Blumers root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Remember going to the drive- in and chugging down a frothy mug of root beer? When was the last time you had a good Old Fashioned Root Beer? Now you can… we use choice ingredients and flavors to achieve an Old Fashioned Root Beer taste that will take you back to the drive-in. Get your frosty mug ready!"

There's not much info on the website, as the parent company Minhas Brewery is geared more toward adult beverages, with the sodas seeming to be more of an afterthought.


Product details: 11.16 fl. oz.  Minhas Craft Brewery, Monroe, Wisconsin. 177 calories, 40.6g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://minhasbrewery.com/


Ingredients: Carbonated water, sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (to preserve freshness).


My thoughts: Though Blumers was established in 1845, it wouldn't be until 21 years later that Charles Elmer Hires would invent the drink that we know as root beer (originally called Root Tea), however it would be another decade before root beer gained infamy when it was introduced at the 1876 U.S. Centennial Expo. So, does Blumers head start in the world of beverages give it a leg up on the competition, or did the later upstarts surpass their elders?

The flavor right off the bat is certainly rooty, with the sassafras flavor making this unmistakably a root beer. In that respect, I figure the recipe is probably a more modern interpretation. There's not a whole lot of flavor separation, with only a little vanilla peeking through. It's a decent, basic root beer, but not one that is going out of its way to do anything different.

I appreciate a Nutrition Facts label that is so precise that it lists the quantities to a precision of tenths of a gram. That precision must be unnecessary, however, as I find this root beer just a little bit sweeter tasting than I care for, which is unexpected considering it falls right in line with the norm. Carbonation is nice, with a strong effervescence that never becomes sharp, even though I do tend to like a bit of bite from my bubbles. Some root beers tend to flatten out a lot by the bottom of the bottle, but Blumers kept just enough carbonation around to do the job. While it's not a very creamy root beer, the lack of sharpness to the carbon dioxide helps it feel fairly smooth.

It seems that over all the years, Blumers has managed to craft a root beer that is friendly to the widest range of customers, with nothing too distinguishing that might turn away your average person. The good is that it's a decent root beer. The bad is that it doesn't offer anything exceptional that makes it worth tracking down.


Rating: C+
flavor: C+
aftertaste: C
sweetness: B
smoothness: B-
carbonation: B