A Small Selection Of Ginger-Spiced Beers From Around The World

If you like your ginger and you like your real ale and you like the combination of both then this post is just for you. Ginger-spiced beers and ales are springing up all the time all around the world and this is a small selection of those new beers I've encountered just over the last few days.

Starting at home and last Saturday saw the launch of Adnams Ginger Beer. The brewery uses the pale ale malt wort used for its Broadside offering and then adds ginger, orange peel, lemon and lime zest. At 2.5% abv, this appears to be an extremely quaffable drink.

In the spring, Oxfordshire Ales started producing a limited-edition range of unusual beers. Under the name 'Baby Ox', these beers will be produced at the rate of one a month using rare hops and obscure ingredients and recipes. This month's offering is Ginger Ale Baby Ox, a rich copper ale with a hint of ginger.

Over to Italy. one of my favourite countries, and the Birrificio del Ducato brewery from the village of Roncole Verdi in the province of Parma. Here they produce New Morning, a Belgian Saison with added ginger and coriander. It is amazing how many brewers are producing ginger Saisons now. As a bonus, here are a couple of pieces of trivia: the beer is named after a Bob Dylan song, and the village is the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi.

Across the pond to Arizona now and a seasonal beer which is making an unseasonal return. San Tan Brewing Company's Winter Warmer will make an appearance on July 14th at the brewery's Christmas in July celebration. This ale is based on a traditional English Old Ale recipe and then spiced with 10lbs of fresh ginger and 10 gallons of Arizona orange blossom honey. Take care if you decide to pop along - it is 9.5% abv.

I may be a little to late with this one. It was early June that the Dogfish Head brewery released Konichiwit, a 4.9% abv Belgian-style wit bier made with fresh ginger root and wasabi. Availability is limited so it may well have already gone.

Up into Canada now and the Garrison Brewing Company in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The brewery is celebrating its 15th anniversary by brewing two special beers. The first is called 15th Anniversary Hops, Mango & Ginger and it is made with real mango, shaved fresh ginger and 15 varieties of hops.