The Pooj tries to escape the Phantom Zone.(BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, June, 2011)
BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse first opened as a deep-dish pizza joint in Santa Ana back in 1978. Since then, they’ve become pretty ubiquitous in Southern California, and have expanded to more than a dozen states throughout the nation. I was surprised to learn that they did not start making beer until 1996 because I’ve become so accustomed to seeing their big brew-vat signs outside their restaurants. Now I’ve actually had BJ’s root beer before, but not in recent memory – thanks to a visiting friend’s hankering for ice cream sandwiches from Diddy Riese across the street (in enemy territory, mind you)(Fight On), we stopped here for a bite and a brew.
First off, it’s served in a big frosted mug, so that’s a good start. Second, it smells heavily of vanilla, with just a mild sarsaparilla/sassafras-y twinge – good for vanilla lovers and not necessarily a deal breaker for herb-y lovers. Third, and this is where it starts getting odd, there’s a two-tiered flavor to it, but not in a taste-and-aftertaste kind of way. It’s almost like your different senses pick up different flavors at the same time. Upon hitting your tongue, it’s sweet and almost cola-ish, with a mild herb-y flavor. A split second after the initial taste, you get a second layer on top of the first taste, kind of traveling up your throat and into your nose (yeah, this doesn’t sound particularly appetizing, I know, but stay with me here) – this one is kind of smoky, like burnt marshmallows or toasted bread, as if the barley and hops somehow made it into the root beer vat as well. The thing is, I can taste both at once, but it’s still oddly separated. Weird...
But if my experience with Anacapa has taught me anything, it’s that I shouldn’t judge a draught root beer by the first glass – maybe just a bad pull or something.
My refill glass is a little better with the flavor blending, at least to the point where I don’t taste two distinctly different flavors at the same time (which begs the question – how what happened the first time…?). The odd part about that is that I don’t really taste either of the flavors from the first glass (I mean, did I get a dirty glass the first time…?), but the flavor is a little more on the root/bark side (that is, sarsaparilla and sassafras), which is OK with me. Otherwise the flavor is rather mild and kind of thin, without much birch or licorice. Since I wasn’t so distracted by the multi-story taste this glass, I got a little more of a root-y aftertaste, too.
I’m actually a little disappointed with BJ’s root beer, but maybe my expectations are set a bit too high. After all, I do like the pizza at BJ’s for the most part, and they do make good lemonade and onion rings, not to mention the only beer I’ve ever not hated (yeah, not a fan of beer…)(and I’m referring to their stout, in case you’re wondering what beer I don’t hate). However, I’m not at all saying the root beer is bad – it’s just OK. I’ll have it next time I’m at BJ’s, but I’m not going to go to BJ’s just for the root beer. With that, I give BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse root beer a 3.
BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse first opened as a deep-dish pizza joint in Santa Ana back in 1978. Since then, they’ve become pretty ubiquitous in Southern California, and have expanded to more than a dozen states throughout the nation. I was surprised to learn that they did not start making beer until 1996 because I’ve become so accustomed to seeing their big brew-vat signs outside their restaurants. Now I’ve actually had BJ’s root beer before, but not in recent memory – thanks to a visiting friend’s hankering for ice cream sandwiches from Diddy Riese across the street (in enemy territory, mind you)(Fight On), we stopped here for a bite and a brew.
First off, it’s served in a big frosted mug, so that’s a good start. Second, it smells heavily of vanilla, with just a mild sarsaparilla/sassafras-y twinge – good for vanilla lovers and not necessarily a deal breaker for herb-y lovers. Third, and this is where it starts getting odd, there’s a two-tiered flavor to it, but not in a taste-and-aftertaste kind of way. It’s almost like your different senses pick up different flavors at the same time. Upon hitting your tongue, it’s sweet and almost cola-ish, with a mild herb-y flavor. A split second after the initial taste, you get a second layer on top of the first taste, kind of traveling up your throat and into your nose (yeah, this doesn’t sound particularly appetizing, I know, but stay with me here) – this one is kind of smoky, like burnt marshmallows or toasted bread, as if the barley and hops somehow made it into the root beer vat as well. The thing is, I can taste both at once, but it’s still oddly separated. Weird...
But if my experience with Anacapa has taught me anything, it’s that I shouldn’t judge a draught root beer by the first glass – maybe just a bad pull or something.
My refill glass is a little better with the flavor blending, at least to the point where I don’t taste two distinctly different flavors at the same time (which begs the question – how what happened the first time…?). The odd part about that is that I don’t really taste either of the flavors from the first glass (I mean, did I get a dirty glass the first time…?), but the flavor is a little more on the root/bark side (that is, sarsaparilla and sassafras), which is OK with me. Otherwise the flavor is rather mild and kind of thin, without much birch or licorice. Since I wasn’t so distracted by the multi-story taste this glass, I got a little more of a root-y aftertaste, too.
I’m actually a little disappointed with BJ’s root beer, but maybe my expectations are set a bit too high. After all, I do like the pizza at BJ’s for the most part, and they do make good lemonade and onion rings, not to mention the only beer I’ve ever not hated (yeah, not a fan of beer…)(and I’m referring to their stout, in case you’re wondering what beer I don’t hate). However, I’m not at all saying the root beer is bad – it’s just OK. I’ll have it next time I’m at BJ’s, but I’m not going to go to BJ’s just for the root beer. With that, I give BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse root beer a 3.
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