Today we will be talking about Sprecher Maple Root Beer. As mentioned in the last post, this is brewed, bottled and distributed by Sprecher Brewing Co. out of Glendale, WI, which from what i am gathering from the website is a suburb of Milwaukee. Sprecher is no new comer to the root beer game. They have been brewing craft sodas since 1985. I believe i reviewed the classic Sprecher Root Beer back in my first year of reviewing in 2008. They have quite the lineup of craft soda flavors, including a smokey maple root beer, which is distinct from this maple root beer i am reviewing today, as well as a toasted marshmallow root beer, both of which i will likely need to add to my "to review" list. While they boast an old world fire brewing process, they seem pretty with the times in terms of media presence and nationwide availability.
Let talk about the label. It's good. Clean, clear, colorful, to the point. No messin' around. It's slapped on a standard 12 oz. dark brown glass bottle, which i'm not faulting them for. I like the big illustrated maple leaf on the label. Kinda stealing the wind out of Canada's sails with this one, and i'm all for it. I recall the old labels featuring a cartoon bird of some sort. They seem to have abandoned that, but the classic old world European font for the Sprecher name and the griffin coat of arms insignia seem to remain. It invokes a Germanic heritage but i can't point to anything specific to verify that.
As you can guess, this root beer features maple syrup as one of the main ingredients and flavor profiles. Cracking the cap and taking a deep smell rewarded me with a robust and unmistakable root beer aroma. The flavor however is dominated with the maple syrup. My whife seems to think it's too much. I don't know if i'd go that far, but the root beer aroma doesn't translate over in the taste. It gets a little lost in the sauce for me. I think the maple syrup is the primary sweetener for this soda. I am not seeing anything about cane sugar or HFCS being used. The carbonation is a little light and it's got a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. But overall that's somewhat forgivable as this is a perfectly passable maple root beer, emphasis on the maple.
My official review is that Sprecher Maple Root Beer gets 6 (six) IBCs. I think this root beer is completely refreshing and satisfying. It is fairly typical for other maple root beers i have tried. I think it has some of the downsides of these other craft sodas, including the lack of a lot of carbonation and somewhat unpleasant aftertaste, but i don't think it's terrible by any stretch. It has a deep, rich flavor of caramelized sugars from the maple syrup being roasted over an open fire (as described on the website) and i think it's overall a rewarding and worthwhile beverage. Better than most but maybe not my first pick. They do good work over there at Sprecher and this just goes to back that up.
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