Beer Notes [Jo's Gingers]: Wychwood Ginger Beard

Jo (my lovely missus) is a big fan of ginger beers. Over the past three or so years she’s tried a fair few of the bottled gingers currently on the market and a few draught ones as well. And she’s very kindly agreed to contribute the occasional tasting notes to pass on the benefit of her extensive knowledge of the subject.

One thing Jo has noticed is that there are two distinct types of “ginger beer” available in the shops. One is your actual beer-with-ginger type beers, which taste like ales with added ginger flavour (such as Robinson’s Ginger Tom and Prospect Dragon Ale). And then there are what she prefers to call “ginger alcopops”, which tend to be much sweeter and fizzier (typified by the hugely overly-sugary Crabbie’s).

We’re kicking the series off with Ginger Beard from Wychwood, a few sample bottles of which their PR agency was kind enough to send in a few months back. It’s 4.2% ABV in bottle (4.0% on draught) and pours a strong golden amber colour.

Here’s what Jo has to say about it: “It’s got a long-lingering ginger flavour, properly fiery. A good, malty undertone and not too much sweetness means it’s more sticky ginger cake than ginger biscuit. Not too heavy on the lemon, no hint of cloves. And it’s definitely a beer-with-ginger, not a ginger alcopop.”

One of the good ones, this. Definitely worth trying if you’re a fan of the style.