Chek Old Style Premium Draft Root Beer

I know i took entirely too long to post this "second half" of the Chek root beer line of beverages, and for that i apologize. I also apologize that this will be an extremely short post, but really, there isn't much to add. Please see my Chek Root Beer review from earlier this month for the basics on the company and background and everything.

This was picked up on the same trip at the same time as when i got the Chek 2 liter bottle at a Winn Dixie grocery store in Montgomery, AL. The label is basically an exact copy of the Chek label with a slight change in the color scheme. But what you really need to know is how it tastes. This one doesn't taste as good as regular Chek, which is kinda disappointing. I had higher hopes for this one, but it doesn't live up. I guess the old fashioned formula lacks that new zip. It has a good enough root beer flavor, but it tastes really watered down and loses its flavor fast. I have tasted dozens of root beers like this one, so it really has no appeal or originality to it either.

My official review is that Check Old Style Root Beer gets 4 (four) IBCs. Like i said, i was kinda disappointed with the way this turned out. Being a generic store brand, i didn't expect much from it. But given the option of Chek and Chek Old Style, had i found them side by side at the store and never tasted either but only wanted to buy one, sadly i think i would go for the old fashioned simply because there  is an implied notion that its better. Why else would they call it old fashioned? Certainly not to let you know it's not as good. Maybe it's because it was made in a bath tub. But anyway, my due diligence on this brand is done. If you're going to go generic and have to choose between the two Cheks, go ahead and skip the old fashioned blend.

Chek Root Beer

Ok, so i have more generics in my fridge, and i want to get these next couple out of the way cuz they are taking up space. This is the generic brand sold by the grocery store chain Winn Dixie. I picked this one up on my latest cross country tour with Richard in Montgomery, AL. They actually have two types of root beer (stay tuned for a review of the next one, coming soon) as well as several other flavors, which is typical of most generic brands. I am not sure where Winn Dixies are most prominantly located as far as the geography of the U.S. is concerned, but i do know they made movie called Because of Winn Dixie about a dog (i believe the dog in the movie was specifically named after the store). I never saw it, but i think it's supposed to be a feel good family film or something. And it has Jeff Daniels in it. And Dave Matthews? Weird. I probably still won't see it though. If i didn't review root beers, i would probably try my hand at reviewing movies (and be amazing at it), but i hear the major downside to that is that you have to sit through movies like that one. So i'll stick to root beers, cuz even if it's bad, at least i don't have to drink it for an hour and a half.

These were cheapest in 2 liter bottles, so that's what i got. The generic theme is preciscely followed with the label on this brand. Just look at the color scheme, font, bubbles, etc. If you've been reading my posts at all, you'll recognize the trend. So needless to say, the label doesn't add much to the appeal. For those of you with super sharp eagle eyes, you can probably notice that the pic above is slightly altered. It's because i opened this bottle and poured a glass before i had taken a picture of it, so when i realized my error i just superimposed the label onto another picture of a full, unopened bottle. Not my best work, but it doesn't really matter. It's just a generic.

I almost feel bad reviewing generics, because i don't have much to say about them. This one is a prime example of that. I still feel like i need to do my due diligence though and let you, my loyal readers, know which root beers are worthwhile and which you can skip. So for this generic all i can really say is that it's not bad, but not great. Has a good root beer flavor, but nothing to write home about. Decent carbonation, sweetened with HFCS, and is sold as cheap as they come. Definitely has value and is one of the better generics i've had, but really nothing special. Safeway's brand (Parker's Root Beer) is still my favorite generic i think, but this one is acceptable. Looking back at some of my generics reviews, i have given several a fairly high rating, which kind of suprises me. Most probably don't deserve it, but since i don't do re-reviews the rating will have to be allowed to stand.

My official review is that Chek Root Beer gets 6 (six) IBCs. I was on the edge of giving it a 5, but it's really not terrible. There are definitely worse, more watery tasting generics out there. This one is better than a lot of them, but still nothing super special at all. The next variation of the Chek root beer formula will be reviewed soon, so we will see how they stack up against one another. Don't expect a lot of added content from that review though. I've covered most of the basics in this review.

Wild Bill's Rocky Mountain Root Beer

I just realized something that would be kinda cool. In January, the first month of the year, i reviewed one root beer. In February, i reviewed two. So far this month i have reviewed three. Keeping this trend up would be kinda fun, meaning that in April (the fourth month), i would review four, in May five, and so on. However, when you do the math it comes out 78 root beers for the year, and frankly i only have about half that many on hand and don't know if i could make up the difference. Too bad really, that would have been neat, not to mention a personal best for me as far as the year goes.

Anyway, this one comes to me courtesy of my root beer nemesis. He sent this to me in a trade i did with him  long time ago (i want to say at least a year if not longer ago). It's been sitting in my fridge a while and i am trying to get to the ones i've had the longest. Wild Bill's Soda Pop Co. has been around since 2002 and is based in Bernardsville, NJ. They make several flavors of soda, including root beer. The website says that even though the company hasn't been around long, the founder got the recipe from his grandpa who made soda in his basement. Kind of a sketchy statement, but i suppose back then basements were used for wholesome projects and didn't carry the creepy connotations they do with today's grandpas. The company sells all kinds of stuff along with their soda on the website, and apparently they travel to different events all over the nation (but mostly in the southern states from what i can see in their near future).

