I have been known to enjoy a terrible for me carbonated beverage from time to time. There was a short bit of time when Mountain Dew was a daily thing. Not a lot, but I sort of think any of that sort of thing is probably a mistake on a lot of important levels. So, I try to hold back. I thought I would build a little bit of summer good times into my avoidance, and thought…lets do the summer of Root Beer. I am a lover of root beer, and I know exactly when it happened. Sophomore year of undergrad we moved into a house with strangers, and one of the things we did collectively, was first go to Sams Club, where bought a lot of nonsense that college sophomores think they need. One of those things was like 60 bottles of IBC Root Beer. AND we lived near the Sprecher Brewery. At the time, if you took the tour (2 rooms) you could hang out and drink. I did not drink, so I drank the root beer. So, Sprecher is the Root Beer all others are compared to.
This is what I have drank this summer.
This is the standard against which all root beer is measured for me. It has a deep personal history with me. The bottle is a great shape. And I can get it in my grocery store. It is best, in my opinion, served very cold in a glass of some sort. I have a Klean Kanteen pint, and it tends to be the go to in the case of most soda and juices.
Sprecher in a bottle is smooth, and easy. It is sweet enough, and it has just enough bite or sharpness. But, over all it is a smooth root beer. It flows easy in your mouth and down the throat. The carbonation level feels not as invasive as others. It is the top of the personal mountain.
Similarly, but not the same, is Sprecher in a can. It feels close. It is probably the same, but just a can. And the can throws me to be honest. Again, this is best consumed cold, in another chalice. It was my go to to buy at Kwik Trip in the morning and stash in the fridge at the old job. It feels different in some way, maybe more carbonation. I think this is a solid number 2. And I prefer aluminum cans to bottles.
So, this is the other end of things. This is a root beer who has a calling card of, “Barqs, its the one with Bite” and it absolutely does that. It snaps hard. I think this snap takes away the flavor from your tongue, since you are doing whatever the snap thing is. I think that this is best served SUPER COLD. ANd drank fast. Not sure how I feel about it, but its everywhere.
This is the brand, the oldest in the game, it is what you think of when you think of Root Beer. It is okay. Not really anything either way. It is a good drink with food, but the sugar or whatever chemistry is in there, can drown out some stuff. So, it is best as a stand alone sort of thing, or it is PERFECT with ice cream if thats your thing.
Point is local to me. Point Brewery is about 30 miles from my house, so we are a seeding ground for them. They have produced a line of sodas, and obviously root beer is one of them. It is a little bit like a mid point between Sprecher (as a smooth product) and Barqs (as a snap king). You have some bite, but not enough to be the primary sensation. It is a top notch sort of thing, and the bottle is nice. Local stuff tends to win out. And I can find it everywhere.
Then there is this stuff. This was at the grocery store and I thought to try it. I love the bottle taper for some reason. The label is cool. It is another smooth root beer. I am not sure the role that cane sugar (or honey in Sprecher) plays, but it was a nice bottle. I ate a burger with it, and it was sort of a perfect pairing.
Overall, I like root beer. I am not sure if there are other locally available root beers. I keep my eye out. This has cut down on the amount of Mountain Dew I have taken on, so that is a positive. I hope to find some other root beers
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The South Side of Chicago’s finest: https://www.filbertsoldtimerootbeer.com/