Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer

I'd seen the adverts for this - Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer - on TV quite a lot and remarked to my husband I quite fancied trying this.
As we don't live near any large Supermarkets I hadn't seen it anywhere but having said that I hadn't actively searched for it either.
My husband said he would call into the Netto near his work for some milk on his way home one evening, so imagine my surprise when he presented me with a bottle of this as well..I'm easily bought!

The drink comes in a sturdy thick glass bottle. The glass is a rich, dark brown in colour and has a stubby body and equally stubby neck. Apart from the paper label on the front with the logo there are no other redeeming features to make this stand out on the shelves amongst it's rivals. Having said that this is the first alcoholic ginger beer I've personally heard of.

The taste test~
Having used a bottle opener to pries off the cap (I'm no dab hand at banging it against a door frame or biting off with my teeth..nor am I that desperate for that matter!) I was greeted with a typical ginger beer aroma.

On pouring into two glasses for myself and hubby to 'test' it looked exactly like *normal* ginger beer (which I do like) so was intrigued if the alcohol flavour would take over..

The appearance of the ginger beer was again identical to it's tee total counterpart; from the rich golden/brown colouring to the fizzy texture caused by all the bubbles.

On taking the first taste my mouth felt very warm - the bubbles felt like they were lighting little fires on my tongue as they popped and the ginger literally burnt my throat on swallowing as well, yet it all tasted strangely refreshing at the same time.

A bottle of Crabbies comes in a standard 500ml size and having only consumed half of this I'd had enough.
Not because it didn't taste nice, or indeed refreshing as I mentioned - but it's certainly not the sort of beverage I could drink more than one or two glasses of, and one full bottle would be enough for me without doubt.

I tried this recently in the hot weather we have recently been experiencing and maybe that's the problem. This may be more suited to a drinking in the winter time when you need that little bit of fire in your belly to warm you up.

Would I recommend this then?
I would definitely say if you like ginger ale/beer and are non tee total then by all means give this a go. It's not the sort of drink that is ideally suited to a warm summer's day as I don't think it's very thirst quenching, however it's very different and very bold drink that is certainly something that's a change from the normal run of the mill.

Miscellaneous~
*A standard 500ml bottle cost £1.69 though prices may vary depending where you shop.

*Best served chilled over ice & with a slice of lemon.

* Made to a unique recipe from fruits, spices and real ginger.

*Mix with a shot of vodka to create a moscow mule.

*A 500ml bottle contains the equivalent of 2 units, and is 4% volume.

*For more information contact www.crabbiesgingerbeer.co.uk

Overall~
I like this for one or two drinks at home, but couldn't possibly drink more than one bottle. This isn't the sort of beverage I would choose on an evening out either as it's just a little too O.T.T.

That said I did actually like it as it was different from my usual pear cider or red wine so I am still going to award it a full 5 out of 5.