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The 10 Best Ginger Beer Brands
Using the best ginger beer is crucial to quality cocktails and mixed drinks, or even for use as a standalone beverage choice. While most offer a carbonated soda like dry ginger ale, the increased interest in craft brewing, seltzers, and kombucha drinks is seeing more contemporary brands brewing with real ginger.
Increases in positive personal health decisions (even for alcoholic drink versions) means ginger beer has evolved, being made with the increased use of natural ginger and less sugar. Natural ginger creates spiciness and a more robust flavor that appeals to craft beer enthusiasts and cocktail makers alike.
The following article identifies the best ginger beers available. Some are alcoholic ginger beer brands, while others are versatile non-alcoholic ginger flavor options you can use for cocktails, quenching your thirst, or settling your stomach.
We’ll also show you an easy homemade ginger beer recipe to consider crafting at home. All you need is a couple of days preparation and a willingness to innovate!
Best Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Best Buy
1. Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer combines premium ingredients that are allowed to mature for six weeks. This steeping process allows the drink to develop a deep gingery flavor.
Bottled at 4.8% ABV, Crabbie’s special brewing process makes this drink naturally gluten-free. The subtle sweetness meshes well with the spicy notes of ginger root to create a refreshingly tasty drink.
The natural spice of this ginger beer pairs well with rich spirits such as peach vodka or a banana heavy rum to make a premium quality Dark and Stormy, while it’s equally comfortable sipped chilled straight from the refrigerator.
2. Hollows & Fentimans Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Hollows & Fentimans Alcoholic Ginger Beer is a smooth and refreshing beverage equally comfortable as a standalone alcoholic drink or for use in cocktails. This ginger beer is certified gluten-free with a 4% ABV.
The use of real ginger gives the brew a hint of pepper spiciness which works nicely in contrast to the sweet taste, fruit, and honey aromas. This all-natural ginger beer has a pleasing taste that ends on a subtle peppery finish of ginger.
3. Root Sellars Pedal Hard Ginger Beer
Root Sellers Pedal Hard Ginger Beer features a small batch technique and all-natural ingredients such as pure cane sugar, ginger root, and molasses.
This craft beer is bottled at 5% AB which gives the brew a bright and refreshing flavor. A more mellow ginger taste blends with sweet notes to make this beer a well-rounded and subtle drinking experience.
Throw some Pedal Hard Ginger Beer into a cocktail shaker with ginger syrup, premium vodka, and lime juice, then shake up and serve over ice with a lime wedge to make the perfect Moscow mule.
Non-Alcoholic Ginger Beer
4. Fever-Tree Ginger Beer
Fever-Tree Ginger Beer is an outstanding product improved by the use of three different types of ginger from Nigeria, Cotchin, and the Cote D’Ivoire.
The carbonated spring water gives it an effervescent charm and the taste is warmly robust and spicy but not overly sweet or overpowering. It’s a great alternative to the equally enjoyable Fever-Tree Ginger Ale.
Fever-Tree is the type of ginger beer that perfectly complements an ultra-premium vodka Moscow Mule cocktail.
5. Bundaberg Ginger Beer
Australia’s acclaimed rum producer Bundaberg uses real ginger for its Ginger Beer, making it one of the most natural tasting alternatives. Once you’ve tried a “Bundy,” you’ll never go back.
Bundaberg Ginger Beer is traditionally brewed over 3 days using real ginger, not a carbonated water that’s flavored with ginger syrup. It’s crafted using real Australian fresh ginger to make a brilliantly complex tasting beverage that layers spicy flavor with the famous sugar cane grown close by the distillery.
There are also other flavor variations, such as diet Bundy or the unique Lemon & Myrtle flavors. Just make sure you give it a swirl before you pour to evenly distribute the ginger kick throughout the bottle.
6. Llanllyr Source Fiery Ginger Beer
Llanllyr in Wales features naturally amazing spring waters that lie at the core of Lllanllyr Source. Its range of natural mixers, which were launched in 2014, is made with Llanllyr spring water as their base ingredient.
The brand’s full range consists of still and sparkling water in cans along with its range of eight natural mixers that include the premier Fiery Ginger Beer and more rounded original Ginger Beer flavor.
“Our aim is to be the category leader for the responsible production and distribution of the highest quality spring water products around the world,” COO Mike Rosenblatt said ahead of the brand’s Australian release. The calorie count is comparatively low for a ginger beer with only 70.8 in a 6.8-ounce (200ml) clear-glass bottles.
