Last week I was in Madison, Wisconsin doing what I do best, working and finding root beer in the evenings. Madison is kind of a disappointment in that regard, for while they have cheese aplenty, and many small craft breweries, the amount of root beer in said breweries is rather lacking. Which strikes me as odd since cities in Minnesota with half as many people will have multiple craft root beers on taps just waiting for me to try. But it took quite a bit of searching for me to find one. To be fair, a lot of places do have Sprecher and Baumeister on tap there, and fine brews they are, but still, they can do better. But anyways, Delta Beer Lab was started only in February of this year by a couple of brewery veterans who’d worked their way up. One of them even was head brewer at a place in Minneapolis. Perhaps that’s why he, unlike so many others in Madison, decided to do a root beer. The brewery itself is like a chemistry class/lab, which is fun, as you can get little beakers and flasks full of brew. They are also very socially progressive there, take that as you feel inclined, which includes refusing tips and just paying their employees a living wage with benefits. I loath paying tips (just tell me how much it really costs) so I can get behind that. But more importantly, can I get behind the root beer?
The Body is mild and pleasant but not as sweet as most root beers. There’s sarsaparilla and vanilla flavors that make it taste rather Barqsy. The Bite is light on spice, solid on carbonation. The Head is nice and tall and foamy. The Aftertaste is a mild sarsaparilla with vanilla that ends with a fruity tinge.
It’s a decent brew, not worth a pilgrimage on its own, but if you happen to find yourself there with your friends, you won’t be regretting your purchase, which is more than I can say for a lot of root beers.
The Delta Beer Lab Bar. It makes the science nerd in me happy.
Root beer number three from my Montreal adventure, it was the serendipitous brew of the trip, for I didn’t even know of its existence before I went on my trek to find the Marco Root Beer. At my second stop, the Fruiterie du Plateau, when I found their soda section, I was overjoyed to discover that they had this brew that I’d never heard of before. They had some other Canadian ones I’d already had as well. I grabbed these along with the rest, and then had that wonderful hour long walk in the slushy snow/rain while carrying the box back to the hotel. This is actually made in the US, but Smucker Natural Foods, and is the Canadian version of 
This past weekend was my Birthday! To celebrate I wanted to go get root beer and since it was my Birthday, I could pick that for my party. So I piled the family in the car and we drove up to Taylor Falls to visit The Drive-In. It’s an old root beer stand that got its humble beginnings as a Frostop stand. While no longer affiliated with Frostop and with their own house recipe, they didn’t repaint the big Frostop mug eternally spinning in their sign. I think it’s kind of funny. But anyhow, they got car service and carhops in poodle skirts and serve that classic root beer drive-in fare with their brew served in nice frosty mugs. They also have a mini-golf course and they are a short walk from a beautiful state park with glacial potholes. But I was there first and foremost for root beer.
