Abita Root Beer

Brewed at the Abita Brewery in Abita Springs, LA.

12oz short brown glass bottle with an interesting paper label. 177 calories and 38 grams of sugar. Sweetened with pure Louisiana cane sugar and brewed with spring water. No specific flavorings listed.

Medium color, small fizzy head that disappears pretty quickly. Aroma is licorice, root spiciness, and a touch of vanilla. Good root bite on the taste with a soft licorice trail on the finish. High carbonation creates a sharp bubbly mouthfeel. The absence of vanilla creaminess keeps this root beer crisp and refreshing.

Well crafted, a pleasing flavor, good root beer overall.
Rating: B

Old Town Root Beer 66

Brewed and bottled at multiple locations in southern California by Old Town Root Beer Co.

12oz brown glass bottle with a fairly simple paper label. No nutritional information given on the bottle. Sweetened with cane sugar & honey. Natural flavorings listed are: real vanilla & cinnamon.

Medium color, zero head even when poured aggressively. The aroma was mostly licorice, and it was easy to pick out the cinnamon note. Taste was heavy on the licorice, with a bit of vanilla way in the back. The finish had a nice spicy trail. Medium carbonation and average mouthfeel.

An interesting root beer with a unique taste. The cinnamon does add a nice dimension. But the strong licorice flavor seems to work against the drinkability.
Rating: B-

Iron Horse Root Beer

Named after a Center Pacific steam engine from the 1800s, and distributed by Iron Horse Products in Edina, MN.

Old West looking paper label on a 12oz brown glass bottle. The copper colored bottle cap is a nice touch. 180 calories and 45 grams of sugar. Sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, no specific flavorings listed.

Medium color, decent frothy head that dissipates after a few minutes. Aroma has alot of licorice upfront and also some of vanilla. Taste has a big, almost toffee creaminess at first, then finishes with a complex and interesting spiciness. The balance of different flavors is just wonderful! Mouthfeel is silky, perfect level of carbonation.

This is tasty and intriguing to say the least. There is an elegant richness to it.
Iron Horse is the definition of a gourmet root beer.
Rating: A

Dog n Suds Root Beer

"Drive-in style" root beer as stated on the bottle. Same root beer that's available at their restaurants across the midwest. Dog n Suds is headquartered in Champaign, IL.

Cute (but poorly attached) paper label on a 12oz brown glass bottle. Only 110 calories and 30 grams of sugar. Sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, no specific flavorings listed.

Light in color, almost bordering dark amber. Small fizzy head that disappeared quickly. Aroma was vanilla and a touch of licorice. Taste had alot of vanilla creaminess, getting close to a cream soda style. Medium carbonation, lighter mouthfeel, very smooth finish with a mild and pleasant aftertaste.

I can only assume this root beer was designed to go well with their menu items. (e.g. dogs, burgers & fries) I bet it does a great job at that. Not an exciting root beer, but it's light, creamy, and refreshing.
Rating: C+

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer

A well known and widely available root beer with a great history originating in Chicago, IL.
I decided to review Dad's just because it's available in a nice looking 12oz brown glass bottle with a painted label.

A whopping 230 calories, 44 grams of sugar. Sweetened with invert sugar, no specific flavorings listed.

Darker color, small fizzy head that dissipates quickly into small bubbles around the edge of the glass. Good spicy aroma with a fair amount of vanilla & wintergreen. Taste has familiar root beer flavor with vanilla creaminess and a sugary finish. Medium carbonation and a pretty good mouthfeel. Average, mild, and inoffensive overall.

I would maybe drink Dad's once in a while, but the high calories makes me lose interest.
Rating: C

Sparky's Fresh Draft Root Beer

Sparky's is kettle brewed in small batches by the Knox family in Pacific Grove, CA.

Short 12oz brown glass bottle, plain looking paper label, but an attractive bottle cap. No nutritional information given on the bottle. Sweetened with cane sugar & honey, no specific flavorings listed.

Cola colored, almost zero head even when poured aggressively. Aroma is almost all wintergreen, a bit of sharp spiciness underneath it. Taste is all wintergreen with a strange burning spiciness. The wintergreen flavor is so strong, perhaps it's birch oil, and that's the angle they are taking with this brew. Finish has a faint bitterness. Low carbonation, mouthfeel is thin and flat. The flavor sort of got to me...I couldn't finish the bottle.

It might be more accurate to call this a hot/spicy wintergreen soda or birch beer.
Would not drink again.
Rating: D

Hank's Root Beer

This is one that I've been meaning to try for a long time. I see it everywhere, but I've never bought it. Brewed in Trevose, PA, Hank's calls this a gourmet Philadelphia recipe root beer.

Great looking 12oz brown glass bottle with raised lettering and a paper label. 180 calories, 44 grams of sugar. Sweetened with cane sugar, natural flavorings listed are: yucca, quillaia & acacia extracts.

Fairly dark in color and produces a slightly fizzy head with large bubbles. Head retention consists of large bubbles as well, with small amounts of lacing left on the glass. Notes of licorice and wintergreen in the aroma. Big creamy mouthfeel with the perfect amount of carbonation. Almost has a silky texture. Some vanilla in the taste and also a slight fruitiness. (cherry?) All this compliments a good amount of root spiciness.

Impressive taste and texture. Glad I finally got around to picking this up.
Rating: A-