Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer
Website: https://www.oakcreekbarrelagedsodas.com/
Sweetener: 25% Brown Sugar, 75% Real Sugar
Bottled at: Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Purchase Location: The Root Beer Store
Wit Beverage Company produces both a traditional and a blonde root beer under its Oak Creek label. Each Oak Creek root beer is barrel aged in American Oak barrels for at least one year. The medium char of the barrels is thought to increase the oak’s influence on the color, aroma, flavor, and overall style of the root beer. Wit Beverage Company owner James Akers describes Oak Creek Blonde Root Beer as a “sipping” root beer – in other words a root beer you take your time to enjoy.
The Oak Creek Blonde Barrel Aged Root Beer bottle has a white label with a small red oak tree under the banner “Oak Creek,” in a font that looks rickety and barrel aged in its own right. The faint image of a wooden barrel laying on its side is the backdrop to the name of the root beer in golden cursive. The bottle sets the expectation of a premium root beer.
Wit beverage boasts of its blonde root beer’s “velvety rich taste” and “long lasting finish of molasses.” Its claims are well founded. This was my first blonde root beer. The 75% real sugar, 25% brown sugar mixture gave a a deep brown sugar sweetened root beer taste. I found it to be rich and full. I do not know if the barrel aging adds anything to the flavor, but the dedication is appreciated and the root beer tastes great, so from my point of view it is not worth changing the method of production.
Overall Score: 8 of 10.
Root Beer Respect 