I like the label, even if it does come on a clear glass bottle (12 oz.) which normally means the soda isn't very good. It is made to look something like an old-westy type wanted sign complete with a couple bullet holes in it (which are see-through, not black). Its a simple plastic sticker applied to the bottle at a jaunty angle, but it carries a lot of character and color (even though it doesn't have many actual colors). The cowboy figure in on horseback pictured on the label is carrying a mug flowing over with beverage. The website has these stainless steel mugs for sale if you care to drink your root beer that way. Personally, i just like drinking straight from the bottle, but to each his own. (Just so you know though, if you don't drink them this way, you're doing it wrong.)

I have to say, this is a pretty good tasting root beer. I am impressed with it. They use natural ingredients, including cane sugar, and have created an enjoyable beverage. It reminds me a little of Napa Valley Root Beer. Just a little though. There is a good root beer flavor from start to finish. My main complaint is that it isn't very carbonated, and i enjoy me some good carbonation. I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt and say that it has been sitting in my fridge so long that maybe it has lost some carbonation, but the website specifically states that these sodas are purposely made with less carbonation than the big names, because that how this soda "is meant to be enjoyed and experienced." I don't quite agree with that, but that doesn't mean it's not a good root beer. It is quite sweet, and my wife says it's a bit too sweet for her tastes. Luckily, as we all know, you aren't here to listen to what my wife has to say. You can just take that as "constructive criticism" if you'd like since what she says, while i appreciate her input, ultimately doesn't matter. Yeah, that's how i run my household.

My official review is that Wild Bill's Root Beer gets 7 (seven) IBCs. It's almost an 8, i enjoyed it that much. But the intentional lack of carbonation just can't put it over the top for me. Overall though, it's still a good root beer. A rating of 7 is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm liking it. Something tells me you will too, carbonated or not.

Oh, and completely unrelated, but just a heads up today people... beware.

So Duh! Rockin' Root Beer

Ok, i feel a little bad that i have been hammering out generic brands lately, and as it turns out i actually have quite a stockpile of root beers to review right now. Therefore, i hope to increase my posting rate over the next couple months and clear some of these out and get to some root beers that are more unique. So breaking from the recent routine, here is a root beer i picked up at BevMo! here in Tempe, AZ. (Just a little inside scoop, my wife pronounces it "beev-moh", where as i prefer to pronounce it correctly and just as it is spelled as any sane person would logically conclude.) So Duh! is made by a brewing company called Hermitage Brewery in San Jose, CA. Hermitage brews beers and sodas on contract for a pub/brewery called Tied House which has been around since 1987. In my limited research i was unable to determine when Hermitage began, but i will go ahead and say it's probably safe to assume it was the same year. The website goes into detail about the process of brewing and bottling, the contests and accolades won, and lots of other info i didn't really care to get into, but you get the idea.

This root beer comes in a traditional 12 oz. dark glass bottle. The label is quite colorful and eye catching. It pictures a dumb looking blond girl with a puzzled look on her face, obviously to play in with the name. Here is a bit of the caption written on the side of the label out of view in the picture. "Duh" means many things to many people... to us, So Duh! means - "Isn't it painfully obvious this is a delicious craft soda made in small batches with quality ingredients & pure cane sugar." [frankly, i think  that was technically a question, so it should be ended with a question mark(?) and not a period (.)]So if anyone asks, "is that soda good?", we hope you'll say DUH! So anyway, there is that cute little anecdote from the people at Hermitage. Overall, i like the label. It's unique and fun.

But as far as taste is concerned, i am not as impressed. The ingredients listed include honey and vanilla, but all i can really taste is a molasses taste that i don't much care for. It also lacked carbonation, but that may just be because it's been sitting in my fridge for about a year now. It reminded me of another root beer that i can't quite pinpoint right now, but it doesn't really matter cuz it wasn't good either. This also leaves a bad taste in my mouth (literally, not metaphorically). Therefore, i deem it not that great.

My official review is that So Duh gets 3 (three) IBCs. Not that much of a fan. I honestly don't hate it and was considering giving it a 4, but the fact that it leaves such a bad taste in your mouth made me give it a 3. Not a fan.

HEB "Old Fashioned" Root Beer

Ok, so i know i just reviewed this generic brand, but it turns out there are two official versions of this generic. And while they are both in fact called HEB "Old Fashioned" Root Beer, the difference is that this one is made with cane sugar. So i am just using the "Old Fashioned" title on this one to distinguish it from the other one. If you haven't read my post on HEB, i'll just fill you in on a few basics (since this won't be much different from the other one). HEB is the name of a grocery store based in Texas and is an acronym for "Here Everything's Better". I picked this one up in Houston on a road trip with my friend Richard. Here is the website.

