these words and now faintly the aroma has reached my nostrils but only faintly.  Let’s get closer.  I pour some in the glass, but the aroma only increases a bit more.  The foamy head rises noisily and dissipates almost as quickly.  As I raise the glass expecting more aroma ...still about the same.  It hits my mouth and settles into the taste centers after I swallow.  There is a very strong wintergreen taste that fades.  I immediately thought of some pink candies my grandmother always had for us.  This isn't root beer I thought, where's that sassafras taste?  I took a longer draught satisfying my thirst and looking for the sugar kick.  Ok,sugar kick there, sweet where it resides and now a gentler permeable "taste" but still primarily wintergreen. The taste leaves quickly with a little aluminum can backlash.  The pleasant sweetness abides.  This isn't a creamy beer or soda consistency, or, for my memory a root beer.  Its soft drink characteristics are similar to cola with a loud noisy head that fades to nothing quickly. It is only satisfying in that first moment.  It falls short of satisfaction or excitement. I 'm disappointed.  Sigh!

   Verdict - I'd say don't bother, but if I truly believed that, I wouldn't be writing this review.  I think of all us poor slobs living here .. What???  No Root Beer!??  Well we've got Stars and Stripes and for no other reason than for the sake of Ol' Glory .. Where have I head that metaphor before?

Enjoy,

CF

Bet you didn't know that Twist had a German cousin named Tiger.