Ginger reminds me of a horrible concoction my mother forced me to drink when I was sick.
I was a little skeptical because I don’t drink ginger beer, but luckily, ginger is something that gets better as we age; add alcohol and you get a magical medium between beer and cider.
Crabbie’s was nice enough to send three types of its Ginger Beer for me to review: original, orange and raspberry. While I would have loved to review Crabbie’s on a sunny deck overlooking the capitol, Washington, D.C., hasn’t gotten the summer memo yet, so The Daily Caller bar had to suffice.
John Crabbie created Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beers in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1801, while Britain was busy annexing Ireland and Napoleon Bonaparte was fighting all of the above. Crabbie’s survived 211 years of natural disaster, religious strife and overbearing neighbors to finally make it to the U.S. in 2012. It offers a small variety of flavors at 4.8% ABV.
I started out with Crabbie’s Original Ginger Beer.
Crabbie’s Ginger Beer Review (Credit: Katie Frates)
It has a very light, white head, placid bubbles and just a hint of green color. The nose is sweet and distinctly ginger and reminds me more of ginger ale than a ginger beer. Crabbie’s describes its beer as having a “deep, deliciously spicy flavour,” but as far as the nose, pepper is muted.
And it tastes fantastic! It’s light, crisp and delicious. My biggest issue with cider is it’s too sweet, and one too many beers can leave me feeling like a balloon. Just the right amount of sweetness and mild carbonation solve those problems and make Crabbie’s Original the perfect day beer. I’m betting it would also make a fantastic adult medicine if you’re ever sick, but I still don’t forgive my mom.
I tried Crabbie’s Spiced Orange Ginger Beer next.
Crabbie’s Ginger Beer Review (Credit: Katie Frates)
It had a much thicker, creamy-white head than the Original but almost no visible carbonation. Unfortunately, it seems like whatever Crabbie’s uses to get the orange flavor makes the nose smell just like orange soda and lose most all of the ginger smell.
I was optimistic it would taste better than it smelled because of just how wonderful the Original is.
Not quite.
It tastes like a slightly flat orange soda with a dash of bitters, and the orange soda flavor lingers in your mouth. It seems like it would be a great mixer for college girls, but any ginger beer charm was gone.
Lastly, I took a stab at Crabbie’s Raspberry Ginger Beer. Raspberries are my favorite fruit and one of my favorite flavors in pretty much anything so I couldn’t wait to crack the bottle open.
Crabbie’s Ginger Beer Review (Credit: Katie Frates)
Oh. No.
Everything from the color to the smell to the taste screamed artificial. It’s a bright pink color with a pink head that fades rapidly and close to zero bubbles after pouring.
I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between this ginger beer’s nose and Raspberry Lipton Iced Tea. It smelled like berry soda, and any trace of ginger was gone.
It tasted as fake as it looked. It’s syrupy and coats your mouth like candy. Like with the Orange I imagine it could make a good mixer, but that might be the only redeeming quality.
Crabbie’s, you hit it out of the ballpark with the Original Ginger Beer. It’s just stupendously yummy. I’m craving it writing this. The orange is alright, I wouldn’t hate drinking it if I had to. But the raspberry is just no good. I’d have no idea it was a ginger beer, or a beer at all, if there was no label. There’s potential, but the taste needs to be mellowed out and be much more natural.