Samuel Adams 1790 Root Beer Brew

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Boston, Massachusetts USA

12 oz bottle. Best by October 2006. 5.5% abv. Opaque dark amber. Candylike root-beer-barrel aroma. Spicy wintergreen up front..harsh black licorice and a strong carmelized sugar sweetness follow. Calling this "different" is saying something..but beyond that, the cloying flavor really wears on me. I can’t imagine drinking more than one of these. As a novelty, it’s possibly worth a try, but I certainly wouldn’t buy it again. I like root beer, and love a good beer..but this doesn’t show the best of either...

Bottle. Hazy copper-orange with a small whitish head. The aroma has a ludicrous level of anise and root beer. Interesting but very strange and I have to say that I’ve never been particularly fond with Root beer. Salty and sweet flavour with flowery spice notes. Very strange.

I was looking forward to trying this beer the same way I looked forward to rating Evil Eye Malt Liquor. Expecting the worst just for a chuckle. Well it’s really not THAT bad. Strong sarsparilla like aroma with definite wintergreen smells. Intriguing. Flavor sucks. VERY strong licorice and wintergreen flavors overwhelm a fairly malty brew. Little butter too. It’s pretty gross. I’m not finishing this. I planned on running through a good amount of lower alcohol beers that have been clogging up my beer fridge lately but after drinking this my palate is corrupted and it will be a couple hours before I feel like it’s completely clean again.

I just want to get it out of the way that I love root beer, especially root beers made by beer brewers. This does not work though. The beer is reddish amber with a thin beige head with a thicker ring around the outside. Spotty lacing. The smell is like a root beer Dum Dum. Medium body with a flavor one would expect if Robitussin made a root beer cough syrup. The finish is syrupy and tastes like licorice and root beer. It’s too bad this feels like a failed experiment because I was looking forward to trying this beer. Unfortunately the final result is more like a bag of the A&W syrup that is added to soda water for a fountain drink.

Peppery malt aroma, orange/amber, tiny white head. Very spicey flavour, with anise or liquorice being the dominant one, medium bodied, oddly spicey, quite unique!

Lightly hazy bright orange body with a thin ring of a head. The aroma is odd, chewing gum, licorice, herbal... The flavor is even more odd. Ceratinly like nothing else that I have had. Bitter acidic chewing gum. I guess the best description/approiximation would be to pop some Wrigely’s in your mouth then drink a 50/50 mix of Strange Ghost and your favorite IPA. Thin watery palate. Interesting but noit very good.

Poured cloudy brown, the color of iced tea, with an orangey-tan head that quickly faded. A tiny hint of citrus in the nose was overwhelmed by the odor of licorice and wintergreen. The flavor is aggressively herbal, medicinal, and bitter (bitter in the bad way, not the hoppy, nice way). The brew had an odd, astringent finish that left an odd aftertatse. The dryness was actually welcome, as the aroma hinted at a sweetness that would have made this a sure-fire drain pour. The herbal flavors quite overwhelmed any hint of sweetness from the caramelized sugar, molasses, and vanilla mentioned on the label. I’d rate this one as an interesting historical experience, one that made me happy to be living in the 21st century rather than the 18th when I consider the fine beers (many from this bewer) that are out there. I’m happy to have tried it, but I won’t try it again.

Light brown with very little head. Big notes of root beer and vanilla on the nose. Flavor much the same with a molassess finish. Rather odd beer, but glad to try it.