This is a poll what bottled root beer is the best!
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<P></P>Sam Gottschalk

i rather like Bulldog. and Ithaca also. both are very good.

-anthony
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anthony's root beer barrel http://rootbeerbarrel.com

My top two favorites are Henry Wienhard and Rat Bastard. Have not tried Bulldog or Ithasca.

-Centaura

I really like Goose Island and Henry Weinhards. If someone wanted to send me some Bull Dog I wouldn't turn it down.

One day, I will make this a real poll...one day...
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Bottoms up!
Kevin Guske

So heres a tribute toast with root beer in hand to you and the many mugs of suds along your happy trails. --Charles Wysocki, artist and root beer fan, 1928-2002

My two favorite are definatley Goose Island and Henry Weinhard for right now.

Right now one of the root beers I carry in my retail shop is Blumers a great bottled root beer from Joseph Huber Brewing. Also like ice cold Hanks Root Beer.

Kink

Hi,

It is wierd but I have barley seen this root beer anywhere including the internet but in my opinion is the absolute best: Boylan's 'The Natural Kind". It is different from their mainstream root beer because it is all natural/microbrew style and I happen to think that it has a MUCH better taste than that of their mainstream root beer. it's unfortunate because the only place near me that sold it discontinued it last week and I have only been able to find 1 place on the web that sells it ; Amazon.com

I am a long time rootbeer lover, but, until recently, I never tried any of these high priced brands that come in small glass bottles. So, just to see what the fuss was about, I tried Goose Island and Henry Weinhard.

I must say that I am unimpressed. And, I can tell you exactly why. They are weakly flavored. Henry Weinhard's flavor and aroma are so weak that I couldn't sense any other flavor descriptor exept, maybe, vanilla like. Goose Island tasted like watered and sugared down A&W except more acidic. Both had less carbonation than mainstream brands.

So, would you listen to Ebert and Roper's movie reviews if all they said was, "I like/dislike this movie?" Tell me exactly why you like your favorite rootbeer.

Aruzinsky,

If your Henry Weinhard's has little carbonation, than you get an old/bad bottle. That has without a doubt the most carbonation of any of the approximately 240 root beers I've tasted.

Jon

Jon wrote:

Aruzinsky, If your Henry Weinhard's has little carbonation, than you get an old/bad bottle. That has without a doubt the most carbonation of any of the approximately 240 root beers I've tasted. Jon

That's possible. And, how would you rate the strength of flavor and aroma on a 0 to 10 scale? I rate it 1. Carbonated sugar water would be 0. Old time Dad's (circa 1965) would be a tentative 10 until I taste something stronger.

I would agree that if you got a tasteless and low carbonated Henry Weinhards, you must have had a bad bottle. I've found Henry's to be the most suddy-ish of all the rootbeers I've had - I've seen it froth a head that would put a regular beet to shame. And to me one of the reasons that I like Henry's is the rich flavor - rootbeer but with a creamy honey-vanilla flavor. I know I've had Goose Island, but it didn't have a distinct enough taste to stick out in my mind.

I do agree that just because something is in a bottle, doesn't make it great. I personally don't like Virgil's Root Beer, as I find that weak, with a sour taste. And there are at least two bottled brands that I will never crack open again - Steaz and X Root Beer Riot.

My advice would be to skip finding more Good Island, but if you could find a single bottle of Henry's, I'd give it another try. And you still might not like it - tastes are always different. I'm sure that I'll have things thrown at me for saying skip the Goose Island.

-Centaura

centaura wrote:

I would agree that if you got a tasteless and low carbonated Henry Weinhards, you must have had a bad bottle. -Centaura

Okay, but that doesn't speak well for the manufacturer, does it? There is no expiration date (as on Goose Island) and the manufacturer is responsible for the integrity of the bottle cap seals and quality control of the beverage. I bought a carton of six 12 oz bottles for $5 and I have consumed four. What are the odds of four being uniformly bad flukes? How often have you encountered a bad bottle, let alone a bad carton, of Coca Cola?

Incidentally, the labelled ingredients are:

carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, vanilla extract, natural and artificial flavors, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate, honey essence, acacia sassafras extract.

Furthermore, I am inclined to disrespect any manufacturer who charges an outrageously high price and pinches pennies by using high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar.

Ok Aruzinsky i can see why some people dont like Henry or Goose Island, but i would like u to tell me a couple of the best root beers u have had.

RootBeerLover15 wrote:

Ok Aruzinsky i can see why some people dont like Henry or Goose Island, but i would like u to tell me a couple of the best root beers u have had.

Most are extinct or changed from the versions I liked. The one I liked most was Fanta Roor Beer, which I have been told is still available at some soda fountains. Circa 1975 it was occasionally available in bottles, but was mostly sold at concession stands in Chicago. The bottle label listed the flavoring as artificial. The strength of flavor and aroma was about 7 on a 0 to 10 scale. The flavor had no recognizable component (such as methyl salicylate, safrole, or vanilla) and yet its flavor was unmistakably that of root beer.

The first time that I really noticed the flavor of rootbeer was while I was drinking a bottle of Hires while coming home from high school around 1962. Interestingly, I didn't pay much attention to root beer before the FDA safrole ban in 1960. Anyway, I remember thinking that the Hires had an interesting fruity aroma that I couldn't identify. In those days, I drank mostly Hires and Dad's and liked it. Although both seem to have retained some of their character from that time, I think both have changed for the worse over the years.

These days, of the root beer I drink, it is mostly modified A&W diet rootbeer. Typically, I buy 2 liter plastic bottles for $0.79 to $1.00 each. Then I add 3 drops of 10% solution of sassafras oil in alcohol to each bottle.