Bottle and Label: Bottle is brown with some good looking raised lettering. The picture of a cowboy with a six-shooter is a nice touch and makes this bottle easy to spot on crowded shelves.
Ingredients: Purified carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, and/or pure cane sugar, caramel color, sodium benzoate (as a preservative), natural and artificial flavor, citric acid.
Smell: Strong root beer smell
Carbonation: Very little carbonation makes the root beer taste flat, even right out of the bottle. Even though I like a smooth drink, this one lacks almost any bite.
Color: When poured color is dark brown, almost black
Head: Outstanding head of foam. This root beer has the best head I have seen so far. If you like a foamy, frothy root beer this one would certainly fit your bill.
Flavor: Unfortunately, the strong smell does not carry over to the flavor. This is a smooth brew with no bitter after taste. However, it is also on the weak side. It lacks the strong, traditional root beer flavor that I prefer. Imagine taking a can of regular root beer, letting it sit open for a day, and then adding some water to it. That is the way I feel about the flavor of Sioux City Root Beer.
Conclusion: This is one of the few brews that I have tasted that I see very few redeeming qualities about. There are some root beers that I may not necessarily like, but are unique enough for me to appreciate. Sioux City Root Beer lacks anything to really set it apart from the crowd, and it’s watered down flavor makes it impossible for me to recommend (unless you like watered down root beer).
RBR’s Grade- D
