Dorothy Molter, The Root Beer Lady, lived in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area on the international border of the United States and Ontario, Canada. She was a nurse by training and operated the Isle of Pines Resort. She brewed her own root beer for the travelers. She was wild and rugged. Now, her resort has been moved from that pristine wilderness to Ely, MN, where it is a museum. This root beer is brewed by the museum. An interesting history. Though, when I think of commemorative root beers, things like Crater Lake and Red Jammer come to mind.
The Body is sweet and creamy but watered down. There is also a hint of something else in there but I’m not sure what. It is too brief to really catch. There also isn’t much Bite at all, not from spices nor carbonation. I do like it smooth but it’s got to at least be there. The Head is medium height but is gone fast. Make sure not to blink or you might miss it. The brew is nearly flat after that as well. The Aftertaste is fleeting vanilla. It goes far too soon.
This is like the ghost of an excellent root beer. It reminds me of all that is good about a quality brew but isn’t that itself. And like a ghost, it is transparent and quickly fades away. I find it appropriate though, since all that remains of a once amazing and rugged woman is a displaced museum in her honor, that her root beer would be a shadow of a lost former glory. See how this rates against other root beers.
I always appreciate puns. I do. I was the ‘pun’isher at my high school. So it was a great delight to see Gale’s root beer have a little girl (obviously Gale) bending against a blowing wind (gale). There is also a little dog (once again) and the phrase “Oh Rootie” From the story on the bottle Rootie is the name of the dog. Though I am loathe to read ingredients before I try my first bottle, I couldn’t help but notice that it said “Cinnamon Ginger Vanilla Flavored” Now this really got my hopes up for a gingery Myers Avenue Red type thing.
Foxon Park, a park filled with lots of foxon, you know, the plural of ox is oxen so the plural of fox must be foxon, or at least that’s what Brian Regan taught me. So, this root beer hails from the park of the endless hordes of foxon. I could be worse I suppose, they could be overrun by herds of moosen. It says that it is draft style. That always makes me excited because Henry’s is “draught (the olde spelling of draft) style” and has one of the most epic root beer heads of all time not to mention one of the best all around root beers. So if they are saying draft style they better live up to my expectations.
