Shasta Root Beer

Shasta is a pretty big name in soda (at least out in the West), so it makes sense that i would have to review Shasta Root Beer. The company was founded in Shasta Springs, CA, about 4 hours north of San Francisco in 1889, so it has been around awhile. The company makes such outrageous claims as being the first company to sell soda in metal cans and that they created diet soda. They also introduced the 3-liter bottle of soda and have a variety of flavors to choose from. They even have 9 "Hispanic" flavors to choose from. Yes, Shasta is truly international. I have had Shasta sodas for years since they are fairly low priced and have some decent flavors to choose from. This being the case, i have had this root beer multiple times, but i have never had the opportunity to review it until now.

I opted for the 2-liter bottle instead of the 3-liter. It is also available in cans, but the 2-liter was cheaper and i didn't want to commit myself to a full 6-pack of this stuff. I try to shy away from reviewing canned soda, but i think the day will come when that's the option i will need to take. Anyway, every Shasta label is decorated the same way with the logo and the bubbles, the only difference being the color of the label (brown for root beer) and the name of the flavor. It's nothing special and it's reproducible, which probably appeals to this soda juggernaut. Not much else to it though.

Like i said, i have had this root beer multiple times, but when it came time to review it i didn't really have an opinion. This is because it left no lasting impression. Upon learning about my root beer reviewing endeavors, my lovely wife's cousin Scott told me that Shasta root beer is bad. I hadn't really thought in the past that the root beer was particularly bad, just not memorable. But when i tried it again for the first time as an official, expert reviewer, i had to agree with Scott. This stuff is bad. It's not heinously terrible, but it's not good. It basically just tastes like pure sugar with the slightest touch of vanilla for the first few seconds, but that fades very quickly and then it just has a kind of metallic water taste to it. It's very unimpressive. It was almost disappointing. What happened Shasta? I don't remember you being such a let down. It has a decent root beer scent to it so i had high hopes, but it doesn't really taste like root beer at all. It just tastes like failure and a broken childhood.

My official review is that Shasta gets 3 (three) IBCs. I don't gag when i drink it, but it won't be gracing my palate again any time soon. Kind of a big let down. I just never remembered it being so unimpressive. The low price may draw you in, but i would recommend you springing for something a little more expensive and a lot more flavorful.

Kutztown Root Beer

Well... this is it. I have finally come to the point where i have tried every root beer that the Pop Shop has available. Granted they get different ones from time to time, so i plan to swing by now and then to see if they have anything new, but i need to find new sources of root beer. But not before i write the review for this last root beer that i found at the Pop Shop. Kutztown Root Beer is bottled in Kutztown, PA and has been around since 1851. For starters, i don't know why on Earth you would name a city Kutztown, but that's beside the point. Anyway, the owners of Kutztown Bottling Co. thought it was good enough to name their company after it. Whatever. Since they've been around such a long time, they have a lot of history, and apparently the company has traded hands several times throughout the years. I don't really want to go into it, but if you really care to find out the details you can visit their website and read all about it. There is also a little movie you can watch on their website if you have QuickTime installed, but i'll just go ahead and say don't bother.

The bottle is a typical 12 oz. glass bottle with a very colorful plastic sticker label. The one on this bottle that i drank wasn't put on very well. It's unsmooth and has lots of creases and air bubbles in it. Looks like someone at Kutztown doesn't care to do his or her job correctly, and the management doesn't seem to care. For shame, Kutztown. You're disgracing your town name. The label itself has a picture of a root beer mug, lots of colors and designs, and it has some German writing in the center across the mug that says "Nix Besser", which roughly translates to "nothing better". Just so you all know, i am of German ancestry, although that has little to do with my knowledge of the German language since i have never been to Germany. I mean, Big Jeff was stationed there with the Army and my incredibly famous movie star brother Trenton James was born there, but i still don't think that really effects me. But anyway, i did take a year of German in high school and i verified on an online German-to-English dictionary that "nix" is basically "nichts", a German word meaning "nothing; not anything". I am assuming it's kinda like our word "cuz" (for because). Or kinda like the word "kinda" for that matter. But anyway, along with usage of strange German dialects on their label, it appears to me that Kutztown still hasn't gotten a grasp on the English language. Here is an excerpt from the label, and i am writing this down verbatim:

"When you're bad for something mighty good, reach for a foamy mug of Kutztown Root Beer! Tastes chust like old-fashioned, 'cause you know we make it that way. Drink 'til you ouch, there's more back!"
What just happened? Is this for real? Is it some sort of inside joke and i'm just not in the know? Or is Pennsylvania just really short on English teachers? Well whatever it is, i think trying to hold a conversation with one of these people might prove difficult.

