Henry Weinhard's Root Beer

Description: "Enjoy a truly great American Root Beer originally crafted by our master brewers during prohibition. This gourmet elixir, brewed with sassafras, vanilla and honey, proved to be a popular alternative for our beer-drinking loyalists."

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Vanilla Extract, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness), Honey Essence, Acacia Sassafras Extract

Smell: Normal sassafras smell, nice and sweet.

Head: A new champion reigns supreme. Seriously, It starts out nice and tall, and not only does it stay with you the whole drink, it stays nice and frothy till you're done. When I was done with the Root Beer, I found myself with almost half a mug of froth, which eventually melted away into more Root Beer. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it.

Flavor: This one's got a little bit of everything in its flavor. It's got a nice sweet classic taste, with just enough honey and vanilla to give that extra something that makes it special. The bite surprised me, as it was noticeable and spicy but not overdone. And the aftertaste was good as well, mostly vanilla.

Overall: I'd never even heard of this brand before I bought it, but it just blew away expectations left and right. This is one of the best brews I've ever had, my first sip I literally exclaimed "Oh!". It's unique and somehow familiar and doesn't overdo anything, but has everything you'd want. If you can find it, drink it. A.

Purchased from Mariano's

Point Premium Root Beer

Description: "Our legendary recipe for Point Premium Root Beer boasts the purest water, finest sugars and genuine Wisconsin honey. The result is a creamy, smooth, draft root beer with a delicious taste that's second to none."

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Maltodextrine, Pure Wisconsin Honey, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Vanilla, Phosphoric Acid, and Sodium Benzoate (A Preservative)

Smell: Sweet sassafras flavor with a hint a vanilla.

Head: Kind of short, and goes away very quickly, probably before your first drink.

Flavor: Very sweet. Normal but good classic Root Beer taste. The bite is a little strong, but I like it that way. The aftertaste is where the vanilla is hiding, yum.

Overall: I had a hard time with this one. It has honey and vanilla listed in the ingredients, but it's hard to taste them. Their more apparent in the aftertaste, which is still great but I wish they were more apparent while drinking. Still, I'd say this one's a bit above average so, B.

Purchased from Mariano's

Stewart's Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (A Preservative), Citric Acid, Quillaia Extract, Gum Acacia, Yucca Extract

Smell: Actually couldn't smell much from the bottle, just a bit of sweet and sassafras.

Head: The head on this one is pretty standard as far as height, however it lasted all the way to the last drop in the mug.

Flavor: No hidden flavors, but a good standard Root Beer flavor. The aftertaste is pleasant and the bite is perfectly good.

Overall: Another perfectly good Root Beer that doesn't mess with what a good Root Beer does best. C.

Purchased from Mariano's

Sioux City Root Beer

Ingredients: Purified Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (As A Preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Citric Acid

Smell: The smell wasn't exactly good, it was standard with this odd other scent. I sniffed it a few times trying to figure out if it was the bottle itself giving off the smell, but it was just the drink.

Head: Nothing special here, standard size, but went away pretty quickly.

Flavor: This one is very unique. Not really sweet at all, mostly just the taste of spices, and none that I can really pick out. In a strange way it almost tastes like a cola, but even colas are a bit sweeter than this. The aftertaste was kinda gross, and the bite was pretty average.

Overall: I'll come right out with it, I did not enjoy this one at all. And you know me, I usually take off quite a bit if I feel like a Root Beer doesn't have a "classic" taste for the most part. But there was nothing great or even good about this one. F

Purchased from Mariano's

Sprecher Root Beer

Description: "This truly old fashioned soda has the rich, creamy flavor that only comes from using pure Wisconsin honey direct from the combs. Our extracts are prepared at the brewery in a hand-made, gas-fired brew kettle, by combining honey, vanilla, and a host of aromatic botanicals. The dark, honeyed brew will build a delicious frothy head when properly poured into a frost mug."

