This root beer is a tribute. A tribute to the Farmer’s Brewery in Shawano, WI. It was made by a group of farmers in 1908. They build a sweet looking brick building, which is pictured on the label bordered by sweet metallic printing, and got to brewing beers. Prohibition put a stop to their party, as it did to many a brewery, but after it was repealed, they brewed again. I wonder why they didn’t just make root beer during that time. In the 1940’s, however, they contracted to produce beer for another brewery out of Chicago, fell out of favor, and litigation ruled the day. Now the brewery stands empty, and has since 1950. The root beer is made by Twig’s Beverage, also in Shawano. I got this in the same shipment of the Twig’s. It’s another butterscotch root beer, something so common these days I don’t even find it exciting anymore.
The Body is pretty weak on the standard root beer flavors but does feature decent butterscotch. It’s a little fruity too. Too much citric acid perhaps? The Bite is adequate in carbonation though lacking in spice and is a little harsh. The Head, well, is the Two Second Head. The Aftertaste is some fruity butterscotch.
This is without a doubt the worst butterscotch root beer I’ve had so far. Not only isn’t it a good root beer, it fails to impress as even a plain butterscotch soda. More proof that butterscotch root beer is completely mainstream, bad versions of it are cropping up. See how it rates against other root beers.
Getting this brew was frustrating. When it first came out they listed Cost Plus World Market as carrying it. I went to all of the ones in the area and they had every flavor of Swamp Pop except for the root beer. They were uncertain if they had merely sold out or never had it to begin with. After awhile it became evident that they didn’t have any and wouldn’t. So I emailed the company. They replied back that The Root Beer Store had it. But the people at the Root Beer Store didn’t have it and hadn’t even heard of it. So I was left wondering what to do and finally gave up and drank lots of other root beers. Then one day, I was at The Root Beer Store and they had it. Finally. This comes from down in Louisiana in the heart of Cajun country. It’s made with filé powder, which, if you don’t know, is ground sassafras leaves. It’s used for gumbo and other Cajun cooking. Since sassafras is a traditional root beer flavor (the roots anyways). The fine folks at Swamp Pop decided they should put it into their root beer to create “a flavor profile reminiscent of early, traditional root beers.”
Finally, I’ve gotten a hold of a clear root beer. I’ve been trying to do so since the beginning. Since that Snapple Tru Root Beer that I just missed in the late 90s. Then there was Tommy’s Naked Righteous Root Beer, that I also missed. So when someone tipped me off about this stuff, I had to buy it, no matter the price. Thankfully, the price wasn’t much so I didn’t break the bank. This is the second root beer to come in a little stubby clear bottle. The first was Dr. Brown’s which was also from New York. It must be a thing over there. Though I’ve long wanted to try a clear root beer, I don’t actually have very high expectations, since root beer, if made from it’s original ingredients would have color and it says “All Natural”. So with that in mind I unscrewed the cap and gave it a try.