Wild Bill's Root Beer

Well here we are. The world on fire. Our empire crumbling. Embroiled in yet another endless foreign war. Our leadership shirking all accountability or even minor attempt to appear to be serving the common man. On the brink of a technological revolution that will completely up end our society with no safe guards or consideration for the majority of citizens.  Being sold literal poison to eat in every grocery store at an ever increasing cost. Our futures squandered for absolutely nothing in return. Everything of value we have struggled to obtain in our lives seemingly slipping through our fingers like sand, while those without are evermore reminded that they never did or will even have a chance. Are we forsaken? Are we cursed? Do we deserve this? And on top of everything, my best friend lies in the ground, cut down in the prime of his life by cancer. What even is this life? What can bring any solace? Maybe a small respite from the onslaught of tyranny and turmoil we all face in the form of a craft root beer in a tall can? Can this be the sweet relief we all need right now?
The answer is simple...

Nope. Not even close.

Wild Bills's Craft Beverage Co. was founded in 2002 in Millington, NJ. Or at least that is where they currently operate from. It began as a food truck of sorts, a mobile craft soda wagon traveling from event to event. State fairs and festivals, conventions, motorcycle rallies... you name it, they went there, slinging several classic and a few signature flavors of soda, including this root beer. The company was founded by and is currently run by veterans of the US armed services. The website touts nostalgia in every can. The classic soda flavors of a bygone era, recreated in our modern times. They promise hope, inspiration and lasting experiences for those who come to partake of their sodas. 

These sodas only come in 12 oz tall aluminum cans. They are wrapped with a plastic/vinyl type label that looks to be slipped over and then heat shrunk over the form of the can. It has a little cowboy on a buckin' bronco near the bottom of the can. Other than that, it's mostly just a bunch of text. Not terrible, but rather "homemade" looking. Regarding the taste, the soaring expectations set by the website descriptions are grossly exaggerated. In reality, the soda falls fairly flat, and that's not just a commentary on the stunning lack of carbonation. The root beer flavor is very thin. It's quite watered down. The label promises notes of vanilla, juniper and licorice, all sweetened with pure cane sugar. I gotta say, the actual taste doesn't deliver on those flavors. It's not that it tastes bad, it's that it barely tastes like anything. The sweetness of the cane sugar cuts through the most. I get a very slight hint of licorice and even less of a vanilla taste. Other than that, the base root beer flavor takes a back seat in what i hoped to be a more forward facing craft soda. 

My official review is that Will Bill's Root Beer gets 4 (four) IBCs. It's a worthy score for a rather scathing review. I truly wasn't hoping for much. Most craft sodas seem to fall short just due to the choke hold the big dogs have on the soda distribution game. But given how everything around us just seems to be getting worse while we have no recourse to demand something better, i was hoping this was going to be a bright light in a ocean of blackness. Turns out it was just a dim glimmer that fizzles out far too fast. 

Everything sucks right now. 

Sprecher Maple Root Beer

Well we just did a Sprecher root beer, so how's about we do another one. 

Today we will be talking about Sprecher Maple Root Beer. As mentioned in the last post, this is brewed, bottled and distributed by Sprecher Brewing Co. out of Glendale, WI, which from what i am gathering from the website is a suburb of Milwaukee. Sprecher is no new comer to the root beer game. They have been brewing craft sodas since 1985. I believe i reviewed the classic Sprecher Root Beer back in my first year of reviewing in 2008. They have quite the lineup of craft soda flavors, including a smokey maple root beer, which is distinct from this maple root beer i am reviewing today, as well as a toasted marshmallow root beer, both of which i will likely need to add to my "to review" list. While they boast an old world fire brewing process, they seem pretty with the times in terms of media presence and nationwide availability. 

Let talk about the label. It's good. Clean, clear, colorful, to the point. No messin' around. It's slapped on a standard 12 oz. dark brown glass bottle, which i'm not faulting them for. I like the big illustrated maple leaf on the label. Kinda stealing the wind out of Canada's sails with this one, and i'm all for it. I recall the old labels featuring a cartoon bird of some sort. They seem to have abandoned that, but the classic old world European font for the Sprecher name and the griffin coat of arms insignia seem to remain. It invokes a Germanic heritage but i can't point to anything specific to verify that.

As you can guess, this root beer features maple syrup as one of the main ingredients and flavor profiles. Cracking the cap and taking a deep smell rewarded me with a robust and unmistakable root beer aroma. The flavor however is dominated with the maple syrup. My whife seems to think it's too much. I don't know if i'd go that far, but the root beer aroma doesn't translate over in the taste. It gets a little lost in the sauce for me. I think the maple syrup is the primary sweetener for this soda. I am not seeing anything about cane sugar or HFCS being used. The carbonation is a little light and it's got a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. But overall that's somewhat forgivable as this is a perfectly passable maple root beer, emphasis on the maple. 

