Town Hall Brewery Root Beer

 Draft and Keg Root Beers  1 Response »
Apr 202012
 

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.




Brewbakers Surf City Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  2 Responses »
Mar 142012
 

So more into my questing of small microbrewery root beers. I had heard about this one from another blog and wrote an email to them since they didn’t seem to have a way to buy it online. A fine chap by the name of Dennis wrote me back and said that they didn’t sell it online but if I called they’d be glad to send me some and “it is the very best.” I called and made the purchase. About a week later I get a rather large padded envelope on my door step containing the two bottles of Surf City Root Beer, a gift certificate for $5 of merchandise at Brewbakers Restaurant and Brewery (if I’m ever in Huntington Beach, CA I guess), a restaurant menu, a brewery menu (all the different beers you can custom make), and a box hop jump tea bags. Huh? What are hop jumps? It seems from the description that they are dried hops that you put into a draft beer to make it taste fuller. I don’t know, I’ve never drank beer. I gave them to the British guy I work with and he thought they were hilarious, though he hasn’t tried them yet. I honestly think they put them in there for padding between the two bottles. And who sends root beer in only a padded envelope? These guys are different for sure, but I suppose that’s how surfer dudes are. So how is it?

Wonderful Body! Raw honey and spices complimenting solid sassafras flavor. It is also creamy from the delicious vanilla. While it isn’t overly complex, it is perfectly proportioned. The spices give a solid Bite. The Head is very nice. It’s tall and frothy as a root beer Head should be. The Aftertaste is a delightful blend of spiced vanilla and honey with the vanilla the last flavor to fade. This is beauty in the form of root beer!

Good gravy! What a shock to my root beer world. After the first bottle I realized they weren’t kidding about it being the best. I needed to make sure. I brought out the bottle of So Duh!, Hank’s, and Iron Horse for the Ultimate Root Beer Showdown just to make sure I knew where the top brews stood. Then I had my second bottle of this stuff. Then another bottle of So Duh!. Well, it isn’t quite the very best, but there was no doubt in my mind that it is an Elixir of the Gods. See how it rates against other root beers.




Wild Bill’s Rocky Mountain Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Feb 292012
 

In an effort to expand my root beer collection in an affordable manner (have you ever ordered one variety online before?) I decided to try trading with other root beer reviewers. I looked first to Anthony of root beer barrel fame because he’s the undisputed king of root beer reviews and also his was the first site I encountered way back in 1998. I’d always looked up to him and since he is on the other coast, we each had access to different regional varieties. After a brief email exchange, the trade arranged. Sadly, i’d given him the wrong zip code since I had recently moved. The package was lost in the mail for over two weeks. Thankfully, he’d gotten a tracking number and I was able to sort it out. The one I was most excited to try was this one. I mean look at it. Bullet holes through the label with a cowboy holding a frosty mug. How can you not like that? It’s also made “with pure cane sugar.” What’s not to love?

It has a very rich and creamy Body. It has an excellent sassafrass flavor, how a root beer should be. The Bite has a good spice tingle as well as some from the carbonation but stays on the smooth side as I like it. The Head is medium height and decently frothy. It fizzes down faster than I prefer but it is sufficient. The Aftertaste is wonderful. Creamy vanilla and a caramel flavor with hints of anise and wintergreen.

This is one quality brew! It’s core flavors are near perfectly proportioned and then its got nice extras from the vanilla and the spices. After the first half a mug, I knew this would be getting a Seal of Approval. Thankfully in this case, I have to drink two bottles, just to make sure. The biggest problem I see with this, it isn’t sold locally. See how it rates against other root beers.




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