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Glucose Syrup, Malto-Dexitrin, WI Raw Honey, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Phosphoric Acid, Quillaia/Yucca Extract, Sodium Chloride, Caramel Color, and Vanilla

Smell: As soon as the bottles open, you're almost overcome by the sweetness of it. Mostly honey with a hint of vanilla.

Head: This one was a little shorter than I expected, but it lasted the entire drink surprisingly.

Flavor: Every bit as sweet as you think it would be from the scent. Immediately taste the honey they use, but it doesn't mask the sassafras flavor either. It's probably one of the smoothest Root Beers I've ever had, and the bite is pretty good. The aftertaste is a delicious vanilla flavor.

Overall: Full disclosure, this is the Root Beer that basically convinced me to start this blog. Before I started I'd say it was my favorite, and as of now it still reigns supreme. There's nothing else like it out there that I've tasted. The combo of honey and vanilla is so good, you just have to try it in a chilled mug yourself. A.

Purchased from Jewel-Osco

Berghoff Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural Flavoring, Yucca Extract, Gum Arabic, Ethyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol Alginate and Triethyl Citrate, Preserved with Citric Acid and Sodium Benzoate

Smell: Gave me a classic smell, not overly sweet with just the slightest hint of anise.

Head: Not very good, lasted long enough to take this picture, went away fairly quickly after that. Not very tall either.

Flavor: First off, this has one of the stronger bites I've felt from a Root Beer. Really kind of woke me up, and I like a good bite, but this may have been a bit much. The flavor itself was pleasant, the only real hint of anything was anise, but not so much that I disliked the flavor. Although the anise was the aftertaste.

Overall: Reading all of the above, you may actually be surprised that I enjoyed this. Anything I would normally consider a negative was so minimal that it didn't really bother me. And the flavor itself was very sweet and enjoyable, so I give this one a B.

Purchased from Brookhaven Marketplace

Dog n Suds Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (As Preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavor

Smell: Good scent, sweet and sassafras.

Head: Tall, but not very long lasting. Is gone by the time you've taken your second drink.

Flavor: Basic flavors that you'd imagine, basically how it smells. Smooth with a nice bite, but no notes of anything underneath. Pleasant aftertaste.

Overall: Another classic here, and immediately you can taste why. This is a top form standard Root Beer. No, it's not throwing anything special at you, but it's a good Root Beer none the less. A solid C.

Purchased from Mariano's

Boylan Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color, Natural Yucca Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness)

Smell: Fairly strong Anise scent from the bottle, but can certainly smell some sweetness as well.

Head: Head on this one was okay. About half of the mug, and dissipates pretty quickly.

Flavor: Despite the smell, the Anise was not quite as strong as I expected it to be. In fact most of the flavors were well represented, with none of them being over powering. The bite was good, and the aftertaste is pleasant.

Overall: Some good some bad, it's hard to rate this one. I'm going with a C because while it's pretty well balanced, the Anise still makes the drink not quite as delicious as it could be if it was just taken down a notch. Still, always remember, C means average, so this is perfectly fine Root Beer.

Purchased from Mariano's

Dad's Root Beer

Ingredients: Water, Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Sodium Benzoate (As Preservative)

Smell: Blend of Anise and Sassafras, maybe a bit stronger than what you would consider "normal"

Head: Nice, tall, lasted the entire drink. One of the best I've seen so far, but this Root Beer is a bit fizzier than most.

Flavor: Not very sweet, with a pretty strong taste of Anise. Big bite, very carbonated. Kind of harsh to be honest.

Overall: I drank Dad's all the time as kid, but I was hoping this was like a Cola situation where when you use real sugar that it would make a huge difference in the flavor. It does, but not in the way you want it to. It's better than its canned counterpart but I was hoping for something sweeter and smoother. Instead it's sort of harsh. Not a fan. F

Purchased from Mariano's

Mason's Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (A Preservative), Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors

Smell: Mostly the smell of Anise with this one, not much else.

Head: Not bad, nice and tall, and lasts for most of the drink.

