Found this one at Chug’s Root Beer in Lynnwood, WA. Was really attracted to the bottle. It’s a custom textured brown glass stubby bottle with a colorful label. The label doesn’t give us a lot of detail on the beverage, though.
Flavor, fully sweetened, heavy sassafras with a bit of vanilla. Sits on your palette for a while. Nice carbonation. Probably a little too sweet for me (42 grams!), but overall I enjoyed the flavor. It’s not complex, but it’s strong enough that there’s no doubt that it’s a root beer. Would go well with pizza. I know, because I drank it while eating pizza.
The first three times I looked at the label I thought it said Peach Tree Brewery and I assumed it was from Georgia. Instead, it’s Peace Tree Brewery which is based out of Knoxville, Iowa. I’ve never been to Iowa, and I actually don’t think I personally know anyone that has spent a significant amount of time in the state. The name comes from an old sycamore tree that was a gathering place and trading spot for Native Americans near the Des Moines river. This later placed the tree in the town of Red Rock, but the river was dammed and the town of Red Rock became Lake Red Rock. The Peace Tree was old enough and large enough that it stuck out of the lake and became a landmark. It looks like more of a stump than a tree nowadays, but Peace Stump doesn’t have the same ring to it.
So, given the cool bottle and good flavor but excessive sugar I think this root beer falls at about a 7.5 out of 10 on my rating scale. It might not be my favorite, but it’s probably worth your time if you find it.
UPDATE: Since I started writing this review the Peace Tree stump was actually uprooted and towed to the marina parking lot (which is currently covered by water).
The Sodafry 