Mississinewa 1812's Pioneer Root Beer - Indiana

Mississinewa 1812 is the largest War of 1812 living history event in the United States.  At these events you'll see people dressed in period garb and daunting flintlock reenactment rifles.  Its a fun family event that really draws a crowd.  


One of the staple components of these festivals is the pioneer style draft root beer.  It is an entirely different experience from every other sassafras soda I've ever tried.  The most stark quality of this beverage is the lack of carbonation.  This root beer is not carbonated at all and makes the Mug two litre you left on the counter over night seem fizzy and fresh.  The sweet, syrupy nectar exposes why carbonation is added to soft drinks: it sharpens the otherwise dull soda.  Now, I actually am beginning to think that trying your root beer flat when home-brewing could be a worthwhile exercise.  I was instantly able to taste all of the ingredients.  It had very little vanilla flavor, and was absolutely loaded with notes of licorice, anise, and allspice.  I'm not sure if there is any sort of history to these spices, but it was definitely different from anything else I've ever tried.  While this root beer doesn't score very high on my rating, I would rank this as a 4, I would say that it is an experience at least every Hoosier must partake of.

The four rating is for the lack of carbonation and the coloration.  The anise and licorice notes were actually really unique, but they robbed the beverage of some of its color quality.  Good bold carmel color is a non-negotiable for me in the root beer world.