My 200th Root Beer Review!!! After nearly a year of waiting, Bluebird Microcreamery contacted me to let me know that they finally rotated a new root beer into the store and to come and try it. I dutifully complied the next available opportunity and brought my buddy old Zombie Tag buddy with me. Bluebird has imaginatively named this brew Batch 002 Root Beer which saves a ton of money on their menu. For instance the chalkboard that had the menu on it only erased the ‘1’ and replaced it with a ‘2’ leaving their original ‘Batch 00’ … ‘Root Beer’ intact. That’s the sort of efficiency I applaud for a small company. They need to focus all of their energies on brewing instead of naming. Since it’s Batch 002 instead of Batch 2, it begs the question of whether they have over 100 different batches they’re willing to try. That could get interesting for sure and definitely help me keep my weekly reviews coming.
The Body is sweet but not overly sweet. It’s dark but not spicy and there’s no vanilla flavor but rather, a slightly fruity licorice one. The Bite is very mild as well without much fizz or spice. The Head is super tall and frothy and all over the place, just like with Batch 001. The Aftertaste is a sort of fruity licorice caramel that isn’t really my favorite.
So I’m not liking this one near as much as Batch 001. This has got more of the generic ‘stout’ root beer flavor rather than the more complex and spicy flavor of their first. Unfortunately I’m not the biggest fan of those types of brews. It’ll still go great in a float and their ice cream allows for some interesting combinations, but I’m gonna have to say it’s only drinkable on its own. I give it a high 3, almost 3 1/2 but not quite. Rumor has it that they even have a Batch 003 so I’ll have to see if that one ever pops up.
So Bluebird Microcreamery in Seattle just decided to get into the nano-brewing business and had a grand opening just a few weeks ago, officially becoming Bluebird Microcreamery & Brewery. When I heard they were brewing root beer as well I headed over as quickly as I could to get the scoop (pun intended) on the new brew and the new entrant into the gourmet root beer world. My first impression of the place is that it is truly a nano-brewery. They are on a 2 bbl system that seems to only hold about 100 gallons at most per vat. The whole operation, brewery, creamery, bar, and sitting area occupy about as much space as a corner Starbucks. The decor is very rustic with tables built on old fashioned milk cans and pints of root beer served in frosted mason jars. They try to be all natural local and organic as well. They have three different root beers that they brew but only one at any given time. This one is imaginatively called Batch 001 because it is obviously their 10th try … I had hoped that by announcing myself as the internet root beer guru that I am there would be much excitement but I was kind of overshadowed by Chef Gordon Ramsay who was shooting an episode of Kitchen Nightmares just next store. Oh well.
