The second root beer of my Idaho road trip, and the last of the summer road trips. This is made by the Yakima Craft Brewing Company. It’s only 2 1/2 hours from my house but only open after 4 pm. This made it quite a pain to get as the several times in the past I’d driven through Yakima, it was earlier in the day. This time, I was coming back from Boise, so I figured as long as I slept in I’d be fine. But then the GPS was saying I’d arrive in Seattle at 3:30. Clearly I needed to slow down. So I stopped at every rest stop and even a museum and so we were able to arrive at the taproom around 4:30. I don’t know why this is called Rookie of the Year, I should have asked but I didn’t. I did learn that the root beer is brewed in the original copper kettle system that the brewery used when they first started. So that’s pretty cool. They even gave me a tour of the facility. The taproom itself is just that, a taproom, no food. But they do allow kids to come in so the family was able to share a pint of root beer while I reviewed mine in peace at the bar.
The Body is rich and creamy with lots of wintergreen; a little too much wintergreen. There’s also lots of vanilla in there. The Bite is solid with nice spiciness and carbonation while still having a smooth and rich finish. The Head is short and without much staying power, unfortunately. The Aftertaste is wintergreen and vanilla that ends a little bitter.
Pretty good. I wish the Head were better but this is a nice solid brew. It’s not quite a Seal of Approval, but better than the average and good enough to grab a growler or a keg for your party if you live down there.
The copper brew kettle where the root beer is made.
The taproom. You wouldn’t know that it’s right by a bunch of fruit packing plants from this photo.
