Apple Beer
12 fl. oz.
glass bottle
Apple Beer Corp, Salt Lake City, Utah

pretty cold, no ice

To indulge in a stereotype for just a moment, it doesn't surprise me a bit that famously teetotaling Salt Lake City would come up with some great sodas. Apple Beer ("Non-Alcoholic") boasts that it is made from a Bavarian brewing process; Bavarian-Schmavarian, all we know is, it's yummy. It tastes a little like everyone's favorite 12-Step friendly champagne-substitute Martinelli's carbonated apple juice. Apple Beer's quite fizzy, and the flavor is very clear: apples, with a hint of vanilla smacking you in the ass on its way out.

Kate called it "an artisanal fruit cooler...something like you'd get at Charlie Trotter's" (a frou-frou restaurant in Chicago where the chef likes to make his own drinks and ice cream). Apple Beer is made with 100% pure cane sugar, which is reputed to give a special mojo to sodas that use it instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Time and tasting will tell.

Apple Beer has a charming little website here. Their slogan sounds kinda dirty ("The soft drink with a head"), which may explain why it's celebrating its 100th birthday. I'll let Kate have the final word: "Next time we go to Galco, I'm getting some more!"

KP: 6/7 of 10
MG: 7 of 10