I’ve long been a fan of beers with a hint of ginger about them and so I was keen to try this one. Until this point, most of these beers with ginger (I’m deliberately avoiding referring to them as ginger beers to avoid any confusion) have been paler entities along the lines of Marble’s own Ginger Marble and the somewhat stronger Ginger 6, or the rather lovely Hardknott Cool Fusion, and I can’t remember having ever sampled a ginger stout before. These paler beers leave a lovely fresh lingering ginger finish and a slight burn and are incredibly drinkable, particularly on cask.

At 6.5% this one ups the ante ever so slightly from the Ginger 6 in terms of strength, but perhaps more importantly flips the whole thing on its head. This is no light, citrusy, refreshing beer for a hot summers day, but an excellent companion on a stormy winters evening.

This bear pours as an incredibly dark brew, almost like a watered down Russian Imperial Stout but with a light brown head. Slightly sweet notes of dark chocolate, malt, a slight hint of ginger and a little coffee.

I have to say that initially I was slightly disappointed with this beer as on first taste the ginger content was barely perceptible, and I consoled myself with the fact that this aside, I was still faced with the kind of beer that I’d happily drink despite the lack of ginger.

After a few more sips the ginger became more apparent – creeping in slightly more with each mouthful until I was feeling considerably happier about things. By that point my only regret was that I’d bought just the one…

I still feel that this particular beer was so dark and intense and well rounded that it could have happily carried a bit more ginger without it being anywhere near overwhelming, and perhaps providing more contrast with the darker elements such as the chocolate, malt and coffee whilst cutting through the slight sweetness to a greater degree.

A very nice beer indeed and one I would cheerfully drink again, although the overwhelming feeling that I was left with was not what it was, but what it could have been.

This may be the chillihead in me rearing its head, but I also don’t think a slight hint of chilli would do this beer any harm whatsoever.

To my mind, this beer is very drinkable, but could have been something really truly special. It almost is.

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