Bottle and Label: Brown bottle with a label that seems a bit on the cheap side
Ingredients: Carbonated Water, sugar and/or corn sweetner, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate (as a preservative)
Smell: The only way to describe the smell: medicinal. It smells like cough syrup
Carbonation: Medium level of carbonation with a nice bite that is not overpowering
Color: Dark brown, almost black
Head: This is without a doubt the tallest and longest lasting head I have seen on a root beer to date. It is also the foamiest. It is so long lasting that I had to wait several minutes just to pour the entire bottle into my frosty mug
Flavor: The flavor matches the smell. This stuff tastes like it was made with cough syrup. It has very little of the traditional root beer flavorings and the flavor it does have is not appealing at all
Conclusion: Filbert’s Old Time Quality Draft Root Beer is a classic example of a brew that gets it wrong. Flavor is of utmost importance in a root beer. I can forgive odd smells, weak heads, and strange carbonation if the flavor is good. Filbert’s only get’s the head right. The flavor is simply bad. I drink root beer because I enjoy savoring the flavors of different brands. This brew does not have much to savor and thus earns a rare “F”
RBR’s grade- F
Root Beer Reviews for the Rest of Us 