Big Ideas Series 19
Ginger Beer
6.0% ABV
Amber coloured ale brewed with fresh root ginger.
Celebrate variety. Reflect a sense of place. Brew modern takes on traditional styles. Brew contemporary styles with a twist. Avoid overused hop varieties. Full flavour spectrum brewing.
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This is the Big Ideas Series, the first set of releases from the brewery. The beers are all unfined, vegan friendly and conditioned in package: bottle, keg and cask. We love our beers and hope you do too... let us know!
Description and Tasting Notes
Pours a clear amber with full, creamy white head and lively carbonation. It’s exactly the colour you’d hope and expect a ginger beer to be, i.e. that of a ginger biscuit, which is also the aroma that emanates from the glass. There’s more ginger on the palate, soft and balanced rather than sharp and fiery, and complimented by notes of honey and lemon. Full flavoured and well balanced with moderate bitterness, the mouthfeel is smooth and it feels relatively light, despite a robust 6% ABV. The finish is soft, smooth and sweet with a lingering spicy tang. It’s a great food pairing beer that works especially well with oriental dishes and strong cheeses.
What The Hell Were We Thinking?
Why aren’t there more ginger beers? They’re so good! Drinking Ginger Marble at the Marble Arch in Manchester was one of my formative beer drinking experiences; the first time I had it, I ended up taking 5 litres of it home in a plastic tub they managed to find in the cellar for me.
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It’s a beer style that fits our brewing philosophy perfectly - traditional roots (no pun intended), under-represented and well suited to a contemporary interpretation.
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In that respect it’s not too dissimilar to our Peated Pale. As with that beer, we’re adding a big flavour to a relatively blank canvas in the form of a pale coloured beer, so all the subtleties and nuances of the ingredient can shine. And because the finer points are readily available, there’s plenty of scope for using speciality malts and hops to add complimentary notes, in this case honey from Aromatic malt, and lemon from our beloved Kazbeck hops, both of which are classic partners for ginger. We decided to go for a moderate amount of ginger; as with anything in life, you can have too much of a good thing and the goal here is to create an enjoyable beer, not an extreme drinking experience.
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We’re really happy with the way it’s turned out and it’s already one of our favourites from the Big Ideas Series. It’s perfect for summer picnics, but will feel great around a fire as autumn starts to draw in too. So why aren’t there more ginger beers?!
Bottle conditioned, vegan friendly
Ingredients/Allergens
Malts - Maris Otter, Vienna, Wheat, Aromatic, Cara Gold
Hops - Magnum, Kazbeck
Yeast - Nottingham
Other - Root ginger, Sugar
(Allergens underlined. Contains gluten.)