The Fiery Ginger Beer is a strong ginger flavor drink with nice bubbly carbonation and a spicy tongue. It’s great for those wanting a potent cocktail mixer alongside the molasses in dark rum or to enliven a ginger beer cocktail.
7. Goslings Stormy Ginger Beer
Ginger Beer, black rum, and lime juice. Simple and sizzling. A Dark and Stormy rum cocktail is made better by Goslings Black Seal Rum and their own Stormy Ginger Beer.
It’s such a potent combination the company has even trademarked the name Dark and Stormy. That’s all the evidence I need. The molasses, brown sugar, heady spice mix, and lengthy maturation process of the rum is complemented by the balance of spice and sweetness in the lightly carbonated ginger beer.
Goslings Stormy Ginger Beer is not just the perfect mix for a Dark and Stormy either. Put it to any ginger beer cocktail for a refreshing and tasty addition.
8. Q Ginger Beer
Q Ginger Beer is crafted only to be used as a mixer and is not recommended for standalone consumption. The Q mixer is spicier and features higher carbonation with less sugar.
It is exactly what your vodka, rum, or whiskey is looking for to complement a cocktail shaker full of spirits and ice for more pop in the glass.
9. Old Jamaica Ginger Beer
Jamaican ginger root is considered by many health experts to be some of the best in the world. Old Jamaica Ginger Beer uses the tasty root to help craft a beautiful, versatile golden non-alcoholic ginger beer.
Unlike some of the other options on this list, this Jamaican ginger beer utilizes less carbonation and looks to balance the ginger juice with fresh ginger and sweet sugar. This ginger beer is great for drinking and settling a sore stomach or makes a kick-ass cocktail when paired with Wray and Nephew Overproof White Rum, the Jamaican staple that features on our list of best white rum.
10. Picketts Hot N Spicy Ginger Beer Concentrated Syrup
While not strictly a ginger beer this concentrated ginger syrup is extremely useful. If you like your Ginger Beer to have a little bite, add Picketts hot and spicy to a normal ginger beer cocktail for an added ginger kick.
A 6 oz bottle of syrup makes 96 oz of finished soda. All you need to do is add carbonated water. It’s also compatible with soda making machines. As an all-natural product, Picketts is also versatile enough for use in cooking or as part of a food topping.
Homemade Ginger Beer Recipe
Making your own ginger beer is quite simple. There’s no sterilization needed, and there’s give and take with levels and ingredients, so you can develop a version that’s right for your needs.
Some people prefer a noticeable fresh ginger bite in their cocktail mixer (it works great as a cocktail base with rum or vodka), while others prefer a more sugar sweet non-alcoholic ginger beer to drink by itself.
Ingredients
- 2 oz freshly grated ginger root
- 4 oz lemon juice
- 6 oz simple syrup (you can substitute with ginger syrup)
- ⅛ Teaspoon commercial baker’s, brewer’s or Champagne yeast
- 20 oz non-chlorinated water (filtered, distilled, or spring)
Optional: 1 to 4 grams cream of tartar (helps the yeast and bacteria thrive).
Instructions
Take a 1.5-liter plastic bottle of spring water and empty it into a jug. In a large measuring cup, mix all ingredients and stir well. Then funnel back into the bottle.
Cap tightly and store in a warm, dark, and dry place for 24 to 48 hours. Make sure to purchase a fermentation lock to avoid issues with gas build-up (or check the tightness of the cap regularly).
The longer your fermented ginger process takes, the drier the final ginger beer mix will be. After 48 hours, refrigerate your ginger beer to stop fermentation. Once chilled, you can strain out the sediment from pulp and dead yeast.
The mix makes approximately 1 liter of your personalized ginger flavored beer that lasts for up to a week refrigerated.
Ginger Beer FAQs
Ginger beer is most often a non-alcoholic drink featuring a robust, spicy, and aromatic flavor. It’s made with a blend of ginger, water, and sugar that’s fermented with yeast, then carbonated and bottled.
Yes, while often ginger beer is made like a carbonated soft drink, it can also beer brewed like traditional beer. Most commercially available alcoholic ginger beer drinks are in the 4-5% ABV range.
It’s not so much the ginger beer – it’s the ginger in the drink that helps quell nausea and stomach discomfort. If you’re looking to settle your stomach, aim for a less carbonated beverage that is higher in natural ginger than ginger juice or syrup.