I enjoy the label on this can better than i did on the bottle of regular HEB. That label just seemed so much more... generic. The same color scheme is used, but this one features a nice root beer bottle cap (something i am a small collector of) with the name of the root beer printed in old timey font. It's much more aesthetically pleasing than the 2 liter label.

I know i am rushing through this, but i feel like it's just a repeat of my last post (which was also very short and bland). I will say that as far as taste is concerned though, i enjoy this one more than the root beer with high fructose corn syrup. I think it has more of an original flavor, in so much as it is not a blatant rip off of A&W. It has a good root beer core with a nice vanilla finish. My wife says she likes the other one better. Either way, they are both good, and to be fair, i only moderately enjoy this one better. No big sweeping difference though.

My official review is that HEB Old Fashioned gets 7 (seven) IBCs. While i do like it more, it's not by much. And while this is an enjoyable root beer, it's definitely not an 8 IBC root beer. Therefore i can rate it no higher or lower than the HEB root beer containing high fructose corn syrup. However, given the choice on the spot, i would choose this one.

H-E-B Root Beer

This is another root beer i picked up on my last cross country trek with my friend Richard. We passed through Texas and in Houston we stopped at a grocery store to look for root beers. This is one of the ones we found. I don't have a website for the root beer, but store is called H-E-B (an acronym for "Here Everything's Better") and this is the website for the store. The label says this is bottled in San Antonio, but i don't know how long it has been around or anything. Not really important though. This is just another stop on the generic root beer assembly line so i can't expect to find out a lot of the details about it. I doubt much thought went into crafting this beverage in the first place.

I chose to pick this up in a 2-liter bottle since it was the cheapest option. The label is pretty standard for a generic root beer. Same tired bland format, repetative color scheme, and lack of imagination i've come to expect from a store brand. Pretty unremarkable really.

For as much as it sounds like i am getting down on this one, i have to say it tastes pretty dang good. And that's because it's another exact copy of A&W. I've said it before plenty of times, and this one just proves the point: if you're going to make a generic soda that you just want to make money on, you might as well copy the flavor of a popular and winning formula. H-E-B does this with incredible authenticity. My wife now feels as though A&W is just a whore, giving it's recipe to any willing buyer. Personally, i don't really care.

My official review is that H-E-B gets 7 (seven) IBCs. I realize this review is short, but really, i don't have much to say about this one. I think with root beers like this, you basically just want to know if it's good or not. And it is, so i will give it the same score as i gave A&W (cuz they taste the same). So there you have it. It's cheap, it's good, and it's in Texas. The end.

Shine Classic Root Beer

There is a line of grocery stores here called Fresh & Easy, which coincidentally is what i occasionally call my wife. It's a chain of smaller grocery stores that are supposedly more personal and sell local produce and what not, or something to that extent. Personally, i don't do much shopping there. I went in once and wasn't too impressed with the particular store i visited, but i have been to other ones which were nicer. Anyway, that's not really the point of this post. The point is that i ventured in one day to pick up some ice cream because it was on the way to another engagement and i stumbled upon their generic store brand in a happy accident. Well, maybe not happy. Not sad, but... just kind of middle ground i suppose. It's called Shine Classic Root Beer, a brand i had never heard of previously, and true to it's generic nature it comes in basically every flavor in the soda spectrum. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) i never found a website for it. It's that lame of a product i suppose. But whatever. It just means i have no extensive details on the origin or distribution of this beverage. I see on the label that it is bottled by Cott Beverages out of Tampa, FL. But truthfully, it probably doesn't matter cuz this stuff really isn't worth going out of the way for. Oh no, did i give it away too early?

I chose to pick up a 2 liter bottle instead of a 12 pack of cans. It embodies the generic root beer mantra down to the label style. Brown and silver design, some bubbles, and kind of a new age font, though this stuff is anything but cutting edge. It lacks a lot of imagination and if i weren't meticulously scouring the root beer section of every store i go in this one probably wouldn't have grabbed my attention.

I had a reasonable expectation for this one when i opened the bottle. The release of carbonation allowed a familiar A&W aroma to permeate the air and i was thinking i would be treated to another decent knock off of a true classic. However, i got much less than i bargained for. It honestly tastes like nothing. Not root beer, not soda, not anything. It's almost like drinking water, except not refreshing. It really does smell good, and i must admit there is a split second of remote root beer flavor right as it hits your tongue, but that fades so quickly that it almost doesn't register. Ultimately, i am left feeling cheated and bored. And i still have 2 liters of this crap to finish off.

My official review is that Shine Classic gets 3 (three) IBCs. Maybe i am being a bit harsh on this one. My wife seems to think so. But i really disappointed by it. So i couldn't in good conscience cut it any slack. Plus, it left a really bad taste in my mouth (also typical of generic brand). Yeah it's cheap, but don't waste the time or money. This one is simple not "woth it". (spelled wrong intentionally)