Welcome to Brews Of Root Extraction Online. This post reviews the “Root Beer” from Pelican Brewing Co., an Oregon-based microbrewery that has several PNW taprooms and offers some of their beers in bottles and cans at grocery stores. The root beer for this tasting was purchased on draft at a local taproom/grill ($7 for a 20 oz glass).
I review five criteria on a 1-5 scale.
A. Sweetness: 5. Not too sweet, but it’s plenty sweet. Tastes like sugar, and maybe a touch of honey.
B. Lightbody spices: 2. There is just enough bite to keep it from being syrupy, but you can just detect wintergreen. Not much else.
C. Heavybody spices: 4. Lots of both vanilla and anise in this one. Not much else, but it’s enjoyable enough.
D. Uniqueness: 2. If you gave me, blindfolded, a cup of this root beer on ice, I’d just assume you bought some generic (but good) stuff from the supermarket and poured it for me.
E. Mouthfeel: 5. Just right, which is important because this root beer tends to have a heavy syrup flavor. But the bright mouthfeel (lots of carbonation at least for the draft variety) counters the heavy taste well.
Total score: 18/25. Good, solid root beer, but for the price ($7 for a 20 oz glass) and the name (Pelican, which boasts several award-winning beers) I expected something a little more interesting.
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