You are all well aware of Alley Kat’s 15th Anniversary series, where they are releasing one-time runs of special beers to celebrate the fact that they have survived this long in a hostile industry. I sampled a bottle of the latest release, Ginger Beer. I also tasted some on-air at CBC last Friday – but I won’t spoil that as I want to post about it when they put up the audio file.
At any rate this beer has ginger – no question. I popped the bottle open and a strong ginger and sugar aroma burst out at my senses. Immediately I was taken back to my days as a kid drinking Canada Dry ginger ale (my parents gave me Canada Dry as a cold remedy – gotta love the good old days – pop as medicine!). Its aroma is uncannily like Canada Dry. A tiny whiff of malt straggled along in the background. The beer is also very highly carbonated, forming an explosion of CO2 as it pours into the glass. A loose white head falls quickly leaving a bright, gold-orange beer behind. The damned thing even looks like Canada Dry to me.
In the flavour, it has a light introduction with only some basic malt sweetness. The ginger comes out in the middle, very moderate and balanced with a light barley presence. Almost no hops to speak of. The bitterness is an earthy one coming, I suspect, more from ginger than hop. The base beer is light and clean so as to not interfere with the ginger, while the ginger doesn’t hog the spotlight.
The best characteristic of this beer is the ginger – added with a deft touch. It is easy to either go overboard or be too timid with ginger. Personally I think I would have liked more beer underneath to prop up the ginger. The beer goes down easy, but I want a bit more beer-i-ness on the way.
A fun addition to what is quickly turning into an impressive series of beers, this 15th Anniversary stuff. What are they going to do for their 16th Anniversary?
July 30, 2010 at 3:22 PM
Pretty much exactly what I thought too. I split a bottle with some friends a couple of weeks ago and I thought it smelled exactly like good old Canada Dry but I wished there was just a little more “beer” to it. It was worth trying but I wasn’t blown away either.
August 2, 2010 at 11:51 PM
I found no shortage of beer with this one, but I would have preferred a bit more ginger, actually. I tried this one back-to-back with the Granville Island Ginger Beer, which I really enjoyed, and found this one wasn’t aggressive enough with the flavors. If you are going to call it a ginger beer, don’t be so timid, go all in.
August 3, 2010 at 5:29 PM
Hi Ernie,
Interesting take on the beer. A classic example of two different ways to approach a beer. I don’t want too much ginger, as I want it to be drinkable and easy-going. I am the same way with smoke, chili peppers and other intense additions. Too much is a put-off for me.
However, you – at least with ginger – want it big! I respect that. That is the joy of drinking good beer. The more interesting the beer – the more you will find diverse opinions. How can you get differing approaches to Bud Light Lime? You can’t.
I suggest you, Master of the Experimental Beer, try your hand at a Ginger Ale. I will happily review it on the blog…
I think the gauntlet is thrown, my friend.
Jason
August 4, 2010 at 10:01 AM
I plan on doing one sooner or later. My calendar is full through 2011 though, so unless I bump another beer (Strawberry Rhubarb Wit? Reese’s Chocoalte Peanut Butter Stout? Scotch-aged scotch ale? Thanksgiving Stuffing Brown Ale? Wasabi Pea Ale?), it will probably be sometime around late 2012 by the time I get around to it. 🙂