Beer # 72 Crabbie's Ginger Beer

Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer

John Crabbie and Company
Glasgow, Scotland
Independent
Ginger Beer 4.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$3.65 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Working off of the fringe definitions of "beer" again tonight. We travel to Scotland to taste a childhood favourite if mine: Ginger Beer. Well not the same ginger beer I had as a child... This one has alcohol in it! Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer share a similar ancestry, ginger was brought back to Britain from Asia and was touted as a medicine (it is excellent for settling your stomach and we had all had ginger ale when we were sick as kids). Eventually it made it's way into the fermenter's hand and became ginger beer. Therein also lies the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer. Ginger ale is a syrup made of sugar and flavoured with ginger that is added to carbonated water, soda-style. In ginger beer, a mash of sugars, fermentables, water and ginger is fermented with yeast and something called "Ginger Beer Plant" or GBP. This GBP is a symbiotic colony of yeasts and bacteria that aid the yeast in fermentation. The result is a smooth flavourful low alcohol beverage. Most Ginger beer's alcohol contents are so low they don't even count as alcohol, countries that sell ginger beer market them as soft drinks with alcohol contents of 0.5% or less often 0.0%.


So a question arises. Is this a beer? Well the answer is a little yes, and a lot of no. Most countries have defined beer as something that contains a malted grain. Some have even specified it further (Such as the USA) to say that beer "must" contain a certain percentage of barley malt. This has led to all sorts of problems regarding wheat beers and gluten free beers. (See my post on Lakefront Brewery's New Grist Gluten Free Beer ) However, ginger beer retains it's name from years ago, when the definition of beer was far more loosely interpreted. So for tradition's sake it earns itself a spot here at Pint Jockey Online.

Note about tonight's tasting. While Crabbie's is made with grape must instead of barley malt, the label does state that it contains wheat, so it is not gluten free!


Onto tonight's offering:


Light gold in colour, with a small frothy head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is ginger, floral, cinnamon, clove, slightly medicinal with a tinge of alcohol based perfume. First taste is strong with sugars and grape, followed immediatey by a rich ginger taste. Not as "hot" or "spicy" as other ginger beers I have tasted, but mellow and flavourful. Hints of cough medicine and stone fruits pop up at different times during the taste. Flavour reminds me of wine gums and Christmas candy. Aeration gives the sensation of "Picpoul" or the pricking of the lips one often finds in the French wine of the same name. It also enhances the ginger and warms the mouth.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional                                   



Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  6/6 Exceptional  
Experience:   6/6  Exceptional


Final Thoughts:


A very good drink, one that I will purchase again. I am entertaining thoughts of making a nice shandy with this in the summer. So it may have a permanent home here at Pint Jockey Headquarters.


Cheers
CJT