Seymour Beverages

Who Made This Stuff? Seymour Beverages, Seymour, WI

Where’d It Come From? Purchased at the source, Seymour Beverages

Review Date: 3/8/09

Commentary: I really like this root beer for a couple reasons. The first reason has to be that this stuff is bottled the old fashioned way – in returnable/refillable glass bottles. The cool thing about the case I got was that of the 12 bottles in the box, I think there were probably six or seven different bottle types in there, all from old time soda bottlers that have apparently gone out of business over the years. None of the bottles bear the Seymour Beverages name. The picture at right shows a sampling of the different bottles. Check out this write-up on the soda company. Second, this root beer is made with real sugar. It is evident in its nice, clean taste. I don’t feel a syrupy coating on my tongue after taking a big swig of this stuff. Finally, of course, is that it tastes good. It has a nice, simple, sweet and creamy taste. There’s no hard bite, no overpowering licorice or wintergreen. Just a nice basic root beer. When poured in my glass, it produced a decent head of the soft, frothy kind that hung around for a little while. The carbonation was just right, too. Bottom line – it tastes good, and goes down smooth.

I hope I can get my hands on another case while this place is still in business. I’m down to just one last bottle in the fridge, and then it will all be gone. So sad. The bottles are 7 ounces, so they’re just right for a quick root beer refresher or for nice little dessert after dinner.

This isn’t the greatest root beer on the face of the planet, but it’s not trying to be. This is a good root beer, in just the right size and just the right taste to please a lot of the folks a lot of the time. I’ll score it as…………..84.

Boylan's

Who Made This Stuff? Boylan Bottling Company

Website: www.boylanbottling.com

Where’d It Come From? Cost Plus World Market

Review Date: 5/9/08

Commentary: Ya know what? I really like this root beer. I’d had it before, but it had been a long time so I couldn’t really remember any specifics about it. I had read a few reviews of Boylan’s in the last few days, and a few of them gave this root beer low scores. Everyone gave the bottle high marks though. The bottle really does look great with its throw-back design of raised letters and painted label. When I opened the bottle, there wasn’t a very strong aroma. When poured, it did produce a decent head that managed to stick around a little while. Carbonation was good – the last few sips here in my mug still have a bit of bubble to them even though it has been in there a while. This brew has a decent bite with no weird aftertaste or anything. I think the cane sugar gives it a nice clean feel – no lingering corn-syrupy coating in my mouth after each swig. It’s not real creamy, and not overly sweet. This evening it proved to be a good complement to my two slices of pepperoni and hamburger pizza. In the mug, I can pick up a slight licorice scent when I drink it, but there doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming licorice taste to it. I enjoyed this one, and I intend to drink more the next time I find it on the shelves in the store. Overall, I’d say…..a solid 84.

How about you? Have you tried Boylan's Root Beer or any of their other flavors?

Bulldog

Who Made This Stuff? Orca Beverage Soda Works,

Website: www.bulldogrootbeer.com

Where’d It Come From? Cost Plus World Market

Review Date: 5/6/08

Commentary: Hmmmm. I’m just a little confused. The first time I ever drank this stuff, over a year ago, I thought it was awesome – quite possibly the best I’d ever tasted. It’s been a long time since I last had any. Maybe I was just visiting my local Cost Plus on the wrong days when they were all sold out. When I finally found it there on the shelf again, I was quite happy. This time around, it wasn’t so awesome. It wasn’t bad, just not as good as I remembered. It’s still a really good root beer. I did notice the “Orca Beverage Soda Works” name on the side of the label. I don’t seem to remember that being there the first time around. Maybe a change in production crew/locale has affected the recipe somehow. I know the Dad’s label also mentioned Orca, but these are definitely two different brews. This one is still creamy, but it had another flavor in there that I couldn’t quite place…licorice or something. I think that cost it a few points in the “smoothness” department. Anyway, I’d still recommend this one. Maybe I can get some answers from the folks at Bulldog. Does anyone out there in Root Beer Land know anything about this? As for a score, for now I’m going to give this one a score of………86.

Anyone out there taken Bulldog for a walk lately?