As far as taste goes, i'll just say it's better than their grammar and spelling, but that's not saying much. But it's ok. I didn't hate it at all. It kinda has an aspertame taste to it, but it says it is made with pure cane sugar. Other than that, it tastes like a regular root beer with a bit of a carmel finish to it. It wasn't very carbonated either. So it wasn't one of my favorites, but i didn't hate it all together.

My official review is that Kutztown gets 4 (four) IBCs. I didn't think it was even really good enough to be considered "middle of the road", or in German, "der gemäßigten Mitte". In the end, i wasn't very impressed with it, although i have heard from a personal associate that he quite enjoyed it. I can go without, but if you'd like to pick one up, go for it.

Baumeister Root Beer

Sorry folks. I know it's been a while, but i am running out of resources for new root beers. I did however find this at the Pop Shop. Baumeister Root Beer is bottled by Lakeshore Bottling Co. in Green Bay, WS and was created in 1907 by a guy with a funny name, Heine Baumeister. So that's exciting i suppose. Baumeister also makes a few other flavors, such as cherry, cream, and orange, but it seems like that's about as far as they go. So they keep it simple, which isn't a bad thing. They seem to be very proud that they've made it over 100 years as a business. Well good for you Baumeister. Normally people as old as you are put in rest homes so they can be ignored and forgotten, but you're just hangin' in there.

The typical 12 oz. bottle has a fairly plain label to it. It's the color of brown packaging paper with big white font of the root beer's name, and there is a root beer keg and a picture of a light house on it. I think that's kind of odd to have on a root beer from Wisconsin. I mean, i know they are on the shore of Lake Michigan and are bottled by Lakeshore Bottling, but are there really light houses in Green Bay? Is that necessary? I see light houses on root beer labels for root beers from the great state of Maine all the time, and i don't have a problem with that. I mean, come on, Maine doesn't have a lot going for it. It has to be proud of something, and i suppose lighthouses are acceptable. But when i think Green Bay (or Wisconsin for that matter), i don't think light houses. It just seems like a non sequitur to me. I'm deducting points for incongruency (<-- a="" div="" don="" even="" i="" s="" t="" that="" think="" word="">

As far as taste is concerned, Baumeister doesn't have much going on. It's not bad, and certainly better then some of the other root beers i have tried recently (i'm looking at you Journey John Barleycorn), but there is nothing special to it. It's particularly sweet. I can taste the root beer flavoring in it, but it's very sugary. I almost expected it to be made with cane sugar, but the ingredients say it is made with "high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar". So whatever they are doing, they might want to back off a bit. Everything else was fine though. It had nice carbonation and it wasn't a bad root beer. It could just be better in my opinion (which is clearly the only opinion that counts, or else you wouldn't be reading this).

My official review is that Baumeister gets 5 (five) IBCs. It's just another one of those middle of the road root beers. Kinda like how Wisconsin is a middle of the road state. Or like how Green Bay is a middle of the road football team. Or how Lake Michigan is full of dead bodies (it's probably true, if you think about it). But anyway, if you want to try this root beer, there's nothing wrong with it. But it has a long way to go if it wants to measure up to IBC.

Natural Brew Draft Root Beer

I found this one in a Fry's grocery store on New Year's Eve, but am just now getting around to reviewing it. I was with my friend from Buffalo at the time who had tried it and he said it wasn't bad. His wife didn't feel the same way and thought it was terrible. But either way, i figured i needed to review it for the masses. Natural Brew makes a few other flavors of soda, including ginger ale. I'm not sure when it started being produced as there isn't much about it on the internet, including the source of all truth. And although i couldn't find a site for Natural Brew itself, the source of all truth told me that it is bottled through Smucker Quality Beverages (the same Smucker's who make jams and jellies). SQB also distributes several other beverages under the Smucker's name, including After the Fall, which is the company that Mark Panely used to run before he started that atrocity known as Journey Food and Beverage Co. and began pumping out that disgusting excuse for a root beer. But anyway, this is about Natural Brew, not that other garbage.

It comes in a stout 12 oz. glass bottle in a 4-pack. Not buying it at the Pop Shop means i don't have the luxury of just buying them one at a time. The label has a color scheme using Earthy colors and shows a serene looking landscape consisting of a set of rolling hills/mountains in the background with a babbling mountain spring in the foreground. It's like something right off an Arrowhead Water label (maybe someone should alert them that their logo is being plagiarized). There is a lot of text along the sides of the label arguing the benefits of natural ingredients, etc. This seems to be common of all root beers that use natural ingredients. No big surprise there i guess.

