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Welcome to the Root Beer Rundown. Over the last few years, I've had a lot of fun drinking a lot of root beer and posting my root beer reviews for your reading pleasure. Use the tools on the right to see the complete history of my reviews, find all the brews within a given scoring range, or simply search for your favorite brew to see if it's one I've reviewed. I always like to hear what other root beer lovers like and dislike about different brews, so feel free to sound off in the comments of the reviews. I've also provided some links to a few other great root beer resources. Let me know if I've missed any so I can add them to the list. Enjoy the site!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Appalachian Brewing Company


Who Made This Stuff?    Appalachian Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA

Website:                             www.abcbrew.com

Where’d It Come From?   Grocery store in Exton, PA

Review Date:                     11/28/12

Commentary:  This was another one of the brews we picked up on our summer family road trip while passing through PA.  It’s always fun to stumble on a new root beer when we’re traveling.  We bought a six pack but I never got to drink any of them, until now.  Fortunately, I had hidden one of the bottles from my son and his friends!

When I opened the bottle, I got a very nice, spicy aroma.  It wasn’t overpowering, but it was intriguing.  When poured, it did produce a small head that managed to stick around for just a little while, but again I was too slow with the camera to capture it.  This is a nice, dark brew.  The carbonation level in this one is just about spot on – nice small bubbles that managed to hang around all the way to the bottom of the glass, and I didn’t drink this one very fast.

It has a nice little bite to it, but nothing ferocious.  I really like the spicyness in there.  I liked this one from the start, but I enjoyed it more and more with each sip.  As I mentioned, I took my time working through this one so I could try to figure out the flavors in it.  I just looked at the label and noticed they used real sugar and honey in this.  I think that really comes through in the great flavor and mouth feel.  Did I mention the spices?  The best way I can describe it is that this root beer is giving just a little bit of a nod to his birch beer cousins without smacking you around with the wintergreen.  I would not consider this a creamy brew. 

I really liked this one.  I would definitely recommend it and serve it to friends.  If I ever find myself back up in that neck of the woods, I will seek it out again. 

I’ll give this one a score of ……………………….94.

Have you ever tried Appalachian?  Can it be found outside of PA?  According to their website, they also make a white birch and a ginger beer.  I’ll skip the ginger beer, but I may have to try their white birch.