Ginger Beer World !!!!

I drink a lot of ginger beer in Melbourne, Australia. Read all about my opinions here! Want to view as pictures? Try the "archive" link.

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Forrest Brewing Company Sista Ginger Beer

500mL, 4.1% (1.6 Std drinks)

My sister sourced this one for me (rather fitting!) but boy oh boy did I have issue with it. My dad and I both tried it, ginger beer is becoming a father-daughter hobby after the joy of Matso's in Broome, and agreed that it tasted like "hoppy champagne". There was hardly any ginger taste, which decided to term "beyond subtle". Maybe it is made using some kind of homeopathy techniques or something because maybe once it had ginger in it, but they diluted it with an equal mix of beer and champagne (well, sparkling wine) to 1/1000 and called it ginger beer. At least they acknowledge on the bottle that it is "subtle". Other things of note from the label: gluten free, "freshly grated ginger", ale yeast.

That's all folks!

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Royal Jamaican ginger beer

355mL 4.4% (1.3 std drinks)

I had this one in at The Rum Diaries on Brunswick St in Fitzroy. The bar staff recommended it after we spilled into their bar a bit too intoxicated and I tried to charm them with talk about ginger beer. It may have worked... they didn't ask us to leave. It was served on ice with lime in a giant fishbowl looking glass, very pretty. It was sweet at first but with a bitey aftertaste ("sweet at firdt much bite afteer"). It burnt to breathe out and left a real burn on your lips wherever it had touched. It was super gingery, think Lick ginger beer.g

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SOHO organic soda ginger beer

275mL

It's that time of year again where I finally post the hoard of reviews I couldn't be bothered with. Once again going off my notes which accidentally got filled with "pocket dial" style babble. SOHO is a non-alcoholic ginger beer that (judging from the photo being at work) I got somewhere in Fitzroy. It had all the elements of a good non-alcoholic ginger beer- fizz, ginger flavour, sour lemon tang, bit of a burn and also that sugary syrupy feel/taste you expect when alcohol isn't involved. It had more of a ginger burn than Bundaburg ginger beer, which I'm sure means something to someone out there in the interwebs.

I liked it! Dunno where I got it though!

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Angus O'Neil's Ginger Beer

375mL

I got this one from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne Central (near the train station), where I also got the honey puff balls in the picture! :) It actually had quite the bite to it and left me with "spicy tongue". I liked it though, it wasn't a fluffy "please like me" kind of ginger beer. Very self assured.

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You have gotta try Mac's ginger beer if you can find it. It's made in NZ. Awesome malty after taste. It's non alcoholic. Thanks for the website - i'll try some of the non alcoholic stuff you have mentioned. I enjoy tiger and bundaberg ginger beer the most - but mac's is at the top of my list! Ta, Hugh

I never posted a reply to this because I was so excited and didn't know if Hugh would visit again, but I just want to say thanks for being my first ever message and that I have been looking for Mac's ginger beer ever since. If anyone knows somewhere in Melbourne I can get my hands on this - please do tell!

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Hi there, I was just looking at the label on the Dawnie Ginger Beer... wondering your thoughts? Did you see their old one? I'm not sure which I prefer?

I love love love that you have written to me, my second message ever, but I just looked up the old label and I am so disappointed that they no longer have a cat with an eye patch on them! I defs prefer the other label, I love any label with an animal on it!! Having said that, it is probably more recognizable on a shelf with that orange stuff.

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Matso's Ginger Beer (at the Brewery!!!)

I was lucky enough to head up to Broome this month and visit the lovely home of Matso's Ginger Beer. They have a large bar/restaurant/outdoor area set up at the brewery for all day boozing which we visited a few times because the ginger beer was that damn good! The atmosphere was lovely, food was creative and tasty but most importantly the ginger beer was beautiful. We also bought 330mL bottles which we consumed throughout the trip (eg on a whale watching boat!) and can confirm that they were excellently refreshing in the warmer weather! However, the 330mL cans were not as good- they had that tinny taste. Even though they are cheaper I would recommend sticking to the glass bottles, or flying to Broome and going straight to the source haha!

Here's the link to the original Matso's review: http://gingerbeerworld.tumblr.com/post/58142334541/matsos-ginger-beer-330ml-3-5-0-9-std

In conclusion: LOVE IT

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Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Ale by Kiuchi Brewery

330mL, ~7% (1.8 Std drinks)

I didn't drink more than a sip of this. I don't mean to be negative but this was horrible. It hurt my mouth and feelings. I felt attacked after being drawn in by the cute owl and kawaii-ness of the bottle. I feel like this was a sick joke. Maybe I got a bad batch.

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I received a message from a reader recently and it gave me the inspiration to continue posting!!!!! Thanks Hugh! I haven’t been able to find Mac’s Ginger Beer in Australia, but I may be heading to NZ this year and it will be on the To Do list for sure!!

