I think Lion Nathan took advantage of this column being called Cheers To Beers with their Summer Cloudy Ginger Beer .
Come on guys, ginger beer?
However upon reading that it alcoholic, low carb "ginger" beer, I became intrigued.
I love my home made alcoholic ginger beer so why not give this shot.
After all there are many other "infused" or flavoured beers in the market so why not have a ginger one.
I think the boys at XXXX may have had a few too many Summer Brights (which is an easy drinking drop) when they came up with this one.
For a start, the name is truthful.
This "beer", isn"t cloudy but clear and very similar in appearance to Summer Bright.
There"s not much of a head and the aroma isn"t distinctly ginger nor "beerish" - I won't describe what I think it smells like.
I was expecting a beer with a hint of ginger in it but I found it to be more than other way round.
You can distinctly tell there"s ginger in the mix but it robs the beer of its thirst quenching nature and there"s no bitterness to the aftertaste, just a flat ginger flavour.
You can feel it going down with the ginger element giving you a warm feeling but it doesn"t sit as lightly as Summer Bright.
At 4.2 percent, it"s full strength.
My neighbour and tasting testing "guinea pig" Andrew struggled to define this as a beer though his wife Natalie, who isn"t a big beer drinker, found it appealing and "different".
That may be what the crew behind this are after - a portion of the market which are big beer drinkers but don"t mind something refreshing which doesn"t have a pronounced beer taste.
I"m sure there are people out there who think this is great but since I"m not a big fan of infused/flavoured beers, I think I"ll be sticking to either ginger beer or beer.
If I want something like this, I"ll get some Summer Bright and add a dash of Stoney Green Ginger wine to it.
MY TIP
If you do try it, serve it nice and cold. Don"t be put off trying it simply because it"s not for me - at around $14 per 330ml six pack, it"s priced well enough to taste test for yourself.