Swamp Pop Filé Root Beer

Description: "Jambalaya, Crawfish Filé... Root Beer? The Choctaw Indians introduced early Cajuns to Filé powder (ground sassafras leaves) to treat a variety of ailments and to thicken the soups and stews that would eventually become known as Gumbo. Sassafras is also a traditional brewing spice in root beer. Swamp Pop Filé Root Beer highlights this classic Louisiana flavor, creating an herbal profile reminiscent of early, traditional root beers. Enjoy ice cold or over vanilla ice cream!"

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural Flavors, Quillaja Extract, Phosphoric Acid.

Smell: Right away I noticed this did not smell like a normal Root Beer. It actually gave off the scent of a cola.

Head: Long lasting if not a bit short. It did last through the entire drink, and because of the height it didn't really get in the way of the drink.

Flavor: Again, I bring up the fact that it's almost hard to call this a Root Beer since it's so much more like a cola than Root Beer. Actually it's almost more like a Sarsaparilla than a cola even. Which makes sense seeing as one of the selling points is that it's Filé Root Beer. Sweet with hints of vanilla, not bad.

Overall: Filé is in fact ground up Sassafras leaves, and Sassafras used to be a main ingredient in Root Beer, which in turn found its roots (ha) in Sarsaparilla. Most people call Sarsaparilla the grandfather of Root Beer. So what you have here is a very unique Root Beer that hearkens back to what a Root Beer originally tasted like. But at the same time it's very un-Root Beer like. However, it's not a bad drink at all, it's actually quite good. I'd say to anyone wanting something unique, go ahead and give this a try, but someone looking for a creamy Root Beer, maybe avoid this?

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nurse

After Dark Review: Not Your Father's Root Beer

So, this is probably the most well known of the Hard Root Beer family. I believe it's the only one I've ever seen on tap, so that's certainly a sign of its popularity.

First Criteria, does it taste like a Root Beer? This leans more of the Sprecher spectrum than the Best Damn spectrum. The malt is pretty strong, comparably. I will say it's definitely not as sweet as the Best Damn or Coney Island.

Second Criteria, is it good? This is probably going to get me some slack, but I'm speaking purely from the point of view of someone who's looking for the most "Root Beeriest" Hard Root Beer. It's simply not on par with Coney Island or Best Damn. It's not as totally undrinkable as Sprecher, not at all. In fact it's totally fine as a hard soda. It is however, the strongest of all four I've tried, at 5.9 abv. So if you really need to get a buzz from Hard Root Beer, maybe this is what you're looking for?

Purchased from: Meijer

Filbert's Draft Root Beer

Description: "Since 1926"

Ingredients: Carbonted Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (as a preservative)

Smell: Definitely a hint of vanilla in the scent. A good sign of things to come.

Head: Nothing to see here. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the head is already almost past the handle on the mug, and I take these pictures nearly immediately after. By the time I started drinking, the head was gone, and never came back.

Flavor: This one got an audible "Mmmm!" out of me. I was definitely hit up top with the taste of vanilla, which is always going to make this a top choice to me. There wasn't really any bite to it, nor was it very creamy, and it had almost a sort of flat aftertaste. However, it was still very good, the mix of sweet flavors was really something I'd been missing and was happy to find again with this one.

Overall: If I was to say anything I'd say this was a "B-". It had most of the things I really enjoy out of a Root Beer, but was also missing something that's hard to put my finger on. The aftertaste wasn't great either, but it doesn't last and doesn't taste "bad".

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nurse

After Dark Review: Best Damn Root Beer

This one, at least for the Hard Root Beers, may actually live up to its name.

First Criteria, does it taste like Root Beer? Yes! More so than the other Hard Root Beers I've had, this one has the most Root Beer flavor up front with the malty Beer flavor pushed more to the back end.

Second Criteries, is it good? It was actually quite smooth, and sweet. It had more of a beer aftertaste than the Coney Island brew, but tasted more like Root Beer while drinking it. Just to point it out, but the head on this one negligible, and it being both a hard soda, and an alcoholic beverage, it just struck me as odd. Either way, out of the three I've had, I'd rank this the new top. It actually is the Best Damn (Hard) Root Beer.

Purchased from: Meijer

Sea Dog Root Beer

Ingredients: Water. Cane Sugar, Caramel Coloring, Natural & Artificial Flavors including Wintergreen Oil, Anise, and Vanilla Spices, Herbs, Citric Acid, and Sodium Benzoate as Preservative.

Smell: A good sassafras scent, nothing hidden or overpowering.

Head: Not bad, height wise, but it lasted the entire drink, so that's a plus.

Flavor: I've read other reviews of Sea Dog who claim the Anise taste is too strong, but that wasn't my experience at all. In fact nothing really hit me as a stand out flavor. It has a good mix of everything, so nothing tastes bad either. No bad aftertaste either, a good standard flavor.

Overall: While I know this isn't true, sometimes I do question whether most of these Root Beers are just coming from the same breweries with different labels slapped on them. And I don't necessarily mean it as an insult, because I'd put most of the C average Root Beers in that thought process. Although to stand out to me, you have to have something that stands out against other Root Beers, and that's a slippery slope that can either end up incredible or terrible. There's nothing wrong with being average.

Purchased from Alsip Home & Nurse