Town Hall Brewery Root Beer

 Draft and Keg Root Beers  1 Response »
Apr 202012
 

So this last week I visited the Twin Cities to give a seminar on electric vehicles at the University of Minnesota. I arrived in the late afternoon and after I got settled the question was, where to eat dinner? I asked the hotel clerk about good local restaurants and she gave me a list. A quick perusal revealed the Town Hall Brewery. What if, I thought, they brewed their own root beer. I gave the place a call and sure enough they did. I quickly procured the hotel shuttled and took off. I sat at the bar and the lovely bar tender, Rachel, asked me what I would like to drink. I told her who I was and why I was there, root beer. She kindly brought me some saltines and a glass of water and then went to the tap and filled my mug. The root beer is tapped directly from the brewing vats, no bottles, not even kegs, just the freshest root beer with minimal handling.

The first thing I saw was as she poured it, it foamed up like crazy. What a Head! That always gets me going. The foam actually holds together so well that it the Head can build above the glass without spilling over! It has a sweet rich Body that is very creamy. There is nice honey accenting the core flavors. There is a subtle Bite from the spices that surface after the initial contact but it is very smooth like I prefer. The Aftertaste is delicious vanilla and honey with hints of spices.

Yum, yum, yum. How delicious and fresh tasting. What a joy as well that an order of root beer comes with refills. After I wrote my initial review I had another mug while I waited for my food. This brew goes great by itself or with the amazing food they serve, like a walleye hoagie with a side of butter fried fries (my dinner ultimately). The biggest sadness was that I left my camera at home. Rachel and her smart phone to the rescue! So after my walleye hoagie and three and a half mugs of root beer. I left quite full and contented. My trip was already an overwhelming success, and I hadn’t even given my seminar. All my voyages should be such. So if your in Minneapolis, definitely drop by the Town Hall Brewery.




Big E Root Beer

 Draft and Keg Root Beers  4 Responses »
Mar 232012
 

So my wonderful CFH friend (named Eric as well by the way) who found me the Joe’s discovered this brew for me on tap from a keg at a brewery/taphouse he often visits in Seattle called Naked City. It’s made by the Ellersick Brewing Company and isn’t bottled. I don’t usually go to Seattle any more but I told him the next time I was over there we’d have to try. I did finally make over on Thursday for a symposium at the University of Washington where I presented some wonderful electric vehicle research I’d done as well as performed some experiments on the company LEAF. After such a triumph, the only thing that could make it better would be to try a new root beer. I was running late when I got to the bar. I quickly ordered a glass, no ice, and poured to build the Head. The bar tender thought it was oddly specific until I explained who I was and what I was doing. To which she replied, “Ok, I still need your ID if you plan to sit at my bar.”

Despite my instructions, she didn’t build a very nice Head for me to evaluate, in part because she used a wet glass. However, my friend, who’d been there for about 10 minutes eating fries and sipping his own, vouched for the size of the Head on his. Mine was still very frothy though so I imagine it would be tall if done properly. The Body is very creamy, though not from vanilla, but it just feels creamy. It’s very sweet and tastes like a root beer barrel candy. Then comes the Bite, so much clove! Wintergreen too! Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever had a root beer with this much clove in it. There’s some other spice too, some cinnamon maybe. The net result is quite a Bite. The Aftertaste is sort of waxy wintergreen with hints of clove. The waxiness coats your mouth for quite a long time after drinking the brew.

Well, it’s decent, and very unique. Can’t say that I’d order it just to drink by itself, especially with that waxy Aftertaste, but the strong clove and wintergreen flavor would mix well with certain foods, and since they serve them there, it’s worth getting with your meal.




Thomas Creek Brewing Company Root Beer

 Draft and Keg Root Beers  No Responses »
Mar 082012
 

Awhile back, as I was trawling through the vast brand lists of root beers on Anthony’s Root Beer Barrel (that’s right, I capitalized it!) I discovered this one. I emailed the company and asked them about their root beer, since their website mentioned nothing of its existence, and where it could be found bottled. I was told in the reply that it wasn’t bottled, but I could get kegs of it at the brewery if every I were in Greenville, SC. Interestingly enough, at the time I had a paper accepted in the IEEE International Electric Vehicle Conference in Greenville, so heading there wasn’t out of the question for once. When I arrived on Sunday I found out that the hotel I was staying at didn’t have shuttle service to anywhere other than the airport and I didn’t rent a car. I tried in vain to find someone to give me a ride. Throughout this time, the conference shuttle service was atrocious leaving me and my newly met international friends quite stranded and unable to make decent plans. I finally snapped on Tuesday night and decided to sleep in and rent a car in the morning. I was pleased to find that a car for the day would be the same price as a taxi to the airport, and I could even leave it at the airport. Well, that sealed the deal. The first break I got headed off to the brewery with two of my new found friends. When I got there I was finally able to use a line I have been wanting to use for over 10 years now, “Hello, my name is Eric. I’m from gourmetrootbeer.com and I’d like to try your root beer.” Brilliantly it worked! They brought out some sample glasses, one for each of us perfectly poured from a keg, and then at my request, brought out some full sized glasses so I could drink more of the rather delicious brewgive a more accurate review.

This is has a medium Body with accents of creamy vanilla and fruity. There is a tad too much fruitiness for my tastes. There is a solid bite from cinnamon and other spices such that it reminds me a of a Myers Avenue Red, though not nearly as creamy. The Head is beautifully frothy because, to quote the head brew master with respect to root beers sporting the 2 second Head, “Those aren’t root beers.” I heartily agree. He adds sufficient yucca to build a beautiful Head but not too much that it starts to taste bitter or gross. The Aftertaste is cinnamon and a little fruity vanilla.

So, a solid brew, better than the average gourmet root beer for sure. It’s tasty and foamy and only comes from kegs. It’s on the milder side so that even the German girl who came with us, Eva, liked it having never had root beer before (Europeans generally detest root beer if you didn’t know). I didn’t really like that fruity flavor though, so it won’t getting my Seal of Approval, but it would be great with a pizza. Which happens to be the only other place you can get it, Brixx Wood Fired Pizza, also in Greenville. There’s talk of bottling it some day in the future, so if they do, I’ll give it another try. Check the pictures below as well.

 

The small tasting glass I was originally given.

The full size glasses with two of my IEEE friends in the background

 

Me and two of my IEEE friends trying out the root beer.




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