Earlier this summer, I was watching an episode of Modern Marvels on the History Channel. The episode was about soda pop. In the hour long show, they interviewed someone who reviews root beers online. He had a bottle of Dang! That’s Good Butterscotch Root Beer to do a taste test with during the show. I thought that sounded interesting, but had never seen that brand in my area. Recently I was able to get acquire some. I learned that this root beer was brewed and bottled by Imperial Flavors Beverage Company out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Besides root beer the company also makes energy drinks.
Here is the ingredient list for this root beer: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup sweetener, caramel color, citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, and sodium benzoate (a preservative).

So it this good butterscotch root beer or should the company be sued for false advertising?

They are right, this is good butterscotch root beer. They saved themselves by not calling it Dang! That’s the Greatest Root Beer You Will Ever Drink. It has a nice butterscotch flavor, like someone took those candies you use to find in your grandma’s candy dish, melted them down and carbonated them. The strength of the root beer is not what I hoped for. Despite that I still very much enjoyed the drink and think it would be excellent with some vanilla ice cream.

Where to Buy
I got mine through the online business of the Old 52 General Store. They have over 300 other flavors of soda pop. Their physical store is located in Sabin, Minnesota.

Oh how I love root beer. There are so many great root beers on the market to choose from. I don’t think I will be ever done reviewing root beers (and that’s a good thing). Today I am going to review a root beer made by Sprecher, who is a brewery out of Glendale, Wisconsin. Their root beer comes either in a 16 oz glass bottle or a 20 oz plastic one. It has a picture of a crow coming out of a crest, holding a bottle of Sprecher and a frosty mug. The ingredient list on my bottle reads like this: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, malto-dextrin, WI raw honey, natural & artifical flavors, sodium benzoate (preservative), phosphoric acid, quillaia/yucca extract, sodium chloride, caramel color, and vanilla. This root beer is caffeine and gluten free.

I liked this root beer. The flavor was nice, a bit on the sweet side, but in a good way. The carbonation was alright. I had a plastic bottle, so glass would be a better judge of carbonation. It’s not too spicy and goes down well with any meal. I will buy this again.

Where to Buy
Here are a few places where I know you can get Sprecher:
Ski’s Meat Market (Stevens Point, WI)
The Produce Station (Ann Arbor, MI)
Wilson’s Cheese Shoppe (Pinconning, MI)
Hiller’s (Ann Arbor/Detroit area)
Holiday Market (Livonia, MI)

Looking to buy it online, check out:
Located in Sabin, Minnesota, this store offers Sprecher Root Beer through their online business.

If you are a regular reader of this site, you might be surprised to see a diet drink being reviewed today. I have never reviewed a diet drink because I just don’t drink them. But I had a friend visiting from Florida that does drink diet soda pop, so I bought him a bottle of Boylan Diet Root Beer to try out. I got the bottle at Busch’s in Saline, MI on sale for $1 for a 16 ounce glass bottle. The ingredient list for this drink reads like this: carbonated water, natural flavors, caramel color, natural yucca extract, citric acid, sodium benzoate, sucralose, acesulfame potassium.

My friend said that he enjoyed this drink overall. He gave it 4 stars as an overall drink, but 3 stars for a root beer as the typical root beer flavor wasn’t that strong. He said it was lighly carbonated, with little head (not good for a float). It had a wintergreen undertone to the flavor. His wife also took a taste, and she said she was missing the vanilla taste you often get in root beers, but she still enjoyed it.

“Created for kids of all ages in Monroe, Wisconsin”. This is the saying on a bottle of Blumers Root Beer (made by Minhas Craft Brewery). Also appearing on the bottle are barrels, one on the main label and several on the label that goes around the neck. That barrel makes me think that this root beer is going to have an old fashion, classic root beer flavor. Althought the high fructose corn syrup on the ingredient list doesn’t scream out old fashion.

This root beer has that old fashion, classic root beer flavor. It has a nice head, nice amount of carbonation, and a touch of spice. It’s smooth and creamy. It is a notch above the average root beer. When it comes to premium root beers this one is about average, which average among premium root beers is still pretty good. If you have the chance, this one is worth a personal taste test.

Where to Buy
I purchased mine at Brennan’s Market in Madison, Wisconsin. It is also available at other stores throughout Wisconsin. I do not know if you can buy it outside the state. But you can order it online from a website that sells Wisconsin made products. Visit http://www.wisconsinmade.com/

Another day, another root beer to try. This time is from Millstream Brewing Company out of Amana, Iowa. This root beer has been sweetened with cane sugar and has vanilla appearing on the ingredient list. The bottle has a picture of a mill on it, because nothing says old time or old fashion like a mill.

I liked the flavor when it first hits my tongue. But then as I swirl it around my mouth and swallow it, I am left with an unpleasant taste. It could be the vanilla they use. Vanilla flavor can vary depending on where in the world you get it from. I use vanilla from Madagascar, this vanilla doesn’t taste like that (but I could be wrong). But I had this problem pretty much with every Millstream soda I had. So I am guessing it has something to do with the sugar. I will give this root beer 3 stars because the flavor at first is still pretty good. If something can be done about the aftertaste, then has the potential for greatness. For now it just good enough to not be bad.

