Round Barn Root Beer

We are getting ready to go back to Arizona for the holidays and i know that i won't review a root beer there (most likely), so i wanted to get at least one in the books for this month while i had time. The truth is i am running low on my reserves in my fridge, but i know of a lot more root beers out there right now that i need to get my hands on to review. But anyway, i will keep this one brief as well. You're all probably rather weary of hearing my endless babbling anyway. Round Barn Root Beer is branded by Pops Restaurant on historic Route 66 in Arcadia, OK. I guess the round barn is an iconic/historic landmark there. I'm not really interested in that myself as several times on this blog i have already displayed my lack of enthusiasm for anything Route 66 related. But i get that others are happy about it and long for the days of yesteryear, when the threat of nuclear annihilation was almost certain and were driven by irrational fears like the Red Scare and desegregation. Bunch of dummies if you ask me.

This root beer came in the traditional 12 oz. brown glass bottle and features a picture on the label of the titular round barn that is said to be so iconic to the area. It's a nice label, colorful and vivid. One of the better one's i've seen. I think the restaurant itself has a nicer iconic landmark though. Pictures i've seen remind me a little of a place in Gilbert, AZ called Joe's Farm Grill (a great place to eat). So the fact that they went with a barn for the name of the root beer and picture on the label seems as misguided as those people wandering Route 66 in search of a past era that really doesn't seem all that great to me. Regardless though, i think they did a fine job with the label. 

And as far as the root beer is concerned, i think they did a pretty bang up job with that as well. To be honest, i wasn't expecting much from this one. I've kind of been on a run of mediocre and bad root beers, so i figured this one would be par for the course. But i am afraid that streak as been broken, because we've got ourselves a pretty decent root beer here folks. The first thing i noticed about it after opening it was the strong wintergreen aroma (an automatic plus for me). It has a nice carmel undertone with a moderate wintergreen base and a creamy finish. I like it quite a bit. It's not super original or ground breaking, but it hit a lot of the things i like best in a root beer. It's also sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and has decent carbonation. Really the only thing bad i can say about it is that it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth at the very end. Overall very enjoyable though. 

My official review is that Round Barn Root Beer gets 7 (seven) IBCs. It's a good root beer that kinda crept up on me from out of nowhere. I really wasn't expecting it from this one so it was a nice surprise. I have driven through Oklahoma City before and don't know that i will ever afford myself that opportunity again, but if i find myself out that direction i wouldn't mind checking out Pops and grabbing another one of these. Seems like it could be a pretty cool place.