Being a root beer that utilizes natural ingredients, i was already expecting a certain taste. And based on the mixed reviews of Dick and his wife, i was already thinking this was going to be another bad natural root beer. But i really didn't mind it. It was typical in the way of natural root beers in that it has a base flavor of black licorice and less carbonation than normal, but it also has a heavy clove taste to it and a mild vanilla aftertaste. I'll be honest, it wasn't bad. Probably one of the better natural root beers i have tried. But still not one of my favorites overall.

My official review is that Natural Brew gets 5 (five) IBCs. I really wouldn't mind drinking it again. I don't know how much i would go out of my way though, because it's kind of expensive. It was just under $5 for a 4-pack, which when you think about it isn't that much per bottle. But when you can get IBC for less than $5 for a 6-pack, it's an easy decision based on price alone. However, i will say i was relieved that i wasn't compelled to dump the other three bottles down the drain. This stuff isn't amazing, but it's not terrible. If you like the natural ingredient root beers, i think this one might be your best bet so far.

Howie's Premium Root Beer

I stumbled upon this root beer on a recent trip up to Utah to visit some of my wife's family for her grandpa's 80th birthday. They live in a little town called Nephi about 40 miles south of Provo, and we found this in the local grocery store (only available to us in 2 liter bottles). Howie's root beer was created by a guy named Howard Tanner in Orem, UT in 1989. Most of the info i could get is from the story printed on the bottle. Apparently Howard started a restaurant in Orem called The Squat and Gobble, which later changed it's name to Howie's when the root beer grew in popularity. This root beer was created to serve specifically at Howie's. I was curious about the restaurant and couldn't find a website for it on the internet. Apparently i am not the only one who was curious because i found this post on a BYU news blog. This was nice because it did all the research i didn't care much to do myself by clarifying that Howie's has indeed shut down. The root beer is still available through local retailers in Utah Valley.

I would like to try and get this in a 12 oz. glass bottle, but the 2 liter bottle is what is featured and is standard in every sense. The label kind of reminds me of a pizzeria. It has a beige/tan background with checkerboard boarders at the top and bottom, and the logo is a big frothy mug of root beer with Howie's name plastered across the front in big cursive font. Fine by me for a label. Nothing spectacular, but nothing too cheap and unappealing either.

But let me let you in on a little secret... man is this stuff good. I liked it A LOT. It was a serious treat, a real gem of a find. The label describes it as smooth, creamy, and mellow. I would add amazing to that. The first thing i noticed when i poured myself a glass was a heavy wintergreen scent which took me by surprise. I don't usually do a smell test on root beers, but it was overwhelming (in a good way). So i was expecting a nice wintergreen flavor, but it's only a very subtle after taste. It has a great root beer flavor with a mellow, creamy vanilla base, and then the slight hint of wintergreen to follow up. Wow... this stuff is really good. My wife seems to think it's not as good as i think, but if anyone agreed with her they would be looking at her blog right now and not mine. Plus, she's a girl, and girls don't know anything about root beer. Or fun.

My official review is the Howie's gets 9 (nine) IBCs. This might cause a rift in my marriage, but i really think Howie's deserves it. It was very impressive, and very inexpensive (i think it was something like $1.23 for a 2 liter). Let's just say i will definitely be picking up more of this stuff on my next trip up to Utah, and i would highly recommend you do the same.

*** ADDENDUM   8/28/2019 ***

So i paid a visit to my brothers up in Utah last month for my neice's wedding and while perusing in a local grocery store up there called Ream's i found this 12 pack of cans. I previously had only seen this root beer in 2L bottles, which were also in stock. I shared the 12 pack with my family, who were all impressed with the root beer. Just thought i'd say i found this other packaging option. Check 'em out if you're near a Ream's.

Journey John Barleycorn Root Beer

This one was found tucked away in the Pop Shop and quickly caught my eye. It has a crazy design on the label, but we'll get to that in a bit. Journey John Barleycorn Root Beer is part of the Journey Food and Beverage Company. They actually make several flavors of soda, including two other root beers. The story is that the company was started by a guy named Mark Panely. It is situated in Putney, VT, but i can't seem to find a date of when it started. The site mentions how Mark has worked in the industry since 1979, but i am thinking Journey started around the mid to late 90's. Apparently he was riding on his bike cross-country and had a vision about how people should "journey" for the best ingredients and recipes to use in brewing, or some garbage like that. Well whatever, sounds like a bunch of hippie nonsense to me, though i respect him as a fellow cyclist. That's right, i'm a cyclist now. Got a problem with that? Didn't think so.