Where to Buy
Brennan’s (Madison, WI)

I never get tired of trying new root beers. I was excited to give the Jackson Hole Soda Company’s version a try. The bottle has an interesting picture of a bull with a man flying through the air as if he was just nailed by the bull. I think it gives off the idea that this root beer is not for the faint of heart and that is packs a real kick.

And it surely does pack a real kick. That kick comes from the strong anise flavor that this root beer contains. In my opinion it is way too much. There is also a citrus undertone that my wife noticed that she wasn’t a big fan of. The carbonation was borderline too much. As for foamy head, it didn’t really have much. Overall I was disappointed in this product, especially since I liked their sarsaparilla so much.

Where to Buy
Brennan’s in Madison, WI
Fred Meyer in Burien, WA (Seattle area) *** NOTE May also be found at other Fred Meyer stores, leave a comment if you can confirm that or any other location.

Want to Buy It Online?
has Buckin’ Root Beer and other Jackson Hole Soda flavors available to buy from their online store.

In looking for unique drinks to try, I am always on the look out for sarsaparilla. You often can’t find sarsaparilla at the run of the mill super market. So I was happy to find some at Brennan’s in Madison, WI. There I found a bottle of sarsaparilla made by the Jackson Hole Soda Company. The brown color glass bottle comes with a old time photograph on the label. And this is not just an ordinary sarsaparilla, no this is a “snake river sarsaparilla”. As for a sweetener, they used cane sugar.

Absolutely delicious! This is everything you want in a sarsaparilla. It has the subtle taste difference that makes it different from a regular root beer. The carbonation, creaminess, and spice were all spot on. As far as I am concerned this is the best sarsaparilla out there, so if you can find it, don’t hesitate to pick up this treat straight out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming (which I hear is a beautiful place to visit).

Where to Buy
Brennan’s in Madison, WI
Fred Meyer in Burien, WA (Seattle area) *** NOTE May also be found at other Fred Meyer stores, leave a comment if you can confirm that or any other location.

The Black Bear Bottling Group out of Oak Creek, Wiscosnin presents their version of root beer. Upon visiting their website I discovered that the bottle of root beer I bought doesn’t look anything like what they are advertising on their site. In fact what I bought was sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, while they say it’s 100% sugar. So either I got an older version of the drink or they have a “budget” or “value” line of beverages. Both bottles did tell me that I “gotta love the bear”. I purchased this bottle at Mousehouse Cheesehaus in Windsor, Wisconsin.

Calling their drink a root beer soda is quite accurate. It tasted like a root beer flavored soda, but not necessarily a root beer. It didn’t have any real head or much carbonation, but it had sweet taste without a nasty aftertaste. That isn’t to say I didn’t like the flavor. I would still drink this over something like Mug or A&W. I would love the opportunity to try the bottles of root beer I saw on their website to see if the quality is greater.

Back in December of last year, I was taking a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana. During the trip I discovered a drive-in restaurant called Dog n Suds. I had never heard of them before, so naturally I went and searched Google to learn more about them. I discovered that you can buy their root beer in some stores. Unfortunately all those stores were on the opposite side of Michigan from where I live. But last week, while traveling through Wisconsin, I found a store that sold Dog n Suds Root Beer, so I made sure to get my hands on some. The bottle calls the root beer “drive-in style”. It has been sweetened with corn syrup and is bottled by Clover Club Bottling.

This was a very good root beer. It didn’t have much of a head, but I liked the spiciness to it. In looking for a good root beer you want something with some depth of flavor and with Dog n Suds you get it. The carbonation, root beer flavor, and creaminess were right on for me. I would buy this one again. It was great to use to wash down some Wisconsin cheese curds.

Where to Buy
I purchased this bottle at Fromagination, a cheese shop in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. I have heard you can find it in many stores and gas station on the west coast of Michigan.

Lately I have been seeing a trend of brewing companies coming out with their own soft drinks. The latest soft drink I tried was from the Matt Brewing Company out of Utica, New York. Their line of soft drinks bare the name “Saranac 1888″. The first flavor I gave a try to was their root beer. The root beer came in a standard 12 oz brown glass bottle. Around the neck of the bottle was some information about this root beer. “In 1888, when our small brewery was founded, real rich creamy root beers were not uncommon. Thirty years ago, we brought this tradition back with the introduction of real brewery-fresh root beer on draft in our brewery’s 1888 tavern. Our Saranac root beer has been acclaimed by consumers from all 50 states and over 100 countries. We hope you’ll enjoy it too!”

I did indeed enjoy it! It has a great authentic root beer flavor with some creaminess to it. It was delicious to the very last drop. I don’t think it has the most foamy head, but that doesn’t really bother me here. It’s still among my top 5 root beers of all-time.

Where to Buy
Saranac soft drinks are available in these states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. Click here for the company’s website for exact availability.

I bought mine at Walt Churchill’s Market (Maumee, OH)