Natural Brew Draft Root Beer
When I began reviewing root beers about ten years ago this was one of the first root beers I officially reviewed. At the time, I had accepted a professorship at a small school in Virginia. Looking back it was really only the beginning of the root beer revolution. Although a “Professor of Root Beer” sounds prestigious, it was originally met with much derision and skepticism. As a society, we have certainly come a long way.
Enough with the trip down memory lane . . . for now anyway.
When I think of an all-natural root beer, Natural Brew is the gold standard! This has been a part of the root beer curriculum for quite some time now – “Natural Root Beers – 101.” Too many root beers end up tasting the same, but this has a unique flavor that sets it apart. I know that some people think it is nasty, but I could drink a lot of this brew. It is a very creamy beer which stems from the bourbon vanilla extract – and to me the wintergreen and the birch oil really stand out – but not in offensive “in your face” kind of way.
Other special ingredients include anise, sarsaparilla, and licorice root. It has a light root beer color, a small head, and a really (I mean really) light carbonation. It also keeps below the 40 g of sugar threshold (it weighs in at 39 g of sugar).
My youngest little professor said that she loves it and that it tastes super!! And I have to agree. I really don’t know why I don’t rate this a little higher because I really like this brew.
The Professor’s Grade: B
Keg Style Root Beer, Walmart Brand
This is the first review of 2010 and the first review in almost a year. My son and daughter (professors in training) got the itch to taste and review more root beers – so here we go!!
I will begin to comment on what my son said about this root beer. He commented how the root beer smell came out of his nose when he drank the brew. And he also began to dip his popcorn in the soda and thought that it tasted great.
I thought that this Keg Style Brew had a good bit of foam with a nice, rich, dark root beer color. It was a very sweet tasting root beer – actually too sweet for my taste (it has 46g of sugar per serving). This concoction is actually distributed by Walmart and being a “cheapo” brand it could actually be a lot worse. Don’t expect a lot from this soda, but at the same time it is not all that bad. Unfortunately, I really don’t have much else to say about this root beer.
My son wants to give this brew a C +, but
The Professor’s Grade: C