My official review is that Sprecher Maple Root Beer gets 6 (six) IBCs. I think this root beer is completely refreshing and satisfying. It is fairly typical for other maple root beers i have tried. I think it has some of the downsides of these other craft sodas, including the lack of a lot of carbonation and somewhat unpleasant aftertaste, but i don't think it's terrible by any stretch. It has a deep, rich flavor of caramelized sugars from the maple syrup being roasted over an open fire (as described on the website) and i think it's overall a rewarding and worthwhile beverage. Better than most but maybe not my first pick. They do good work over there at Sprecher and this just goes to back that up.  

Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer

Guess who's back... back again... 

Turns out, it's just me. I didn't post a single review last year, and it's not because i don't have anything in my fridge to review. In fact, i have quite a few root beers that have been accumulated along my travels, either gifted to me by others or from just randomly wandering the root beer sections of grocery store soda aisles. And while i have several reasons for my absence, chief among them is that i'm just lazy and didn't take the time to sit down and do one. But i can no longer look in my fridge and think i will get to some of these later. I just need to put out some more content for the dozens (generous) of avid readers of my reviews, you know? Oh, and also, remember how i said my best friend of 30 years had cancer a few years back? Well last year on the 16th of July he died from it, or rather from the treatment of it. And now, for better or worse, that has become a central part of my personality, the sad middle-aged guy who's best friend is dead. So there's that as well. 

Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer is brewed and distributed by Sprecher Brewing in Glendale, WI. I have reviewed a couple Sprecher root beers previously, and (spoiler) i actually have another one in my fridge right now. I truly don't remember where i picked this one up. As of the time i am writing this review, the website says they are out of stock, so i am not sure how you'd find some if you wanted to try it. Maybe it's more prevalent in the greater Glendale, WI area, but i don't know. I certainly wasn't up in that area so that's not where i found it. I think it was probably one of the ones that someone close to me found and then bestowed upon me. 

I like the label a lot. It has a classy, appealing look of a root beer that takes itself seriously. There is a faint image of a barrel laying on it's side cradled in what looks like a couple stalks of wheat tied together in what i would describe as a Caesar crown. I am not sure what you could call these (fronds maybe?), but they also appear on award ribbons and around sayings like "best picture", or "trust me, this thing is good". Oak Creek makes me think of Oak Creek Canyon, a popular summer spot near Sedona, AZ. I grew up going down to Oak Creek to swim and cliff dive in my teenage years, so this holds some affinity for me for that reason alone. One of the more striking traits of this root beer is the "blonde" color. The label reveals that this root beer is sweetened with 25% brown sugar and 75% real sugar. I thought it rather interesting then that the website description says, "with the deep color coming from the brown sugar used to sweeten each batch." The last way i would describe this color would be "deep". It's certainly "light" and "surprising", even dare i say "disarming", but when i think of a deep color i would consider that a dark, rich colored brown root beer. One that you can't see through even when illuminated. So that's really my only gripe about the description of the root beer. 

As for taste, the website further describes this as "velvety rich", "smooth", "mellow sweetness with bold spice". I can't say i disagree with any of those, except maybe the bold spice part. The carbonation was a bit lighter than i appreciate, but it wasn't absent entirely as with other root beers i have reviewed. We held a little family tasting session and consensus was overwhelmingly positive. My daughter (11) said "i like that". My son (14) said "it's good". And my whife (43) said, "it doesn't taste like root beer, but it's good". I have to say, i agree with my whife. To me it has a faint taste of a butter beer, which is more butterscotch forward than anything, though i wouldn't say this tastes like butterscotch.  It was indeed velvety rich and smooth though. It's definitely sweet, but ultimately the classic root beer flavor gets a little lost in the sauce. That's not to say this isn't a good soda, because it is. I enjoyed every drop of the bottle. 

My official review is that Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer gets 7 (seven) IBCs. I like the clean, sweet flavor and finish. I like the clean presentation of the bottle and label. I like the pail blonde color of the liquid. I like it all. It's definitely worthy of Caesar crown cradle praise. I just wouldn't call it a root beer. I am not sure what else you would call it though, and perhaps that is why they defaulted it to this title. But kudos for the delightful and refreshing soda. Well done over there at Sprecher, gang. If i chance upon this again, i would be inclined to pick a few of them up.