Flavor: Just like the smell you get a strong Anise taste that lasts far after you're done drinking it. It's sweet, smooth, with not very much of a bite.

Overall: I've said it before, I'm not a fan of Root Beers that use too much Anise flavor. So, it's really about taste on this one, but I'm not into it. D

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nursery

Gale's Root Beer

Description: "I love root beer! While cooking in England some years ago, my root beer sources dried up and I was forced to do without. So I got a little brown terrier puppy and named him Rootie. When Rootie and I got bacvk to the United States I started making my own root beer to serve in my restaurants. Now I'm pleased to present my best batch ever! Rootie and I know you'll love it. Enjoy!"

Ingredients:  Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavoring, Cinnamon, Ginger, Vanilla Extract, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, and Sodium Benzoate Added as Preservative

Smell: I was having a hard time figuring out what I was smelling, because I knew it wasn't Anise but it was strong. One look on the bottle told me; Cinnamon. The scent was strong in the mug as well.

Head: Excellent head, tall and lasted for a good long time. Not the entire drink, but then I did take a good long time drinking this one.

Flavor: Other than the normal flavor of sassafras, the strongest taste you get is the cinnamon which is only strengthened by the ginger. The bite is strong with this one, but I like a stronger bite, but I wouldn't call it smooth at all. The aftertaste is long lasting and vanilla.

Overall: I honestly wasn't expecting much with this one. Don't know why, maybe it's the old fashioned label, but I didn't expect it to be so complex. If anything I expected a smooth vanilla Root Beer. What I got was a Root Beer that was spicy with strong flavors in it. I didn't know I liked Cinnamon in my Root Beer, but I do now. I'm giving this one an A with the understanding that it may be an acquired taste.

Purchased from Brookhaven Marketplace

Capone Family Secret Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Natural Flavor, and Citric Acid

Smell: A yummy sweet smell, that's pretty strong from the bottle and the mug.

Head: Just a little look into how I review, when I take a picture of the head I have my camera ready to go the moment I'm done pouring so I can get a good picture of the head at its highest. With Capone you can see that the head starts out tall, but starts shrinking in an instant.

Flavor: Not bad at all. Sweet flavor, not really tasting anything hidden. Creamy, but with a healthy bite. The aftertaste is got a hint of vanilla, and lingers a good long time.

Overall: Solid C right here. Usually I give B's and above to drinks that really show me a lot of hidden flavors, this one here doesn't have this, but it's a very tasty Root Beer. I recommend it easily. Also as an aside, I hear they have an amazing Cream Soda.

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nursery

Bawls Guarana Root Beer

Indredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Citric Acid, Natural Guarana Extract, Sodium Benzoate (As A Preservative), Caffeine, Natural and Artificial Flavors. Warning: This Product Contains High Levels of Caffeine

Smells: A fairly muted scent, and the same after being poured.

Head: Pretty nice! Filled about half the mug, and lasted the entire drink.

Flavor: Nothing really special here. I was trying to figure out the words to use to describe it, but the only I could think of is "artificial". A glimpse of the ingredients will tell you why, but it just had the taste of something you'd buy cheap in a can. The bite was average, no hints of extra flavors. The aftertaste is pretty nasty.

Overall: An energy drink Root Beer. That's what this is, and I'm sure when you think about what that would taste like you imagine something horrendous. This is not horrendous, but it's poor. In a weird way it deserves praise because it does really just taste like a Root Beer, there's nothing weird waiting for you, but it's a bad cheap Root Beer. Just because it's better than expected, I can't recommend it for something other than novelty. F

Purchased from Mariano's

Hosmer Mountain Sarsaparilla Root Beer

Description: "Hosmer Mountain lies in the heart of New England, in the pristine northeast section of Connecticut, known as the Quiet Corner. A rather minor geological formation, it forms a ridge of the valley known as Willimantic. In 1912, spring water emanating from its base was used to establish the Hosmer Mountain Sping Bottling Works."

