Sea Dog root beer

Background information: The Sea Dog site has nothing to say at all about this drink, as they instead advertise their various beers. It seems, though, that Sea Dog root beer is somehow connected to Cap'n Eli's root beer, as they both feature the same dog mascot (who appears in the Cap'n Eli comic books).


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Sea Dog Brewing Co., Portland, Maine. ? calories, ?g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.seadogbrewing.com/ (must be 21 or older to visit site due to alcohol-related material)
http://www.captneli.com/ (root beer site)


Ingredients: Water, cane sugar, caramel coloring, natural & artificial flavors including wintergreen oil, anise, and vanilla, spices, herbs, citric acid, and sodium benzoate as a preservative.


My thoughts: After a particularly long week of work, I felt a bit like a dog put out to sea. Hoping to make life better, I reached for my next root beer who sounds like it could empathize with my plight. Unlike a sea dog, who would presumably be wet and smelly from hanging out in the salt water all day, this drink was pretty pleasant. There is a nice strong rooty taste, with a nice mix of spices. With so much going on, though harmoniously, it takes multiple swigs to figure out all the flavors in there. A bit of wintergreen, some vanilla, a hint of licorice. Good stuff. The aftertaste is also very good, with the flavors maintaining their ratios and slowly tapering off. The long term aftertaste is a little off, hard to describe, but not entirely pleasant.

Sweetness is pretty good, maybe just the slightest bit more sugary than perfect, but only a minor complaint. The carbonation is interesting. It's strong, but usually that means that I can feel big carbonation bubbles popping around in my mouth. This, however, feels like super small, but concentrated, bubbles with a sort of sharpness to them. The carbonation can feel a bit harsh, almost stinging, but in a way I like it. It may not be a sensation that all will enjoy. In spite of this, the drink actually feels pretty creamy, perhaps aided by the smallness of the carbonation bubbles. This makes a pleasant contrast to the bite of the carbonation.

Going in, I didn't have the highest expectations, seeing as how a lot of my root beers lately have been mediocre. But this did the trick, topping off a week of hard work with some delicious root beer nectar. I'll certainly add this to my list of root beers to drink again.


Rating: B+
flavor: A
aftertaste: B+
sweetness: B+
smoothness: B+
carbonation: A-