GOURMETROOTBEER.COM

Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Site


























Root Beer Ratings, root beer reviews. The page of root beer reviews and root beer ratings. See how I rate gourmet root beer. Click on the link at the bottom for the root beer reviews.

 
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ROOT BEER REVIEWS

This is where I rate all of the Gourmet root beer that I have tried. I classify gourmet as anything in a glass bottle. I can not drink root beer from a can or plastic bottle because I don't like the taste of aluminum or plastic in my root beers. My tastes on root beer may be different than yours but this is my rating page.

The Good Root Beers (3-5kegs)

The Bad Root Beers (0-2 1/2kegs)

I Judge my root beer on four different aspects.

Body

 The body is the flavor. Flavor is very important. I look for a sweet strong sassafras taste with vanilla and honey surfacing after the initial contact.

Head

 The head is very important. Everyone imagines a tall frosty mug with a huge frothy head when they think of root beer. That is exactly what a root beer needs, a tall frothy head that lasts. The foam that constitutes the head should taste good and not be harsh, but smooth and frothy.

Bite

  The bite is a combination of the spices (if you don't think that spices bite, just drink a ginger beer) and what carbonation is left in the root beer after the head has been formed. The stuff that literally 'bites.' I like a mild spicy, fizzy bite in my root beer. Not too strong and not a harsh carbonation bite, but not absent from the root beer.

After Taste

 A very important aspect indeed. I enjoy an after taste of vanilla and honey, I don't really enjoy a fruity after taste or one of licorice or anything too strong. The after taste should be enjoyable but not linger too long or too brief.


 

I Rate my root beer with a 5 keg system. Before I rate a root beer I first chill the root beer in the refrigerator and I chill my glass mug. Then I don't eat for a while. I don't wait until I get hungry or thirsty, I just get that neutral sort of feeling. Then, I take a bite of a saltine cracker, chew it, and rinse my mouth out with clean water. Then I am ready to begin. After that I open the root beer, take a whiff, and pour it into the mug to observe the head. I then drink the root beer, all the while making little notes that about it that I use on the reviews. If results are inconclusive, I get another bottle and try again.
My policy is that if a company feels that for some reason I have received a bad batch of their root beer that I will re-rate it if they will send me a few more complimentary bottles, this however does not necessarily mean that they will receive a better rating, but rather, a second chance. Also, if I have given a good rating to a root beer and I find that subsequent batches that I purchase for purely satisfactory purposes prove to be less pleasurable than the original sample, I will purchase a few more bottles and re-rate the brew. So, if you are a brewer of fine root beer and feel that you have been unjustly rated, send me some more and I will see. If you already have a good rating, don't mess with your recipe!

   

Elixir of the Gods

These are the best root beers. They are oh so sweet and frothy that they may cause incapacitation in someone who is not used to such fine root beer.

   

Seal of Approval

These are root beers that are great. I will drink them when ever I can get them (and I have very high standards.) They are not as good as the 5, but very, very few root beers are 5s.

   

Drinkable

These root beers are average for me. I will drink them with a pizza or other foods if no better root beer can be found, but I will not just buy them to drink by themselves.

   

No Good

These root beers I will not drink after I have sufficiently rated them. They are mostly all good but have some undesired attribute that just ruins the entire drinking experience.

 

I Have Never Seen Crap in Such Pretty Bottles

Basically, these root beers are terrible tasting, but they do have very pretty bottles.

   

The Bottle is not Even Pretty

If the root beer does not even have a pretty bottle and it tastes like crap, it gets 0 kegs.

To view my reviews click on the links below.

The Good Root Beers (3-5kegs)

The Bad Root Beers (0-2 1/2kegs)