Ingredients: Carbonated Non Chlorinated Water, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Caramel Coloring, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Citric Acid, Potassium Benzoate (Preservative), Extract of Sarsaparilla Root

Smell: Mostly just the sweet smell of sassafras, but also a hint of that brown sugar.

Head: All hail to the king! Now, I have many many more Root Beers to review, but I'm not sure you are going to get a head more impressive than that. Lasted the entire review session.

Flavor: I've already mentioned it, but the Brown Sugar is there and you can taste it. As well as the Sarsaparilla, but there was also sassafras as well. The bite was a little spicy, but not overwhelming, very good overall.

Overall: I'm really torn about this one, because it really is delicious. There could be an argument made either way as to it being more of Sarsaparilla or a Root Beer, as both sides of the drink are evenly vying for your attention. And that Brown Sugar really does kind of set it apart... Really everything sets it apart. Now, I'm not saying it's more delicious than certain other Root Beers though, but this deserves a B at the very least for sure. If you want a really yummy Root Beer that has a unique flavor, pick this up for sure.

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nursery

Natural Brew Draft Root Beer

Description: A Draft Root Beer unlike any other. To give our Root Beer a subtly rich, creamy flavor we add vanilla extract and other natural flavors to our recipe.

Draft Root Beer is created one small batch at a time with constant attention to every detail - using only the finest ingredients."

Ingredients: Sparkling Filtered Water, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Bourbon Vanilla Extract, Anise, Licorice Root, Birch Oil, Wintergreen Oil, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid

Smell: It was hard to really capture the scent from either the bottle or mug, but I did get the faint scent of Anise from the bottle.

Head: Look at that! That's pretty fantastic. It lasted the entire reviewing session too. Very very nice.

Flavor: A good mix of sassafras, anise, and vanilla. Just letting it sit in your mouth you really do get hints of each one, without any one overpowering the next. Aftertaste was very much Anise though.

Overall: I actually tried this one a couple times. The first time I wasn't especially impressed, but it was also in an environment that maybe I couldn't appreciate it fully. The second time was in normal review settings, and I could really taste the complexity in it. Sometimes complex is bad, but when you can taste it all and nothing's overpowered it's good. I'm giving this one a B.

Purchased from Mariano's

Triple XXX Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness), Citric Acid

Smell: Pleasant scent, mostly sweet and sassafras. Same after being poured.

Head: Nothing to write home about here. Short head that doesn't last particularly long, probably completely gone after your first drink. So much so, I don't really have anything to say about the taste.

Flavor: A good amount of sweetness, with very very light hints of vanilla. The bite was enjoyable, not overly harsh, and not watery.

Overall: The mid range of Root Beers are always going to be hard to find words for, because for the most part they taste similar. This is another case of a good Root Beer that's sticking to what a good Root Beer does. Not much hidden in this redundantly named drink. Solid C.

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nursery

Main Root Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Pure Water, Fair Trade Certified Organic Cane Juice, and Spices

Smell: Nothing really of note here. In fact there wasn't much of a detectable smell at all.

Head: Look at that. It's pretty fantastic. Filled a little more than half the mug.

Flavor: The ingredients printed on the bottle are vague, but I could definitely taste some of the usual suspects like Wintergreen and Anise. But just the right amounts, never overpowering the taste of sassafras. Very sweet, but not overly sweet with a wonderful aftertaste that lasts.

Overall: Full disclosure, I purchased this at Whole Foods where I also purchased the Oogave Root Beer I reviewed previously. After reviewing the previous Root Beer I was honestly not expecting something similar, but I was pleasantly surprised by this. So much so, that immediately I thought it may be my first A. But, I've decided after a little time to stick with a B for this brew. When I think of an A, I think "Best of the Best". These should be few and far between, not to mention that some of my favorite flavors to find in Root Beer were nowhere to be seen. However, I STRONGLY recommend this one and give it a solid B.

Purchased from Whole Foods Market