Review: Over The Barrel Hard Grape Soda
Over The Barrel Hard Grape Soda is one of 5 hard sodas recently released by the Rhinelander Brewing Company. The other flavors include Root Beer, Blueberry, Cream Soda, and Black Cherry. The Rhinelander Brewery opened in 1845 and remained open during prohibition making non-alcoholic root beer. While the brewery closed in 1967 their beer continued to be contract brewed in Monroe Wisconsin. Over The Barrel Hard Grape Soda is batch brewed with the finest 2 row malted barley and the finest real cane sugar. Natural flavors and certified colors are added before bottling in 11.16 oz. bottles. Read more 
Review: Seagrams Orange Cream Hard Soda
Seagrams Orange Cream Hard Soda is one of four hard soda’s Seagrams launched their line with in March of this year. The other flavors include Lemon N Lime, Cherry Cola, and Grape. Their hard soda’s are brewed at the old Genessee Brewery in Rochester New York with natural flavors and artificial color added. This is the same brewery that makes the Seagrams Escapes line of flavored malt beverages. Seagrams Orange Cream is available in six packs, 23.5 Oz. cans, and it is included in their 12 pack variety packs, which include three bottles or cans of each flavor. This is the third hard orange cream soda I’ve sampled. Coney Island, and Jed’s are the other two brands. Prior to my experience with these three hard soda’s, the only cream soda I had tasted was colored red, brown, or clear and flavored vanilla cream. For the record Stewarts, Jones, Fitz, and Henry Weinhard’s make a non alcoholic orange cream soda. Read more
Review: Wild Root Alcoholic Root Beer
Wild Root Alcoholic Root Beer was introduced November 2015 by WG Brewing Company in Memphis Tennessee. They also brew Wild Ginger Alcoholic Ginger Beer. It is sold in 6 packs of 12 oz. cans. While distribution was initially limited to 13 states, additional states have been added with hopes of national distribution soon. Little product information is available. The WG Brewing Company website just has a picture of both beers with a coming soon header. The wildrootbeer.com site, comes back unavailable. The cans product description states this is a premium malt beverage with natural flavors and caramel color. It also carries the tag line, “Putting the Beer back in Root Beer. Read more
Review: Best Damn Cherry Cola
Best Damn Cherry Cola will be launched March 7 by the Best Damn Brewing Company. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a six pack a little early. This division of Anheuser Busch has already released Best Damn Root Beer and Best Damn Apple Ale. Cherry appears to be the industries fourth hard soda flavor, following root beer, ginger ale, and orange. Their Cherry Cola is the second hard cherry flavor. Jeds Hard Black Cherry was introduced in 2015. Best Damn Cherry Cola is an ale aged on whole cherries after brewing. Natural and artificial flavors and caramel color are added before bottling at 5.5% alcohol. Read more
Review: Abita Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer
Abita Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer was just released. The name is inspired by New Orleans original Bayou Bootlegger Jean Lafitte, a French Pirate. This is the first product in a line of Bayou Bootlegger Hard Soda. The recipe is based on the same root beer formula Abita has been craft brewing for over 20 years. Abita currently produces more than 14,000 barrels of root beer each year in its state of the art brewing facility. The root beer is made with Abita Springs natural spring water, herbs, vanilla, yucca, and pure Louisiana cane sugar. The Hard Root Beer is bottled at 5.9% alcohol and sold in 6 packs of 12 ounce bottles. Read more
Review: Jeds Hard Black Cherry Cream
Jeds Hard Black Cherry Cream soda was introduced in October 2015. It is one of three hard sodas currently crafted by the Matt Brewing Company in Utica New York. The others include the previously reviewed Hard Root Beer, and Hard Orange Cream. They also brew 4 Year Round, 4 Seasonal, and 7 High Peaks beers under the Saranac label. Like many breweries they survived Prohibition by producing soda. Today Matt still produces 6 soda’s under the Saranac label, including a Black Cherry Cream Soda. This soda is the main flavor ingredient in Jeds Hard Black Cherry Cream soda. Read more
Review: Jeds Hard Orange Cream
