Tommyknocker Brewery is a

craft brewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

and

brewpub Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis ...

Idaho Springs, Colorado The City of Idaho Springs is the Statutory City that is the most populous municipality in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. Idaho Springs is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 ...

. They produce a line of beers and craft sodas, including

root beer Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree '' Sassafras albidum'' or the vine of '' Smilax ornata'' (known as sarsaparilla, also used to make a soft drink, sarsaparilla) as the ...

, made with distinctive ingredients such as mountain cherry, mountain maple and valerian root. Tommyknockers distributes their products across the United States and Canada.

History

Tommyknocker Brewing was established 1994, and has since continuously produced a variety of soft drinks including sodas (root beer), bottled water, and beers. Today, their two highest-selling products are their beers and root beer. During the Colorado gold rush of 1859, Idaho Springs became a popular location for mining, and the Tommyknocker Brewing Company was established to meet the needs of the large number of prospectors. The town today is home to 1,800 people, with the brewery conducting business nationwide.

Availability

Tommyknocker products are sold in select stores in the United States and Canada, as well as online from the company website.website
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Old Tommyknocker

The company name comes from the tommyknocker, a mythical elf-like creature who was said to live in the cracks of mines. Some of miners said that they could hear the tommyknockers singing and working deep in the dark mine shafts and cracks within the walls. Two legends of the tommyknocker were brought to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by immigrants from

Cornwall, England Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. One kind was mischievous, who dumped out the miners' lunches, blew out their candles, and hid their picks and axes on them. The other kind were friendly and were said to knock on the walls of the mines to show where the richest deposits of gold were.

Achievements

Tommyknocker root beer has a distinct flavor in comparison to other root beers, attributable to the unique ingredients used in its creation, including mountain cherry, mountain maple, valerian root, fenugreek, St. John's wort, melissa, birch, licorice root, hops extract, malt extract, and maple syrup. Tommyknocker has won numerous awards in their beer, and their root beer has also won various prizes from around the nation in contests, and beverage studies.

The Showdown

On March 18, 2001, six researchers tested, tasted, and compared seven different types of root beer that were produced all throughout the nation, such as

IBC Root Beer IBC Root Beer is an American brand of root beer now owned by Keurig Dr Pepper. It was originally owned by IBC until it went out of business. Independent Breweries Company The Independent Breweries Company is a defunct syndicate founded in St. ...

Barq's Barq's is an American brand of root beer created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. It was known as "Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer" until 2012. Some of its formulations ...

and Tommyknocker. Tommyknocker was judged to have an average taste, however, they graded the root beer 2.67 points in the first round. The other root beers in the showoff were rated:

Faygo Faygo Beverages, Inc., is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United ...

(3.24), Pirate's Keg (2.93), Stewart's (2.90), Dad's (2.74), Big Shooter / Dog-n-Suds / Virgil's (2.67), and Route 66 (2.17), and Natural Brew (2.10). With a score of 2.67, Tommyknocker finished in fourth place out of eight.

References

{{Authority control Beer brewing companies based in Colorado Root beer 1859 introductions