The Hard Root Beers I have tried so far have been
god awful, pretty
good, and pretty
damn good. This purports to be the best damn root beer, and I'm willing to give it a chance. I like the idea of these little boutique beverages that are brewed for the pleasure. I treat them like someone might treat the oddly named concoctions that a skilled bartender develops - they are curiosities that might yield something delicious.
It's the color... of root beer. Who'd have thought that they would hit the color that they were looking for just like the previous three hard root beers? Well, it turns out you can get anywhere you want with the right color dye. It has no head at all. I expect root beer to have a thick, sturdy head on it, but none of these hard root beers seem to have been able to duplicate that. The aroma is definitely root beer, but it also smells a bit malty. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but you can only divine so much from a smell.
First sip is definitely a kind of root beer. Is it the best damn root beer? No. At least, it isn't from the little sip I gave it. It has a very normal kind of IBC front-end, but the back end just doesn't know what it's doing. It's confused with a very acidic twinge and vaguely earthy aftertaste to the point that it taints the enjoyment of even a single sip. Maybe a full swig will make it much damn better.
Tip-in is almost like root beer flavored bubble gum. It's sweet and has very distinct vanilla flavors in there to prop-up the root-beeriness of the flavor. The middle comes along with a very decent root beer flavor, but it's weak - kind of watery. Carbonation is not a factor thus far. The finish swings on by with a sweet crescendo followed by that earthy and acidic aftertaste.
Bottom Line: It's not bad, but it's not the best damn root beer. I think I might opt for a regular (non hard) root beer first.
2.0/5