I’m going to be a little lazy here, folks, and before I regale you with details on Sprecher Bootlegger’s Bourbon Barrel Hard Root Beer, give you a little background on root beer in general, taken from my review of Samuel Adams 1790 Root Beer Brew from 2006:
Have you ever stopped to think about the two words that make up root beer? Taken separately, they tell a lot about this soft drink that is today an icon of Americana. The beverage is made from root (and other) spices, of which, according to Wikipedia, may be included:
vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark, nutmeg, anise, and molasses, allspice, birch bark, coriander, juniper, ginger, wintergreen, hops, burdock root, dandelion root, spikenard, pipsissewa, guaiacum, yellow dock, honey, clover, cinnamon, prickly ash bark, and yucca.
That’s a pretty large range indeed. As to the “beer” in root beer, well, the authentic versions are actually fermented. Lightly fermented, mostly to impart carbonation rather than alcohol content.
You can hop on over through the link to read the rest of that review, if you’re interested in the details on how the Sam Adams hard root beer tasted. Because from here on out, it’s all about the Sprecher. Sprecher Bootlegger’s Bourbon Barrel Hard Root Beer was introduced in January of 2013 to a limited distribution area. It has an alcohol content of 5% by volume and is described as a “flavored malt beverage.”
Is it really a stretch for Sprecher to make a hard root beer? Not at all, in addition to brewing the fine beers that they do, Sprecher also makes a line of well-respected gourmet sodas. Sprecher said in their blog that their hard root beer featured flavors of bourbon and oak, though I don’t really get either here.
Sprecher Bootlegger’s Bourbon Barrel Hard Root Beer pours to a dark brownish root beer color with a thick creamy root beer head and a delicious spicy nose that smells like, well, root beer.
Sprecher Bootlegger’s Bourbon Barrel Hard Root is a welcome change of pace for a beer drinker, especially if you love spicy root beer as I do. The only thing that would stop me from regularly featuring it in my beer fridge is the price: at $9.99 a 4-pack it’s too highly priced. Still, that didn’t stop it from flying off the shelves at my local Total Wine, as I was lucky to get the last 4-pack on the day it arrived in store.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler