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.
A British made root beer! That’s right folks, the chaps across the pond thought they’d give root beer brewing a try. And not just any chaps, but the Hartridges (whose coat of arms features prominently on the neck of the bottle). Francis Hartidge himself, the distinguished gentleman on the label, allegedly brought this recipe back from the Americas. Luckily for me my project manager (a tosser really) hails from Hampshire and actually likes to visit home for some reason rather frequently. I found the nearest stockist to his house and to my joy he returned after Christmas vacation with a kingly gift indeed, two bottles of the Celebrated Root Beer. I must say that I was certainly celebrating. However, he said he tried a bottle himself and it tasted like washing up liquid, then again, he says all root beers taste like that and other bullocks along those lines.
I first heard of this when I was ordering some of the last Thomas Kemper Purely Natural Root Beer in existence. I wanted to see if I could get a few more varieties in the 12 pack to lessen the price per review on that one. I was told by the distributor that this one is brand new and wasn’t even on their website yet. Hooray! I may be one of the first root beer reviewers to try it. The idea seems cool. Less sugar so the other delicious root beer flavors can come through. That way I can drink more root beer and not get diabetes (which is a myth by the way).