The bottle is pretty standard, 12 oz. dark brown glass. The label, as i mentioned before, is what caught my eye. It has a lot of browns, greens, and yellows, some metallic colors, and a crazy looking barrel thing with a face and a moustache. The writing reminds me of Star Wars, epic and cosmic, desperately trying to catch my attention. There is a lot of text on the label cuz they have a lot of info to throw at you. I would have preferred it to explain what the cryptic and psychedelic image is supposed to mean. The cap even has a big question mark on it, maybe asking you if you're sure you really want to drink this stuff. I get the feeling like this is going to be an Alice in Wonderland experience, or maybe the famous blue pill, red pill decision. Apparently all the sodas have different images on them, each as perplexing. The site mentions that Mark Panley comments on the labels. "If you think it’s just a soda with a crazy picture of a dragon on it, then you just don’t get it." Guess what Mark, you nailed it. I don't get it. And if i can be completely honest, it reminds me of poop. Yeah, i said it, and it's true. The color scheme, the texture of the barrel in the illustration, even the name "barleycorn" (to spell it out for those who don't get that, it's because sometimes when you poop, there's corn in it). Sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone or anything. What am i saying? I don't care.

Mark strived to make this a "historic brew" from Scottish and Irish brewing traditions. It includes malt, which to me doesn't seem like a good decision. I am not sure if Bundaberg uses malt too, but these two taste very very simlar. I guess what i am getting at is that this stuff is not good at all. It has zero, as in, absolutely no carbonation. I don't like the taste at all. Three words on the label describe it as nutty, malty, and foamy. The three words they should have used were nasty, acrid (link requested by my wife), and flat. I don't think it's good or original or worth going out of your way for. I actually broke one of my own "rules", in that i usually make it a point to drink the entire bottle of the root beer i am drinking to get more than just a first impression of it. Well i couldn't do it with this one. I seriously only drank about a fourth of it and poured the rest down the drain. It's awful. Just plain awful.

My official review is the JJBC gets 1 (one) IBC. As i mentioned above, Journey makes two other root beers which i have not found yet, and i would just as soon skip them if i weren't so dedicated to my cause of bringing you relevant and pertinent information regarding root beer. What i do is important to a lot of people. So i suppose i will have to track those two down and try them as well. But as for you, don't bother tracking this one down, and i wouldn't recommend looking up the other two until i give you my expert opinion on the subject.

Triple XXX Root Beer

This is another root beer with a family restaurant background, which i am finding is a popular way to start making root beer. Triple XXX Bottling Company was started in 1895 in Galveston, TX. It's been around for a long time and has seen a lot of action. Not necessarily the kind of action you might find in the terrible Vin Diesel movie Triple XXX, but action none the less. For those of you not too familiar with the geography of Texas, Galveston is located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. This means it is susceptible to hurricanes and tropical storms. One interesting note i pulled off their site was that the company basically made themselves a hurricane-proof fortress in which to brew and bottle beverages. Well, maybe it was just a wall, but i like to think of it as a fortress. Anyway, after a number of set backs in Galveston with the hurricanes and Prohibition and what not, Triple XXX eventually was purchased by Dr. Pepper and production was moved to Houston, TX where they are currently headquartered. It's not all that far from Galveston though, so i am sure they maintain operations in Galveston.

The typical 12 oz. bottle is adorned with a simple, yet bold label of brown, metallic red, and yellow. I like the simplicity of it. Not much going on, but it doesn't really need it. It caught my eye in the store. Then again, i seek these things out, so maybe that's a bit slanted. Another point of interest was that on the website it mentioned that despite the demand for retail bottles, Triple XXX is only available through restaurants and food outlets as a fountain drink right now. Perhaps this has recently changed, and i'm glad it did.

The tag line on the bottle says, "tastes like root beer used to taste". Recently it seems like i am less kind to the "old time" root beers, because they just over complicate things with the flavors and ingredients and being all natural and all that garbage. But i was pleasantly surprised by this root beer. It's quite good and has a simple and straight forward taste. To be completely honest, i think it basically taste's exactly like Stewart's, and that's not a bad thing. I like Stewart's, ergo, i like Triple XXX. It has that great, classic root beer taste with a smooth carmel finish. It was a pleasure to drink and it complimented my meal (a plate of homemade nachos, which is a staple in my diet) quite nicely.

My official review is that Triple XXX gets 7 (seven) IBCs. It's a lot less easy to find than Stewart's is, but i think i might try and drink them side by side to try and distinguish between them. Maybe like a blind taste test. Come to think of it, that might be interesting to do with all the root beers i have tried thus far. Hmm...

Sorry, i got side tracked there. Anyway, it's a good one and i recommend it if you can find it.