Root Beer

written by Mike

I like a good root beer. Â Some years ago I started keeping track and unofficially rate root beers. I have come across a few worthy to mention; a couple that are very nice ; and whole bunch that are either trying too hard or seem Â to care more about how the label looks than the stuff inside.

In general Root beers in my mind fall into 3 groups. Â Anything above about a 7 is a good root beer. Â Anything below a 5 should be left in the store.

What follows is my rather biased and unscientificÂ review.

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Rating	Name	Comments
8	Big Bear	Surprisingly pretty good. Not a complex flavor one of the best.
8	Sprecher	This one has been one of my favorites for years ever since my brother in law sent me a case. Not sure why it never made it on the list. This is a good solid brew. Can't say it is anything special in any one area but just a solid mix. Makes a great Float.
8	Death Valley Indian Well Valley Brewing company	This one is back on the near the top of the list after being marked down after a bad batch. Has a nice mix of the expected root beer flavor with perhaps just a tade too sweet Here are the original notes: Nice smooth taste that is very subtle and grows as you enjoy. Sugar content seams low which allows the flavors to come out. I've had a bad bottles of this before that seamed to taste like cheap beer.
7.9	Gray's	Need to try this again since it has been such a long time to see if worth of its original high rating.. Notes were "not bad--Not super complex but basic straight flavor"
7.9	Barrel Brothers	Good! Has nice overtones.
7.8	Berghoff	Now we are talking. Has a few nice flavors. Really pleasant. Thanks again to my sister who sent me a case!
7.6	Trader Joe's Vintage Root Beer	As usual Trader Joe's does not disappoint.
7.5	Thomas Kemper	Nice Flavor overall. Perhaps a few overtones but nothing really special.
7.5	Old Town Root Beer Company	Basic--not complex all but--just well done.
7.3	Fitz	Good. That was the entire original rating. Just visited the old Fitz factory in St. Louis and sample this one again and I have to say the original rating was correct. This is good. It isn't great. There is nothing that stands out. It doesn't have what I consider a strong root beer flavor but then it doesn't have anything that stands out.
7	FHZ	Good--I need to find this and rate it again. Just had it once.
7	Virgil's	Really pretty good for what is becoming mainstream product. Never a bad choice.
7	BJ brew house	I put a 7 but this one varies widely from one batch to the next. Sometimes is a amazingly nice and complex with strong vanilla and root flavors and other times it is way too sweet like cheap dime store bubble gum.
7	Dominion	I did not have the honor of trying this one myself. So we will "Go" with a Guest rating: The honey was good. It was smooth but not very carbonated.
6.5	Red Arrow	Solid brew. Nothing complex. Not much in the way of secondary flavors. Good solid soda.
6	Buckin'	Average. Reasonable overtones. Contains artificial ingredients
6	Americana	Not bad at all. First impression was not all that good but the secondary flavors grew on me. It has a strong flavor and nice aromas.
6	Abita	Need to try this one again since I have no notes on it.
6	The Original Bulldog	I tasted this one a second time and perhpas it was the lunch pairing but my impression was much higher than the original 4 I gave it the first time. I didn't detect the bubble gum flavors I detected the first time and it had a nice after taste. Perhaps I need to try this one again and see if it goes up some more or falls back down.
5.5	Eli's	A nice change of pace. A decent bottle to grab with a sandwich though not one I would serve at a 4 star restaurant. Does not have what I would call a strong Root Beer flavor with almost no notes of vanilla.
5.5	Bundaberg Australian	Nice root flavor but in the end tried a bit too hard with too strong of flavors
5.3	RocketFizz	This is RocketFizz flagship root beer. It is bottled by the IWV brewing company. I may have been a bit harsh on this one and probably ought to give it another try.
5	Faygo	Like so many Rootbeer's there is was nothing memorable about this
6	Frosties	I've updated the rating on this just a bit. My original rating said it was "Just OK--better than the soda fountain" and I don't think that has changed but certainly would be happy to have this with a good sandwich.
5	Baumeister	Nothing special
5	Dad's	Not sure ow to score this. It isn't bad, It isn't good. It has some complex flavors but they too are just so-so. It is a bit on the sweet side. I would probably choose another soda over this.
5	Maid-Rite	Homemade brew from this iconic hamburger stand in Springfield MO. I love their attempt and this is the real deal but the flavor isn't what I seek. Too much emphasis on vanilla not much on the root or the cream.
4.5	Bedford's (Port Angeles)	Overpowering vanilla without much else.
4.5	Gene Autry Root beer (RocketFizz)	The best part of this brew is the catchy name
4	River City	Another update after another taste and I brought it down a bit more. I really would like to this but each try seams to make me like it less. Older post: Wow! I originally reviewed this as a very high 8.5 but then on retry it was not any better than the stuff the comes out of the fountain. Original notes said "nice". I'm not sure if they have batch to batch variations or if my tastes changed?
4.4	Judge Wapner (RocketFizz	Judge Wapner may sentence you to drink his root beer but civil unrest may follow
4	ZuberFizz	Perhaps paired with the right food this might be better. Had a bitter taste
4	Sparky's	Original notes said "just OK"
4	Rat Bastard	Would have been a 5 but knocked it down since it contains caffeine and artificial ingredients. Just OK flavor.
4	Olde Rhode Island Molasses
4	Squamscot	I'm probably being unfair with this one but it just wasn't memorable.
4	Stubborn	Though all natural I'm not a fan of the flavoring. It has that flavor trying to act like an old time vanilla flavor without any of the the other flavors. Just leaves an aftertaste of don't buy it again.
3	Triple XXX	I had so much hope for this one but in the end this is just one that can be skipped. Tried it more than once and both times decided that it just isn't very good.
3	AJ Stephans	I've had worse. Very strong flavor what I finally decided was penny bubble gum.
3	Maine root beer	Strong after taste that lingers. Bitter.
3	Jack Black	Bitter taste
3	Boylan Bottleworks	Trying too hard! Had a strange after taste--did not linger for long. Includes artificial ingredients
3	Hank's Gourmet	Los Angeles water is much better.
3	Sea Dog	Trying too hard. Bitter taste. No overtones
2	Waiolua Soda Works	Bad. Has odd overtones
1	Olde Philadelphia	Low grade diesel fuel. Artificial vanilla.
0	Dog-N-Suds	Very Bad. Perhaps a good substitute for Diesel Fuel?
	WBC Root Beer	I wish had my notes on this one. As I recall it wasn't great nor was it bad.
6	Sugarbush Farms Inc,	Not bad but also nothing special. This is produced by Private Bottle Specialties.
3	Rugged Mountain Root Beer	I'm not sure what to make of this one. It says it is root beer on the label. though I'm not sure I would call it root beer from the taste.