Root beer
Capt'n Eli's Root Beer
Capt'n Eli's Soda (Shipyard Brewing Co.) · Traditional New England craft root beer
Portland, Maine, USA
A traditional New England root beer from the Forsley family, whose recipe traces back to a Maine kitchen in the 1920s and now pours under the Shipyard Brewing banner. Wintergreen leads on the nose and carries through a sweet, cane-sugar-rounded body, with anise, vanilla, and a whisper of nutmeg filling in the old soda-fountain shape. It builds a tall, creamy head and finishes soft and frothy rather than sharp, landing it squarely in crowd-pleasing territory. The profile is more nostalgic comfort than challenging craft, but it is clean and well-balanced with no off notes to dock it.
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The maker
Capt'n Eli's Root Beer grew out of a home recipe the Forsley family had perfected in New Gloucester, Maine, beginning in the 1920s, with Fred Forsley launching it commercially in 1996 (first poured at Federal Jack's brewpub in Kennebunk). It is the brand's flagship soda, built around wintergreen, anise, and vanilla, and is brewed and bottled by Shipyard Brewing Co. in Portland, Maine.
Ingredients & nutrition
Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Coloring, Natural & Artificial Flavors Including Wintergreen Oil, Anise, Vanilla, Spices, Herbs, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (as a preservative).