Cruisin' for Root Beer, Part 1: Glacier Brewhouse

The Pooj ponders if it's wrong or if it's right.

(The Red Onion Saloon – Skagway, June 2012)

The Missus and I recently took a cruise from Alaska to Vancouver, which sadly did not yield a single moose sighting. However, we were lucky enough to see lots of humpback whales, porpoises, seals, bald eagles, and even one dark moving speck and several light stationary specks in the distance that the ship naturalist assured us were a big brown bear and mountain goats, respectively. We also had much of the fam in tow, who are plenty enough wildlife viewing on their own, so no really complaints in that department.

After a quick couple of days exploring Anchorage and Whittier (and a reeeeally long day for me in open sea...), we dropped anchor in Skagway, AK, home to, amongst other things (sled dogs!), the famed Red Onion Saloon. The Red Onion was once a premiere "gentlemen's club," shall we call it, during the Alaskan Gold Rush days, home to infamous ladies of the night like Klondike Kate, and watering hole to legendary scalawags like Soapy Smith. It's certainly got more of a Cy Tolliver vibe than an Al Swearengen one, though I'm sure plenty of Gem-like places operated nearby back in the day, none of which, at least to my knowledge, still operate in the same capacity today. Provided that my previous statement is entirely the case here, the Red Onion is now a bar and restaurant, with a museum to its heyday upstairs. We missed the museum tour, but we did score some pretty good pizza and nachos, as well as some draft root beer.

Said draft root beer comes from Glacier Brewhouse, a brewpub in downtown Anchorage. According to the company website, the root beer is “rich and full-bodied, with sarsaparilla, sassafras and just a hint of vanilla… [sweetened with] natural cane sugar.” Former lawyer Kevin Burton helms the Brewhouse, which produces all of its brews on site, some of which are aged in oak barrels that once held wine and whiskey, imparting distinct flavors into their beers. While I'm fairly certain their root beer and cream soda do not get the same treatment, they do only offer their non-alcoholic beverages in kegs, which are also dangerously available for individual purchase.

Well, maybe not that dangerous, because I am not particularly enamored of Glacier Brewhouse's root beer. Although it does have a pleasant root-y flavor that stays faintly in its aftertaste (that would be the sarsaparilla and sassafras promised in the website statement), the overall intensity of that flavor is fairly weak – certainly not as rich and full-bodied as the website advertises. It's not too sweet, which is nice, but it's not very much of anything else either, which is unfortunately kind of boring. The scent follows suit – mildly herb-y, but nothing distinctive. On the other hand, it has a very good foamy head that holds true throughout and makes for a smooth texture. In fact, I would say the head – which certainly is rich and full-bodied – is the best thing about Glacier Brewhouse's root beer.

But alas, foam in and of itself does not a good root beer make. As I said before, Glacier Brewhouse's root beer does have a nice flavor; it just has way too little of it. Consequently, Glacier Brewhouse Root Beer gets a high 2.5.