Coney Island Hard Root Beer
The gypsy should have predicted this.The most dignified beverage of days past, reimagined for your future self. The wooden planks under your feet and a hot dog in your hand; the only difference is that now you?re tall enough to ride the ride.
Admin Note: Still under investigation as to where exactly this is being contract brewed. If you have any info, send in a correction, Thanks.
Admin Note: Still under investigation as to where exactly this is being contract brewed. If you have any info, send in a correction, Thanks.
3
166 reviews
Brooklyn, United States
Community reviews
This one veers off the standard pop version once you leave the poppy feel. Stronger earthy deep root beer stuff with obvious notes of amaretto. The alcohol shows up quicker than I hoped but it doesn’t really get in the way of my commitment to putting back this novelty concoction. Terrible review? Sure. Or not - it’s pop with alcohol.
Dark brown to black, small tan non lasting head. It’s like Listerine and Deep Relief had an unholy child... and it’s sugary sweet. Not really good.
Pours a cola color with a tan head. Aroma is pretty much just root beer. Not really getting any alcohol I the aroma. Flavor is root beer up front but that gives way to an odd flavor on the end that I can’t quite put my finger on.
pours cola brown with a quickly disappearing beige head. Very fizzy. Smells like root beer. Tastes like root beer. The alcohol is completely masked. Pretty good, but I won’t be switching from real beer any time soon.
Bottle from Weis Lewisburg. Pours dark brown with a thin brown head. Big alcoholic nose. Tastes like a thinned out root beer mixed with some rum. Finished clean. Doesn't really work as a beer or as a root beer.
Tastes kind of like an A&W root beer. Interesting, there’s a bit of an alcohol taste at the end. Not unpleasant, but vanilla comes on a bit strong..
Bottle shared at the RLGK tasting, March 2016. Pours a deep brown body with thin rim of white lace. Mouthfeel is well carbonated and on the thinner side, with notes of vanilla, sugar, caramel and birch. Wow, exactly like root beer.
12 oz bottle. Finally got around to trying this. Pours a soda brown with a fizzy head that disappears very quickly. Tastes like spiked root beer. You get all the root beer flavors; vanilla, licorice, spices and sweetness. But also a noticeable medicinal taste that throws the whole thing off. Kind of like if someone threw a shot of cough syrup into it. This medicinal taste does not differ regardless if the drink is ice cold, slightly chilled, or at room temp, (I tried all). It’s still there and prominent regardless of the temp of the drink. Overall the root beer flavors are good and I wanted to like this more, but that medicinal taste is impossible to get past. Shame because I tried Not Your Father’s Root Beer and really liked it, so I had higher hopes for this.
The scent and initial taste of root beer but left an artificial sweetener aftertaste.
Bottle poured a clear dark brown with a lingering ring of tan foam. Aromas of caramel, spices and light earthiness. Palate was light bodied and smooth. Flavors of caramel, spice and a hint of earthiness with a smooth lingering rootbeer finish.
Looks like root beer soda and has the fizzy fast fading head like a soda. the aroma was a bit off, like cheap root beer with a shot of booze in it. Well the taste was pretty much the same with a sticky sweet aftertaste that just didn’t go well. Of the three hard root beers in the store today this one was the most expensive so was hoping for more out of it. What a let down. My son, who loves root beer, was also very unhappy with this one. Shame too cause I would let him have the rest of them if he wanted.
Bottle at the jredmond tasting in NYC 160326. Dark brown beer with a rich beige head. Aroma and flavor from the bubble gum Jenka. Too sweet and quite bad.
Great aroma..the first sip is nice with great vanilla tones however the after taste is less then desirable.
I’m only rating this to get t the top of the brewery raters list. Not even sure why this crap is on RB. Disgusting fake Alco pop. What is wrong it people that like root beer and adding alcohol to it doesn’t make it better.
Dark brown pour with a fleeting, minimal, tan head.
Smells like root beer.
Pretty much tastes like a root beer too.
A bit on the sweet side.
Poured from the tap into a pint glass. The appearance is a dark brown color with a medium sized tan head. The aroma smells like root beer (go figure). The flavor is root beer with a slight beer/alcohol flavor in the background.
Bottle at Outback Steakhouse. Not my favorite of this new fad. Aromas were better than the flavor which had too much alcohol and not enough soda flavor.