Jeds Hard Orange Cream was introduced in October 2015. It is one of three hard sodas they currently craft at the Matt Brewing Company in Utica New York. The others include Hard Root Beer, and Hard Black Cherry. The Matt Brewing Company had previously released the worlds first hard lemonade when they introduced Jed’s Hard Lemonade nearly 20 years ago. They currently also produce six soft drinks under the Saranac label including an orange cream flavor. No one can argue the fact that hard soda sales have exploded over the last twelve months. Most believe this growth will continue for the foreseeable future. With nearly a dozen hard root beers already on the market today, its great to see another flavor option. Read more
Review: Jeds Hard Root Beer
Jeds Hard Root Beer was introduced in October. It is one of three hard soda’s they currently craft at the Matt Brewing Company in Utica New York. The others include Hard Black Cherry and Hard Orange Cream. The Matt Brewing Company is the fourth oldest family operated brewery in the US. The brewery was originally the Charles Bierbauer Brewery where Francis Xavier Matt was the lead salesmen and brew master after immigrating to the US in 1880 from Germany. By 1888 he reorganized and renamed the brewery the West End Brewing Company. Today the third and forth generation of the Matt family run the brewery now named the Matt Brewing Company where they produce the Saranac line of beer. During prohibition the brewery stayed afloat producing soft drinks under the Utica Club label. Today they still produce a line of soft drinks under the Saranac label. The brew masters at Matt created 43 recipes of hard root beer in the lab, before perfecting the current formula. Jeds Hard Root Beer is made with vanilla extract, birch oil, and anise, and is sold in six pack in several states in the Eastern US. Read more
Review: Henrys Hard Ginger Ale
Henrys Hard Ginger Ale was just introduced along with the previously reviewed Henrys Hard Orange Soda. While Ginger Beer originated in the UK in the Mid 1800th century, Hard Ginger Ale is riding the wave created by a tsunami named Not Your Fathers Root Beer. Ginger Beer, led by brands including Goslings, Barritts, Reeds, and Crabbies are typically mixed with dark rum to make a Dark and Stormy or with vodka and lime juice to create a Moscow Mule. Henrys Hard Ginger ale joins the previously released Coney Island Hard Ginger Ale, and Not Your Fathers Ginger Ale. Others will follow. Henrys is made by the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company, a division of Miller-Coors in Milwaukee Wisconsin with cane sugar and natural ingredients. The Henry’s name comes from Henry Weinhard a German immigrant who purchased a brewery in Portland Oregon in 1864, that was the longest continuous operated brewery in the West, when it was shut down following their acquisition, by the Miller Brewing Company in 1999. The brewery survived Prohibition by producing a line of soft drinks. Henry Weinhards soda is still sold today, although they do not offer a ginger ale flavor. Read more
Review: Henrys Hard Orange Soda
Henrys Hard Orange Soda was just introduced along with a Hard Ginger Ale. The brand is produced by the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company, a division of Miller-Coors in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and named for Henry Weinhard. Henry left Germany in 1856 and by 1862 he purchased the Liberty Brewery in Portland Oregon. In 1864 he also acquired the City Brewery where he moved the entire brewing operation. The brewery survived prohibition by producing premium soda, syrups, and non alcoholic beers. Today four of these premium sodas, Henry Weinhard Root Beer, Black Cherry Cream, Vanilla Cream, and Orange Cream, are still produced. In 1928 they merged with the Portland Brewing Company and the name of the brewery was changed to Blitz-Weinhard in honor of the two breweries family owners. In 1979 the brewery was acquired by Pabst, who sold to the G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983. By 1996 The Strohs Brewing company had acquired the brewery only to sell in to Miller Brewing company in 1999. When Miller closed the brewery in 1999 in was the oldest continuously operated brewery in the west. Production was moved to the Olympia Brewery until that brewery closed in 2003. Henrys Hard Orange Soda is produced at 4.2% alcohol, and sold in 6 packs of 12 ounce bottles and 4 packs of 16 ounce cans Read more