Welcome!

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!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Abita Root Beer



Who Made This Stuff?          Abita Brewing Company, Abita Springs, LA

Website:                                 abita.com

Where’d It Come From?       ???

Review Date:                         8/10/13

Commentary:  I received a six-pack of this brew a while ago and I have had to guard this last bottle carefully.  My son and his friends enjoy root beer just as much as I do and I noticed that my six-pack quickly became a one-pack.  Well, this bottle's day has finally arrived.  Let's see what we've got here.

Hold on, let me go find a bottle opener.  This one doesn't have a twist-off cap.  Okay, after opening it, I picked up a standard root beer aroma but with a bit of spice thrown in, so it was off to a good start.  It produced a great big head when I poured it.  The head even stuck around for a few photos, which I thought was a nice touch.

The first sip was surprisingly sweet.  It wasn't too sweet by any means, but based on the aroma I didn't expect this sweetness.  I like the carbonation here -- small bubbles.  There is a certain amount of creaminess here as well, but not overly so.  It's the kind of creamy that lets you know it's there but mainly hangs out in the background, not overplaying its hand.  Abita uses pure cane sugar in the recipe (announced prominently on the label), and I think it definitely shows in the taste of this one.

I don't detect any kind of bite.  There is just a little hint of wintergreen and I don't detect any licorice in here.  That's two points in the plus column for Abita.  Unfortunately, the carbonation didn't hang around very long.  It seems to have disappeared and I've still got about a third of the mug left.

Nothing about this root beer really jumps out at me.  I enjoyed it.  It is a good, solid, middle of the road root beer.  I think I could enjoy this one with a meal.  I'd buy it again if given the opportunity, and I'd serve it to friends without any reservations.

So, I think I'll give this one a score of..................................80

Are you a fan of Abita?  How do your tasting notes compare to mine?  Sound off in the comments!