Bluetongue ginger beer

330mL, 4% (1.0 Std drinks)

This is a lager and as such tastes like umm beer. I find this to be an unpleasant sensation of awful bitterness, repugnant after taste and a war of flavours. I will never touch this ginger beer again. I just felt like it needed to be included on the blog. Caveat: I probably set out trying this with a bit of a preconceived opinion (ew lager).

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Dawnie Ginger Beer

330mL, 4% (1.3 Std drinks)

Gluten free ginger beer! GLUTEN FREE GINGER BEER! Coeliacs rejoice!!! They are so confident that it's on the god damn label!! Dawnie Ginger Beer is bottled right here Melbourne after being brewed in Flowerdale, Victoria. Feels a bit good to do the local thing, huh?

Anyways, this one's very sweet. More on the sugar pop side of the scale and low on fizz, burn and gingeriness. There's was a slight numbing afterwards but really this was a bit soft for me. Perhaps if this product goes well they'll release a meatier version.

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Gillespies Traditional Ginger Beer

330mL

Gillespies do a range of ginger beers, however I chose to try the non-alcoholic traditional one firstly (so much ginger beer, so little time = sad bladder). As I did try this over a month ago, I'm going off the incoherently written notes I wrote into my phone. I found it to have low fizz, no burn and a very mild, sweet taste. It reminded me a bit of soda water. I assume this is because there were also "strong" and "alcoholic" varieties for that part of the market. Cute image / packaging, but I think I would have preferred a bit more bite - should have tried the "strong" variety!

Next time Hobart!

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Brookvale Union Ginger Beer

500mL 4% (1.6 Std drinks)

I quite liked this one, it was similar to Lick Pier. I could definitely taste the ginger, my whole mouth was feeling it, yay, but it wasn't a burn as such. The texture was a little thin/watery, like cider, and not too syrup-y thanks to the mild fizz.

I had this ginger beer at Lanes Edge Cafe on Bourke st, Melbourne. Delightfully, it was served with ice and a slice of lime.

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Lick Pier Alcoholic Ginger Beer

660mL 4.0% (2 Std drinks)

I've reviewed Lick Pier before, but this.. THIS WAS HUGE. I was so amused by the size of this, much larger than the usual Melbourne size, yet still Melbourne price. You rock Hobart!

Coin for reference!

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Ginger Beer by Tasmanian Chilli Beer Company

And then I went to Hobart in December. We visited the Salamanca Markets and then hit MONA, as you must on your first trip to Hobart. I decided it was my duty to try as many of the local ginger beers as my bladder could handle. I decided to try the traditional ginger beer as opposed to the chilli one with the intention of going back for chilli. I didn't make it.

Anyway, I LOVED IT. Bittsy, limey and spritzy. It had a mild bite and kept my mouth nice and warm. Perrrrrfect ginger beer experience. Just kicking myself that I missed out on the chilli one. Must find a way to get my hands on it!

Check it!

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Martha Ray's Ginger Beer

Alright, time for some catch up. It was a hot hot day back when I tried this ginger beer in November or December last year (2013), so I'm going off what I remember, which usually is not much.

I remember it was made up from a larger, concentrate, bottle in this little cup with a cutesy striped straw shoved into the sippy cup hole awkwardly. I remember it being sweet, syrupy and not having any "bite".

So it turns out (yay internet) that they used a Ginger syrup by Six Barrel Soda Co, which is supposedly good for mixing alcoholic drinks. Perhaps water and ice was not the best combo...

I guess it depends what you are looking for in a ginger beer, be in gingery, spicy, fizz or syrup.. This was very "meh" for me.

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Fentimans non-alcoholic ginger beer

275mL, 100% fancy ("botanically brewed")

Ooooh ahhhh. Botanically brewed??! What's that?!! *google* Something about using stone pots and roots (umm ginger is a root?), well la-dee-da! And 100 points to Gryffindor for the dog logo. According to their website they do a "cool" ginger beer as well (aka for weaklings). which is a nice thought seeing as this one was quite frankly very spicy. Not ridiculously hot like those from previous posts (I'm looking at you, Icelandic ginger beer!) but had quite a lot of bite and a fair bit of burn. Somehow it managed to be a bit sweet, but not sugary like the ones I think of as "icing sugar" ginger drinks. Overall -  a very pleasant non-alcoholic ginger beer for adults.

I got this from Piedemontes fancy pants IGA in Fitzroy North.

Side note: They do a rose lemonade?!??!?!? Yes please!!!

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Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer

330mL 4.0% (1 Std drink)

Potentially wasn't meant to drink this on ice. It's too masculine. Oops. I must admit, I felt disappointed when I poured this darker than usual ginger beer out and saw it froth up. I know Crabbie's is a popular well-established brand, but I'm just not that into the "real" ginger beers..... if you hadn't already noticed.

Crabbie's has a really cute aroma, smells like christmas! Somehow it manages to be sweet, yet not overpowering like most of the nonalcoholics ones, but it's also kinda watery and has some sort of uncomfortable after-burn that isn't ginger related (ethanol?).

It's alright, I did it, not my fave.