Dougie Dog Butterscotch Root Beer

What?! Two reviews in one month?! I'm on a roll right now. It's been a couple months since i've done more than one review in a month. But i just finished doing a lot of work on my new house, getting it painted and what not, and i figured i would treat myself (and you guys) with a nice refreshing root beer to celebrate. Dougie Dog Butterscotch Root Beer has an interesting story. The founder, a Canadian who calls himself DougieLuv, took a trip across America to research different hot dogs. He made a documentary along the way which he lovingly refers to as a "dogumentary". You clever Canadian you. DougieLuv took his movie and research back up to Vancouver and got a food truck to start serving his creations on the go. The website shows several celebrity endorsements and boasts of the amazing and genuine goodness of these hot dogs. The story sounds like something out of Portlandia, the food truck capital of the world according to imakeupmyownstatistics.com. But to his credit, DougieLuv had the good sense to couple his hot dogs with a crafted root beer. So cheers to you DougieLuv. You've bucked the Canadian tradition of being completely worthless to me. This root beer is one i ordered off either the Soda Emporium or the Root Beer Store. Not really sure which one i got it from and i can't find my cheat sheet (receipt) right now to verify which, so unfortunately i am unsure of which site to give the credit to. However, i fully endorse both sites. They are great. So take your pick of which one you choose to use if you decide to try this root beer out (assuming you don't have access to it locally of course).

This root beer comes in a typical 12 oz. brown glass bottle. The label is plastered with the Dougie Dog logo over a big ROOT BEER text in the background. The label is simple in design, but not cheap or generic looking. It's original, and while doing more to promote the hot dogs than the root beer, it gets the point across. I get it. The guy has to forge his brand, and i've got no problem with that. So i won't fault him for making taking the attention away from the root beer. I just think he's setting a bad example for the youth of America, that's all. What do you have to say to that, CANADIAN?!?!

The thing i left out about the label is probably the key factor regarding the taste. The label prominently displays the fact that this root beer is butterscotch flavored, so it was no surprise when it tasted overwhelmingly of butterscotch disc candies. I mean, there is a base root
beer flavor lingering in there, but it's basically just butterscotch discs.
I think this is the first butterscotch root beer i have reviewed, but it's definitely not a unique twist. I have at least one other root beer in my fridge which is butterscotch flavored and i am sure there are a few (if not several) others out there. I enjoy butterscotch. It was one of my favorite candies as a kid and it was easily my favorite dilly bar flavor. So when you combine it with a root beer flavor, it works out pretty well for me. With the cane sugar, it's a bit sweet. But ultimately, i think it's a well made root beer.

My official review is that Dougie Dog Butterscotch Root Beer gets 6 (six) IBCs. I liked this stuff. it's better than a lot of garbage out there. Maybe one of Canada's "premier" root beers (pun intended). You know i kid you Canada, but it's only cuz i love ya. I wouldn't mind trying out a Dougie Dog if i ever visit Vancouver, which is a place i really would like to visit. And i might as well try the poutine if i travel all that way, cuz i love a good poutine when it's done right. But since i can't promise to do that anytime soon, why don't you all get on up to Vancouver and try out a Dougie Dog for me and give the butterscotch root beer a shot as well.

Brigham's Brew Root Beer

I took a little trip out west this 4th of July weekend and spent some time with my family in Utah and Arizona. While in Salt Lake City i took some time to track down this root beer that i have long known about but was geographically unable to physically obtain. After getting a hot tip on a place that sells this root beer (a little place called Jed's Barber Shop), i talked my brother into driving me down there to pick up a few bottles. It's literally a barber shop and they just happen to sell this root beer. I was kind of expecting an old fashioned candy store and soda fountain shop for some reason. Not sure what i was thinking. Oh... wait.... this is it. But anyway, it's a full blown barber with just a little glass case of refrigerated Brigham's Brew Root Beer for sale. I later found out that i probably didn't need to go to all the trouble to visiting Jed's since this stuff is brewed by the Wasatch Brewery (named after the Wasatch Mountains where all the great ski resorts in SLC are located) and that this stuff is readily available at many locations throughout the valley. The brewery isn't technically in SLC, it's in Park City, but Wasatch Brewery products are stocked in most local grocery stores around the valley (and i may be going out on a limb here, but dare i say throughout the state as well). Three of my brothers live in the SLC area and one of them keeps trying to get me to move there also. I have spent a lot of time up there throughout my life (that's the 3rd time i've said "throughout") and all i can say is that while it's a lovely area and the skiing is terrific, it's really not somewhere i see myself residing. While it's full of friendly people and charming scenery, there are enough things about it that i just don't care for. And for those reasons, SLC will always only be a nice place i sometimes visit.

It's a classic brown glass 12 oz bottle with big picture of the founder of the city of Salt Lake, the state of Utah, and leader of the Mormon migration across the Great Plains, Brigham Young. His iconic picture is pasted on this root beer either satirically or as an homage. I can't decide which. I think if it were a true alcoholic beer, it would be satirical since Mormons preach abstinence from alcohol. But since it's a well known fact that Mormons love root beer, i think i prefer to consider it an homage. Either way, the bottling is stellar. I'm a fan of portraits on root beers, all except for Henry Weinhard's pathetic attempt. Seriously man, you just look desperate.

The one thing that everyone going into this can be rested assure of is that Mormons know what good root beer is, and this my friends is a really good root beer. It's been a while since i've had one i've liked as much as this. First off, it's heavy on the wintergreen, which is a personal favorite of mine. It also has a nice vanilla finish on it which gives a good creamy aftertaste. And for those of you who care, it's sweetened with pure cane sugar. Personally, i think whatever they are doing is working very well. I just wish i didn't live so far away from it now.

My official review is that Brigham's Brew gets 8 (eight) IBCs. It's been quite some time since i've seen one of this caliber. The Wasatch Brewery cooked up a gem with this one. Still, there is some room for improvement. But i mean, 8 is nothing to snub at. Go out and try this stuff guys, seriously. There aren't many around better than this.