Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Feel The Heat!

I am a big fan of Shipyard Brewing's non-alcoholic offerings, especially Capt'n Eli's Root Beer and Sea Dog Root Beer. I was happy when the good folks at Shipyard sent me a sample of their Capt'n Eli's Ginger Beer, since there are no distributors for their products in Central Indiana. Now, I will preface this by saying up front that it is a rare day when I imbibe a Ginger Beer or Ale, it's not a Soda I have ever managed to acquire the taste for. That would be due mainly to my experience with products such as Canada Dry and Schweppes which really lack any character and can best be described as so-so, at best.

Capt'n Eli's is far from so-so. It is one of the new breed of ginger flavoured Sodas that is bold and in your face where taste is concerned, it shares little to nothing in common with the mass produced Ginger Sodas that dominate the market. The moment you crack that bottle open you know what you are in for...something different.

There is a nice aroma of ginger that wafts up out of the bottle as soon as you open it and that scent lingers and spreads once you pour it into a glass. Then comes the inevitable moment of tasting and the Capt'n gets sneaky on you. There is a nice fizz of carbonation and a sweet, easily identifiable Ginger Beer and Cane Sugar taste across your lips and tongue and that's when the good Captain takes you on a Nantucket Sleigh Ride. That ginger you smelled earlier? It waits around and starts to build up and gives you a beautiful ginger burn that induces you to take another drink. It's a sweet & hot ride.

Capt'n Eli's has an advantage over many of the other Ginger Sodas on the market. It is drinkable. Too many of the others try to be a drinking adventure and have enough hot ginger to make the experience unpleasant. That's not the case here, tho. The folks at Shipyard have, once again crafted a beverage which has drinkability as it's number one theme. It is what it says it is...Ginger Beer. And it's pretty darned good Ginger Beer at that!

Ingredients:
Water
Cane Sugar
Natural Ginger Flavour
Citric Acid
Sodium Benzoate

Calories: 165/bottle

Capt'n Eli's gets a 7.5/10


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