Guess who's back... back again...
Turns out, it's just me. I didn't post a single review last year, and it's not because i don't have anything in my fridge to review. In fact, i have quite a few root beers that have been accumulated along my travels, either gifted to me by others or from just randomly wandering the root beer sections of grocery store soda aisles. And while i have several reasons for my absence, chief among them is that i'm just lazy and didn't take the time to sit down and do one. But i can no longer look in my fridge and think i will get to some of these later. I just need to put out some more content for the dozens (generous) of avid readers of my reviews, you know? Oh, and also, remember how i said my best friend of 30 years had cancer a few years back? Well last year on the 16th of July he died from it, or rather from the treatment of it. And now, for better or worse, that has become a central part of my personality, the sad middle-aged guy who's best friend is dead. So there's that as well.
Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer is brewed and distributed by
Sprecher Brewing in Glendale, WI. I have reviewed a couple Sprecher root beers previously, and (spoiler) i actually have another one in my fridge right now. I truly don't remember where i picked this one up. As of the time i am writing this review, the website says they are out of stock, so i am not sure how you'd find some if you wanted to try it. Maybe it's more prevalent in the greater Glendale, WI area, but i don't know. I certainly wasn't up in that area so that's not where i found it. I think it was probably one of the ones that someone close to me found and then bestowed upon me.
I like the label a lot. It has a classy, appealing look of a root beer that takes itself seriously. There is a faint image of a barrel laying on it's side cradled in what looks like a couple stalks of wheat tied together in what i would describe as a Caesar crown. I am not sure what you could call these (fronds maybe?), but they also appear on award ribbons and around sayings like "best picture", or "trust me, this thing is good". Oak Creek makes me think of Oak Creek Canyon, a popular summer spot near Sedona, AZ. I grew up going down to Oak Creek to swim and cliff dive in my teenage years, so this holds some affinity for me for that reason alone. One of the more striking traits of this root beer is the "blonde" color. The label reveals that this root beer is sweetened with 25% brown sugar and 75% real sugar. I thought it rather interesting then that the website description says, "with the deep color coming from the brown sugar used to sweeten each batch." The last way i would describe this color would be "deep". It's certainly "light" and "surprising", even dare i say "disarming", but when i think of a deep color i would consider that a dark, rich colored brown root beer. One that you can't see through even when illuminated. So that's really my only gripe about the description of the root beer.
As for taste, the website further describes this as "velvety rich", "smooth", "mellow sweetness with bold spice". I can't say i disagree with any of those, except maybe the bold spice part. The carbonation was a bit lighter than i appreciate, but it wasn't absent entirely as with other root beers i have reviewed. We held a little family tasting session and consensus was overwhelmingly positive. My daughter (11) said "i like that". My son (14) said "it's good". And my whife (43) said, "it doesn't taste like root beer, but it's good". I have to say, i agree with my whife. To me it has a faint taste of a butter beer, which is more butterscotch forward than anything, though i wouldn't say this tastes like butterscotch. It was indeed velvety rich and smooth though. It's definitely sweet, but ultimately the classic root beer flavor gets a little lost in the sauce. That's not to say this isn't a good soda, because it is. I enjoyed every drop of the bottle.
My official review is that Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer gets 7 (seven) IBCs. I like the clean, sweet flavor and finish. I like the clean presentation of the bottle and label. I like the pail blonde color of the liquid. I like it all. It's definitely worthy of Caesar crown cradle praise. I just wouldn't call it a root beer. I am not sure what else you would call it though, and perhaps that is why they defaulted it to this title. But kudos for the delightful and refreshing soda. Well done over there at Sprecher, gang. If i chance upon this again, i would be inclined to pick a few of them up.
Guess who's back... back again... 