Bottle and the thought about drinking this is scary. Pours like a lighter stout or porter. Smell of sweet rootbeer pop permeates the room. Initially, taste is like rootbeer but then there is this weird added alky feeling to it. I’m thinking these rootbeer beers would benifit from lower alky like many radlers or fru-fru-fruity fruit lambics. Yes, too much alky to drink this refreshingly even tho the taste would fool the uninitiated. Yea, me no thinks this is really beer, no? What else can be said? This is roo-roo-rootbeer.
12oz bottle. Poured a dark brown, cola color. They nailed the look - a little more carbonated than Not Your Fathers, but still a touch under the normal "soda" carbonation - not a problem though. Aroma was heavy on sarsaparilla, birch, vanilla. A touch medicinal. Vanilla notes, birch. Very drinkable - alcohol is slightly noticeable, but it’s easy to drink this one down.
This one won the Hard Rootbeer taste of against Not Your Father’s and Spin Doktor. Other testers were Dan, Erica and Chris. Brown pour with off white head. Aroma is as advertised root beer and vanilla. Flavor is sweet root beer and vanilla. Good bodied with good carbonation
This is a hard root beer, not a beer, which totally messes with the rating for it. For what’s basically spiked soda? Sure, it’s good. For a beer? No, not really. No one in their right mind wanting a good beer experience would reach for this, which is probably why the rating is so low. But if you want a naughty soft drink, for some weird reason? Wouldn’t be a bad choice. So that’s how I rated it - as a hard soda, not as a beer. It’s got sarsaparilla on the nose, creamy vanilla mouth-feel, little bit of malt alcohol flavor that you get used to after a couple sips. It’s a decent soda, but it isn’t beer.
Bottle from Wegmans - pours cola with some carbonation. There is a weird after taste and it’s overly sweet. I like other versions better.
From a 12 oz bottle. Pours opaque brown with nice head and carbonation. "Caramel color added" Nose is of sarsaparilla, a proper root beer. Taste is somewhat drowned, but attempts to be like Barq’s soft drink. Sweet finish. Hides the alcohol well. A decent root beer, but not a beer. My rating may be biased by my love of root beer.
Rated on 7-31-2015. This beer has a very small tan head with a lengthy retention, opaque brown body and one ring of lacing. The aroma is root beer as is the flavor. The mouthfeel is smooth and this beer is light bodied. This is like drinking soda. Next!!
This smells pretty much exactly like root beer. While not quite as carbonated as a soda, the flavor is so spot on it’s amazing. Only near the end do you notice the alcohol. A bit too sweet, but for a diversion and in small doses, this really works.
BBD 2/16. Pours black. Very little head that dissipates quickly. No lacing.
Outstanding nose of root beer, just like a soda. As it warms, notes of wintergreen are present.
Nice light medium body that is smooth with a bit of creaminess. Superb carbonation with a bit of effervescence in the middle and a fair burst in the finish. This one outgasses quickly and will go flat in 20 minutes or so.
The flavor profile is world class. Alcohol is completely covered - it tastes like a regular root beer soda. Caramel, vanilla and anise comprise the profile with the classic sassafras and sarsaparilla flavors being dominate. A solid sweetness is always present with the aforementioned flavors. The finish delivers a bit of bark and a touch of wintergreen as the other flavors fade.
Bottle gift from SJ. As it was with not your father’s root beer, cooney island pulls off another fad rather well. Tastes just like root beer.
Can, shared by me... in my dining room... just now.
Pours a very dark brown, with regard to the head... I poured this into a glass I own that seems to foster head retention better than any glass I’ve ever come into contact with. I took an entire 16oz can and dumped it can tilted to 12o’clock into the glass as quickly as I possibly could. and... it pours like soda pop with big loose head that fades out very quickly.
The aroma is undeniably pungent with wintergreen candy... like it smells like those wintergreen life savers taste. A little warmth & a good nose in the glass will reveal light anise and sarsaparilla root notes, but this just smells like a dang wintergreen life savers.
Now I haven’t had many of these beer-root-beer things, but this one tastes about as good as I could imagine one would taste. Yes, the wintergreen thing is in full affect, but it’s not as ubiquitous in the flavor as it is in the aroma. The flavor is certainly pretty sweet and has a good bit of vanilla, sarsaparilla root, and a mild anise. It’s very very lightly bitter & has just a bit of fruitiness.
As a root beer it’s a compelling twist for sure.
Sweet and root beer flavors. As with most of these "beers" there’s a slightly odd finish. But this is still decent.
Bottle. It poured a dark brown color with a tan head. The aroma was of root beer with some spiciness. The taste was of root beer with a touch of alcohol. Nice.