Briar's Premium Root Beer

As i mentioned before, the Pop Shop gets different root beers in from time to time. I decided to go check it out for some root beers i have not reviewed yet and was rewarded with finding this bottle of Briar's Root Beer. Briar's, which has no connection to Breyer's, has been around since 1937 and was started in Fords, NJ. They make soda's in 11 different flavors and distribute them all over the U.S., although you kind of have to look for it. A kind of neat section of their website it devoted to Briar's Sightings, which features pictures of people in different parts of the world wearing Briar's shirts or drinking Briar's. Kind of a cheap way of gaining global acclaim, but hey... i don't have a problem with that. But it makes me think that i need to start doing that with IBC, a root beer that truly deserves that kind of global exposure. So i just may start doing that. Stay tuned.

The bottle is your typical 12 oz. clear glass bottle. The sticker label is very simple. A brown/tan back ground (different colors for different flavors), the Briar's name with three star's above it, and the year. It's extremely basic. Normally i am alright with simple and basic labels, but this one seems a bit too basic for me. Kinda don't like it. It's probably just prejudice at this point because i have no other reason not to like it. But i just don't like it. Maybe it's my German blood that makes me hate it...

To be completely honest, when i picked this bottle up i immediately thought it would be like Olde Brooklyn Root Beer. It has the same kind of color, bottle, label, etc. I could tell it would have little to no carbonation (it had none), that it would be similar in taste (brown sugary, with a touch of carmel), and that i wouldn't really like it (which i didn't). It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and i don't mean that figuratively. It's just not great. I actually think it's better than Olde Brooklyn, but it's just shades of better. Really quite unimpressive.

My official review is that Briar's gets 3 (three) IBCs. I thought it was fitting that Briar's put three stars above its name on the label considering it only gets three IBCs. And like it said, it's better than Olde Brooklyn, but not better enough to get a whole star more. So although i don't deal with half IBC ratings, i would say realistically that Briar's might get a three and a half. Skip this stuff and go for something a little more flavorful and appealing. And if you see someone with a Briar's shirt on taking a picture in a foreign country or somewhere to send in to Briar's, punch them in the face. Even if it's a kid. Shame on you Briar's, hiding behind kids.