PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A REVIEW OF THE NEW VERSION HERE
Firstly let me apologise for the poor photo, it was taken quite late on Saturday night using my phone whist wondering exactly why i had just paid £2.69 for the bottle of “special brew”
We had ended up in the local chain pub and after sampling the proper ales they had on offer (more to come in separate reviews but i had to get this off my chest first), i was just about to order a pint of one of the beers i had already had when the silvery label in the fridge caught my eye, i asked the barman what it was and when he said ginger beer, i just had to try it.
Frank's Alcoholic Ginger Beer
I usually quite like ginger in beer, but as i have found quite often they can be a bit hit and miss, sometimes they are stunning and sometimes they are….well like this one.
The first thing you notice is the smell, it’s really not pleasant, and for those of you who follow me on twitter you will know what i thought it smelt of.
Unfortunately it didn’t really taste much better, it didn’t really taste of ginger, just of some sort of sickly sweet beer, it really tasted a bit like when a pint of shandy goes warm and flat.
While trying to delay drinking any more of it i decided to read the back of the bottle, it turns out it is brewed by kopparberg who make all of those fancy flavour “ciders” and that probably explains the sweetness.
To be honest i couldn’t find anything good about this “beer” and neither could anyone that i was with.
I don’t really like writing negative reviews on beer, and to be honest i don’t have to do it that often but my advice would be to spend your £2.69 on a pint (or bottle) of some proper beer and to give this one a very wide berth
[...] have posted a review of this truly terrible attempt at a ginger beer on beer reviews please check it out Tags: Beer reviews, Ginger [...]
As one female who cannot stand the smell or taste, either directly, or on my husband, of any sort of beer,I found this drink absolutely wonderful!! Especially with a gernerous dash of lime. Like the Writer, I tasted it in a well known pub chain. It was on a hot day, after work, far too early to be drinking strong stuff. It was refreshing and smooth and didn’t stink like anything else usually does.
I am now searching to find which supermarket chain is going to carry it so that I don’t have to go into to oderous pubs to drink it. If anyone knows where I can get it, please leave a message!!!
Rosemary it is on sale in Tesco’s, I haven’t personally tried this brand but I really love the Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer and it is currently only £1.50 for a 500ml bottle.
Thanks for letting us know Rosemary, i’m actually glad that people like it as hopefully it will encourage the pub chain to stock different beers and keep trying new things.
before i made the post i had a look round the internet but couldn’t find much info on it…i’ll keep my eyes out in the shops for it and let you know if i see it.
it might be worth dropping koppaberg an email and see if they can point you in the right direction….let me know how you get on.
Is it ‘brewed’ in some way, or just ginger pop with spirit mixed in?
I can only assume it is brewed, but in todays drinks market I wouldnt put it beyond the industry to simple make a mixer drink and market it as a brewed beer.
http://wildschwein.wordpress.com/2007/07/11/ye-olde-fashioned-homemade-ginger-beer-theory-and-practice/ this is a link to a recipe on how it could be made.
I think the info on the bottleeant towards it being brewed it also said “special brew” on the front of the bottle, I’ve not managed to find much info on it to be honest so I’m not 100% sure.
Just for the record I love old Ginger Tom and saltaire Ginger beer along with a couple of others which are traditional beers with Ginger added during brewing
I am not sure where you can get this but I have found this link for you:
http://www.drinksdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Crabbies_Alcoholic_Ginger_Beer.html
I’ve been told by Andy Mogg the ginger beer is available in Morisons
I too tried Franks Ginger beer this weekend and loved it very refreshing and tasty…What supermarket can I buy it from ?can anybody plaese let me know?
Waitrose sell Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer for £1.59. I can’t compare it to Frank’s because I haven’t managed to get any yet, but it is very nice and refreshing. The only real problem is that it tastes just like a very, very smooth, fairly spicy ginger beer, and it’s easy to forget it’s 4%
Ben
yeah i quit elike crabbies, it’s good stuff, i’ve just picked up a couple of other ginger beers to try so will review them soon
I, also, tried Franks Ginger beer in Wetherspoons and found it absolutely wonderful. I have been trying to find a Supermarket where I can buy it and enjoy at home. It is so different from the sameo, sameo lagers that are full of gas and taste awful. Only thing is, Franks Ginger beer is so easy to drink that you might finish up blotto.
