Dog 'N Suds Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 25, 2009.

Name: Dog 'N Suds Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Amber - lighter than usual.

Foaminess: Very tall head. Fades slowly.

Smell: Minty - smells a lot like Mug.

Bitterness: 3

Spiciness: 4 - can feel it travel down throat and burns lips a little

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 2

Burping? No

Prominent Flavor: No real prominent flavor.

Sweeteners: high fructose corn syrup

Roots/Spices: 

Caffeine? No

Aftertaste: Mint.

Overall:

Score: 4

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 23, 2009.

Name: Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Dark, dark.

Foaminess: Medium head.

Smell: minty, vanilla.

Bitterness: 3

Spiciness: 4

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 2

Burping? No.

Prominent Flavor: Dirt and syrup.

Sweeteners: cane sugar

Roots/Spices: 

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: Dirt.

Overall:

Score: 3

Capt'n Eli's Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 19, 2009.

Name: Capt'n Eli's Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Light color

Foaminess: Very foamy head - slow to disappear. Had to drink through head to get to the root beer.

Smell: Strongly wintergreen.

Bitterness: 4

Spiciness: 3

Flavor: 3

Sweetness: 2

Burping? Yes.

Prominent Flavor: Not as wintergreen as smell, but it is a definite flavor.

Sweeteners: cane sugar

Roots/Spices: wintergreen, anise, vanilla

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: sweet and minty.

Overall: 

Score: 3

Bulldog Root Beer

Name: Bulldog Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: A little lighter than usual.

Foaminess: Little head - medium carbonation.

Smell: Very light hint of sweetness.

Bitterness: 4

Spiciness: 2

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 3

Burping? No.

Prominent Flavor: Strong vanilla, syrupy.

 

Sweeteners: cane sugar, honey

Roots/Spices: vanilla, salt

Caffeine? No

Aftertaste: Vanilla - burning taste.

Overall:

Score: 2

Buckin' Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 17, 2009.

Name: Buckin' Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Very dark.

Foaminess: Little, but long lasting. Carbonation great.

Smell: Sweet, but spicy (minty).

Bitterness: 4

Spiciness: 3

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 2

Burping? No.

Prominent Flavor: Pretty minty, molasses-y. Kinda medicinal.

Sweeteners: real sugar

Roots/Spices: 

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: Minty, a little metallic.

Overall: 

Score: 3

Berghoff Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 16, 2009.

Name: Berghoff Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Coke.

Foaminess: Big head.

Smell: sweet, tinge of spicy.

Bitterness: 3

Spiciness: 3

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 1

Burping? No.

Prominent Flavor: Reminds me of A&W. Minty-ness lingers.

Sweeteners: cane sugar

Roots/Spices: 

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: Pretty long lasting minty-ness. Maybe like Vick's Vapor Rub.

Overall: No comment.

Score: 4

Americana Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 14, 2009.

Name: Americana Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Lightest so far.

Foaminess: Bubbly, but the head quickly disappeared.

Smell: Sweet.

Bitterness: 4

Spiciness: 4

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 2

Burping? Yes.

Prominent Flavor: Gingerbread cookies-like. Lingers.

Sweeteners: cane sugar, honey

Roots/Spices: sassafras, vanilla, licorice

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: A little metallic.

Overall: No comment.

Score: 2

AJ Stephans Root Beer

Name: AJ Stephans Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Dark.

Foaminess: Very foamy, but not very carbonated.

Smell: Spearmint.

Bitterness: 3

Spiciness: 3

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 3

Burping? No.

Prominent Flavor: Minty - stays on the tongue.

Sweeteners: Cane sugar

Roots/Spices: "Flavor"

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: Yes - minty. A little metallic.

Overall: Kinda like Mug.

Score: 4

Abita Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 12, 2009.

Name: Abita Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: Hard to tell through all the carbonation - probably Coke-like.

Foaminess: Tall head, a little slower than usual. Pretty carbonated.

Smell: Spicy and sweet.

Bitterness: 4

Spiciness: 2 - smells spicier than it tastes.

Flavor: 4

Sweetness: 2 - smells sweeter than it tastes.

Burping? Yes.

Prominent Flavor: What is prominent, I'm not exactly sure, but it does linger. Kinda licorice-y.

Sweeteners: Louisiana cane sugar

Roots/Spices: "Root Beer Flavor"

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: A little metallic, but not bad.

Overall: This is less than average.

Score: 2

Virgil's Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 11, 2009.

Name: Virgil's Root Beer

Container: Glass

Color: pretty dark; molasses-like

Foaminess: lots of head, but disappears quickly. Noisy.

Smell: Kinda medicinal, like a doctor's office.

Bitterness: 2

Spiciness: 1

Flavor: 3

Sweetness: 4

Burping? Yes.

Prominent Flavor: Not really anything prominent. Surprising, actually, since it should have strong flavor based on the ingredients.

Sweeteners: Cane sugar.

Roots/Spices: anise, licorice, sweet birch, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, wintergreen, molasses, nutmeg, pimento berry

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: Not there.

Overall: Tried this one before. Better than I remembered.

Score: 3

Triple XXX Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 10, 2009.

Name: Triple XXX

Container: Glass

Color: lighter than Sprecher's, but still Coke color.

Foaminess: Good, but disappears quick; good carbonation.

Smell: Sweet, a little metallic.

Bitterness: 2

Spiciness: 1

Flavor: 4 - strong flavor.

Sweetness: 3

Burping? No.

Prominent Flavor: kinda tastes like Coke, kinda tastes like dirt. Lingering.

Sweeteners: Corn syrup

Roots/Spices: natural and artificial

Caffeine? No.

Aftertaste: Dirt. Sticks to the teeth.

Overall: I like it - not bad. You might not realize its even root beer on first swallow.

Score: 3

Sprecher Root Beer

Originally reviewed October 9, 2009.

Name: Sprecher Root Beer (Milwaukee, WI)

Container: Glass

Color: very dark brown; like Coke, maybe darker

Foaminess: great, lasting foam

Smell: honey, but not strong

Prominent Flavor: mint. Not really noticeable, but a minty sting to it. Not like Mug.

Sweeteners: corn syrup and honey

Roots/Spices: yucca, vanilla,  and natural flavors

Caffeine? No.

Bitterness: 3 - a little bitter sting to the tongue

Spiciness: 2

Flavor: 3. Kinda flavorless, but not bad tasting.

Sweetness: 3

Burping? No.

Aftertaste: Has very little aftertaste, not bad. Pleasant, I guess. The aftertaste becomes more prominent after every taste. Darker, like licorice.

Overall: This is not a very flavorful root beer, but that is not necessarily bad. This seems to be more quenching in nature than other root beers.

Score: 3

Welcome to Alex's Root Beer Taste Test blog!

Back in 2009, I tried a bunch of different root beers and wrote down my thoughts.  I came across my notes  recently and figured I should just type them up and put them online. For whom? Probably just me.

I began each review by writing down its container (glass, plastic, can), and its color, foaminess, and smell upon pour.

Then for each root beer, I evaluated it on bitterness, spiciness, flavor, and sweetness on a scale from 1-5, 5 being strong. I evaluated the carbonation by determining if it made me burp.

I wrote down what I thought the prominent flavor was and whether it lingered. I wrote down its sweeteners, its roots and spices, and whether or not it was caffeinated.

Lastly, I discussed its aftertaste and any additional notes.  I then gave it an overall score between 0-5, with 5 being the best.

NOTE: I tend to favor the mintier side of root beers, than say, the vanilla, sweeter side. So my reviews will probably reflect that.