Sunday Night Suds - Coney Island Hard Root Beer

This week's Sunday Night Suds takes a left turn and reviews another type of "brew" - Coney Island Brewing's Hard Root Beer.

While research for the Labor Day version of the Kosher Beers list, I check the Star-K's sites for updates on Boston Beer varieties which were certified kosher and I was surprised to see that a limited number of Coney Island Brewing Company products were now listed on the LOC as certified kosher. (To see the LOC, please click here http://www.star-k.org/loc/LetterOfCertification_PEFQZ4N3.pdf).

This does not appear to be all products which are brewed under the Coney Island Brewing Company label, but it does list four products including the Hard Root Beer.

A few years back, the "Hard" soda/alcopop products were all the rage and products such as Mike's Hard Lemonade (which to my knowledge was never certified kosher) were the subject of many an email and question as to whether they could be consumed. I have never come across any kosher certified hard lemonade or cola, so I was intrigued when I saw the Coney Island Brewing Company's Hard Root Beer in the Garden City Park Beverage Barn.

My first reaction to the Hard Root Beer is that its REALLY SWEET. I don't think I have ever had an alcopop with this much of a stick to your teeth sugar content. Keep in mind, it has been about 17 years since I regularly drank sugared soda, but this seems like just straight root beer lollypop, but in bottled form. Every few sips there is a slight medicinal aftertaste, but the flavors are basically sugar and birch beer (even though the label indicates that it is an ale made with natural flavors and caramel color added). The label also indicates that the product is 5.8% abv, but there is really no alcohol taste in the flavor profile.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable). 

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!