Hi leory, i noticed they now have a facebook page so it might be worth dropping them a line to see if it is available anywhere else
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Franks-Alcoholic-Ginger-beer
[...] Ginger Beer comes in at 4.5% ABV which is the same as Frank’s Ginger Ale but stronger than the Williams Brothers Ginger Ale (which is my current [...]
Someone in a earlier post asked where Franks could be bought, I saw it today on the shelves in my local Tesco Extra store in Durham City, so hopefully this maybe stocked nationally.
thanks james, it would seem it has been tweaked and re launched in Tesco nationwide, i’ve been sent some to try so watch out for the re-review soon.
[...] while back I posted my thoughts on Franks Alcoholic Ginger Beer when I came across it in our local Weatherspoons, these thoughts currently come up top on google [...]
Just tried some of Franks Ginger beer and have to say it’s doesn’t touch Crabbies….Franks is a disappointed I wondered why the supermarket only had one bottle of Crabbies on the shelf and Franks was on offer (tesco) got sucked into buying 6 franks so I will have to drink them or poor them down the sink….
OMGG! We started a change today i went to the spoons and i tried Franks Ginger Beer ^^ yum yum what a nice change and you would not belive it all the lads that were in my party had some and the pub sold out so fast. Mind you we all have about 3 or 4 bottles each and it was really so nice. We after this tried the Crabbies
not the same once you have a taste for this you love it, mind you today was the summer solestead day hehehe and we were outside drinking it for the day! FRANK’s got it right and we loved it. Now looking to find a place to buy it in a supermarket and have a few at home 
what a wounderful day and our thanks to Frank’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer
I just picked some of this up in Tesco. I presume they’ve changed the flavour as well as the alcohol content as it was a measly 4.0%. However, it was both refreshing and tasty and seems well suited to drinking outdoors in the warm sunshine.
Hi Esmond, they have indeed changed it, you can find my thoughts on the new version here… http://www.beerreviews.co.uk/beer/franks-alcoholic-ginger-beer-4-revisited/
At this moment in time Im enjoying this very product. I have to say I shared it with friends over the weekend both male and female and all loved it. The only thing I would say is the calorific content is not stated on the bottle. I suspect this drink will be popular with women and the only off put for myself is that I don’t know how many calories are in the bottle. Otherwise…brill taste.
I must say i dont agree with the general opinion of crabbies being better than franks.
Crabbies is very obviously an alcopop or fortified soft drink, which would seem to be confirmed by the artificial sweetners used.
Franks is sweet, theres no getting away from it, but it smells and tastes more like a beer in my opinion…
I brew my own alcoholic ginger beer. Very easy. Ive got very honest mates and they say its fabulous! Put three hand sized (1.5lbs) bits of root Ginger in the liquidiser. Add to the largest pan you have. Chop in half and squeeze 4 lemons into pan. Add 2 bags(kilo bags) of sugar. Top pan up with water. Add teaspoon of cream of tartar. Boil then simmer for half an hour. Pour into 40 pint barrel. Top up with cold water and maybe a little hot water from tap up to 40 pint mark, basically temperature must be tepid(yeast friendly!) . Add enough brewers yeast for 40 pints. Leave barrel in warm place, I put mine in front of the aga. Then bottle after seven days, adding half a heaped teaspoon per pint to bottles. Leave bottles at room temperature for a week, then chill then drink.
Tip. When filling barrel up with cold water, I have added a litre of elderflower cordial , this seems to give the finished brew a bit more body.
Basically, this is SO easy to brew. I’m on my ninth batch now and really miss it when I run out!
All the best, Robbo
I’m pleased that there has been a new addition to an increasingly growing category in the alcohol market, and a welcome one it is also.
In comparison to Crabbie’s ginger beer I believe Frank’s has a more reserved and sedate taste which is relatively less forceful on the tongue, this is attributable to the diminished intensity of ginger fused with the beverage. In addition to it’s scarcity in this category I consider that it’s intention was not to imitate Crabbie’s but was to expand on a growing market with an alternative beverage that would attract more consumers.
As Halewood International claimed, “Frank’s would help drive sales of Crabbie’s”, this is true because in effect, familiarity leads to tedium, which may be the case with familiar and popular brands such as strongbow, thatchers, carling etc., Crabbie’s and Frank’s on the other hand have discovered a fresh and innovative approach to a new age of beer consumers.
May the gingers rule!