On my way to purchase some ales and lagers, I spotted a sixer that caught my interest. Distillery Root Beer stuck out, not because I wanted it, but because it seemed like the kind of boozy alco-pop that the Bitter Wife would be interested in. Of course, from the packaging I realized that the stuff hailed from Toronto's latest member of the Labatt Empire, the Mill St. Brewery, but I wasn't buying it for any connection to beer, just because I like to make my missus happy. However, when, on closer inspection, I saw that the product at issue contained a belt of Mill St.'s Vanilla Porter Bierschnaps, the liquid in my hands became a reviewable quantity. So the Bitter Wife got five 341mL bottles, with the sixth earmarked for review. While I thought that she would like the stuff, I was unprepared for the Bitter Wife's unbridled enthusiasm. It was hard to claw my bottle away from her grasping hands. "It's smooth like butter," she shrieked.
At
5.2%, Distillery Root Beer has a bit more oomph than the average macro
brew, but less than most micros. Open emptying from its clear glass
vessel, DRB proved to be clear itself, with a brown-amber hue, and no
head to speak of. It had a powerful root beer aroma that was rich in
vanilla and earthy notes. The flavour stuck to the same pattern--sweet,
with ample vanilla notes.
Nothing about this
product was all that reminiscent of beer--it was definitely more
root--but that failed to dampen my enjoyment one aota. Too sweet to
indulge in more than a beer or two, sure, but Distillery Root Beer was
tasty and fun.
