Crabbie’s Original & Spiced Orange Ginger Beer–A First Sampling

A big thank you to everyone at Crabbie’s for sending along some great samples and Crabbie’s swag.  I’ve been really curious to try their Alcoholic Ginger Beers and today was the perfect day to do so.

I’m pretty new to ginger beers so I decided to sample both of these normally, and also the recommended way–over ice with a slice of lemon.  I started with the Original flavor and right off the bat I noted how pretty the color is and how crystal clear it pours.  The nose is ginger and spicy and the flavor follows along that same path.  I tasted notes of citrus, ginger and fruit with a spicy finish.  The mouthfeel is pleasant and refreshing and the finish is clean and leaves you wanting more.  I liked it better over ice, but I think for me the lemon wedge distracted from the flavors I liked, so I didn’t keep it very long.  This was a really enjoyable beverage and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.  Crabbie’s Original is refreshing and easy-drinking with some spice warmth in the mouthful, and each sip left me wanting more…and at 4.8% ABV it’s a very sessionable drink.

After sampling Crabbie’s Original, I couldn’t wait to try their new Spiced Orange….so I did.  Crabbie’s Spiced orange has a more prominent aroma of citrus and ginger and I thought it was a bit spicier than their Original.  The warmth of spices was more prominent, but the addition of orange in the equation balanced it out nicely.  These brews use ginger shipped from the Far East that is steeped up to six weeks, so the ginger flavor is very pleasant.  I found the ginger flavors a little less prominent in Spiced Orange, but I attributed that to the punch of orange flavors up front.  I too liked this one even better over ice, and found it to also be very refreshing and drinkable.

As a lover of IPAs and hoppy beers, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sampled Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer…and while they are certainly very different from what I normally drink, I really found them to be unexpectedly good.    These are unique brews, they are very refreshing and they are infinitely drinkable; so be sure to check them out.  Try these for yourself and let me know what you think…and thank you again to everyone at Crabbie’s for sharing.
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