On New Year’s Day the weather was beautiful and it hadn’t snowed for a few days so I thought I’d take a scenic drive with the family. I figured something the drove along the Mississippi River would be nice, and I knew that in the city of Red Wing, there was a brewery that also made their own root beer. So after a nice drive on the Wisconsin side of the river, we found ourselves at the little Red Wing Brewery. The city of Red Wing actually has a storied past with breweries, but they all were closed by the 1950s. The Red Wing Brewery is the first to open there since 1951. Now the root beer is called Good Old Zimmie’s and this time I actually had the presence of mind to ask why it was called this. I was told that they looked through the long history of Red Wing beers and chose from those names. Good Old Zimmie’s was the name of some old brew. Go figure.
The Body is dark and spicy, yet isn’t full flavored. Wintergreen and clove stand out, but there’s a sort of emptiness after that. The Bite is spicy! Lot’s of clove and other spices. I wish it were a little smoother though. The Head is OK, medium height and foam. The Aftertaste is bitter wintergreen and a clove. It’s too bitter for me.
It’s not bad, it just quite enough. The balance is all off, and though it isn’t really unpleasant, it’s not something that I’d really want to drink again, even with the yummy pizzas they serve there. Tragic, I know. Alas. It’s a scenic little town, but skip this root beer.
The Red Wing Brewery Brew Vats
The Red Wing Brewery Taps. The root beer is the first in the series.
