Fresh off my weekend in Duluth, I found myself in Sacramento, with another root beer target on my mind, Big A Root Beer Drive-In. I’d known about it for awhile but this trip saw me with enough time to make the hour and fifteen minute drive up to Grass Valley. Their website doesn’t give a lot of information about them, other than they make their own root beer fresh and it’s creamy and real and draft and seriously, that’s a little long for a name. Anyways, the building itself looks like an old A&W Drive-In, which makes sense. Sharing my adventure was my grandma, some aunts, and my mom, who happened to be in Sacramento that day.
The Body is sweet and rich with a classic flavor that is overflowing with delicious vanilla. It’s so sweet and smooth you feel you could just take a bath in all that vanilla. The Bite is subtle, with a nice blend of spices complimenting the Body and it finishes very smooth. The Head is excellent. Tall and foamy. The Aftertaste is a sweet vanilla that lasts and lasts.
Wow! After nearly 420 root beers, it takes a lot to impress me, yet, after my first drink, I was so overcome that I blurted out “Oh wow! It’s good!” The free refills are bad news, because before I knew it, I’d downed three 20 oz mugs of the stuff. I couldn’t help myself. It was so amazing. If there’s anything at all lacking in this brew, it could use a little more Bite, just a little, and it would achieve perfection. As it stands, I’d say that this is probably the 2nd highest rated 4.5, just a hair below 5. * The food at the place is top notch as well. I asked for recommendations, and took the deluxe bacon burger with avocado and a side of pesto garlic fries. I was in heaven. This place is a must visit, if you are a root beer fan. Seriously, stop what you’re doing and plan a trip to Big A Root Beer Drive-In right now!
*update I’ve thought about this a lot, and I should have given this a 5, other than Hank’s and Surf City, no root beer has moved me so nor inspired me to drink myself sick. So, the rating is updated, I appologize for not having the courage to do this sooner.
Still at the Minnesota State Fair, after I’d visited 
This past Saturday was the first weekend of the Minnesota State Fair! The Great Minnesota Get-Together! Since it’s my first time being a Minnesotan during the state fair … wait, can I be a Minnesotan? Like, I guess I’ll always be a Washingtonian, despite where my residency currently is … er … My first time living in Minnesota during the State Fair (that sounds more accurate), I had to go. Also, because I knew there was a root beer stand called The Root Beer Hut that makes their very own Challenge Root Beer, only available during the Fair. So I made a beeline to the Hut, through record crowds with root beer first and foremost on my mind, all other fair fun secondary. They serve their brew out of wonderful wooded barrel taps which is very cool. I lament the lack of frosty mugs, but for root beer stands such things can be forgiven. 
