Filbert's Old Time Draft Root Beer

Anyone from Arizona will know exactly where i am about to go with this. Filbert's is a root beer that has absolutely no affiliation with Filiberto's, a crappy Mexican fast food chain here that is basically on every corner. The conditions of cleanliness at their places of business always give the impression that the establishment is visibly on the verge of being shut down by Health Inspectors. It's the only place on Earth that serves the most disgusting/delicious food known to man. It's so dirty that it's amazing. Even the font and the colors used for the logos bear an eerie resemblance. But anyway, this post is about root beer, not burritos with questionable meat content.

Filbert's was started in Chicago, IL in 1926. They don't have a website that i know of, but i got some info from this distribution site about the company and it's humble beginnings. It is still a family owned and operated business, which if you care about that kind of thing might pull on your heart strings a little.

It's a very colorful label on an otherwise ordinary bottle. The colors remind me of Mexico, or at least the inside of an Americanized Mexican restaurant. There is a big barrel of root beer pictured on the label. Other than that, it's a fairly simple design, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The bottle might be good for breaking over the head of a white guy for dancing with your Mexican women (i actually saw this once in Mexico. No really, i did).

As far as taste goes, i had very low expectations. I guess i shouldn't have, because just like Filiberto's, it's really good despite the unappealing surroundings. I liked it a lot. It has a good classic root beer taste with a very rich and creamy vanilla finish. The after taste is almost like you're eating a vanilla ice cream cone. This took me by surprise, but it's not the first time i got something completely different from what i expected with regards to root beer.

My official review is that Filbert's gets 8 (eight) IBCs. It's a good buy, but because it is so sweet i might consider it more of a dessert root beer. All in all though, i was pleasantly surprised by this one and i would recommend you pick one up if you get the chance.