Review: Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale

As we approach the end of another crappy year, we thought we would review some booze.  New Year’s Eve is for drinking, after all.  New Year’s Day is for nursing a hangover.  With more booze.

We can make anything a drinking event.

So, in honor of New Year’s, we have for you a review of Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale.

Recall our review on Not Your Father’s Root Beer.

Herman saw this stuff while browsing through the liquor store one day.  Denny then picked some up a few days later.  A review was born.

Oh look, a bottle of booze!

Check out the side of the case (this blurb is also on the side of the bottle):

Also, after you read this review, check out what Small Town Brewery says about the stuff on their website.

Right from their site, “Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale presents a masterfully-balanced ginger and citrus body, with hints of black currant lending complementary floral and fruityspice notes. The end result is a pioneering craft specialty ale that delivers what we believe is a truly worthy and unparalleled evolution of another beverage icon.”

You have got to be shitting us.  It is a GINGER ALE BEER, you uppity bastards!  That description has got to be one of the most pretentious bullshitting things we have ever seen.

The description on the site certainly says this stuff isn’t for Fewd Snobs.  But, Denny wanted to try this stuff because he loves ginger ale.  A high alcohol ginger ale certainly sounded good.  Herman doesn’t drink ginger ale, and in fact doesn’t even remember what it really tastes like.

Here is a look at the “beer” itself:

Looks like ginger ale.

Fizzy.

The only way we could review this one was to break it down with each of our thoughts.  We don’t agree on this one, people.

Herman’s Thoughts:  So like Denny said, I’m not a big drinker of ginger ale. I just typically prefer other soft drinks. So I really don’t have anything to compare this with. If I were to compare it to anything, it would be the Not Your Father’s Root Beer. You’ll recall that we kind of liked it, but found that we probably couldn’t drink more than one at a time (which is a problem for the Fewd Snobs, HO HO!). That said, when I first tried this, I was really surprised.

It’s definitely lighter than the root beer one, as you can see. To me it smells a lot like cream soda, very sweet with some spices. The first thing I noticed when tasting it is the immediate bite of ginger. Not the fake stuff either. It tastes like fresh ginger, which if you’ve ever had it has almost a spicy flavor, kind of like horseradish or wasabi. It’s not overly sweet. I also don’t get an overwhelming amount of spice. The aftertaste is kinda cool too. I keep tasting ginger after drinking it. So unlike the root beer, I can see drinking more than one of these at a time.

Overall, I actually really liked it. It reminds me of a cider ale, which I do like from time to time. And with the 5.9% ABV, I could see getting smashed really quickly with a few of these. The only problem is the price, which we will discuss later…

Denny’s Thoughts:  I love ginger ale.  And yes, I usually drink the regular kind you buy in the cans.  I’m a Fewd Snob, remember??  But I also like homemade ginger ales.  I also like the fancier kinds of ginger ale you buy at specialty stores.  Yes, even I can branch out from time to time.  The canned stuff has a sweet flavor with much less emphasis on the ginger.  The fancier kinds have a much stronger ginger flavor.  So, unlike Herman, I can compare this stuff to regular ginger ales.

I think this stuff is crap.  I don’t know what this company is going for here.  First of all, it has a strong smell, and it isn’t pleasant.  It will blow you away.  It has a bitter smell.  And the taste is identical.  There is WAY too strong of a ginger taste.  To me, it is SO strong that it is not even pleasant.  It just tastes bitter and harsh.  I think the aftertaste sucks, too.  It lingers forever.  And it just tastes bitter and nasty.  Yuck!

I couldn’t even get through one bottle of this trash.  The flavor had me gagging 3/4 of the way into the bottle.

Again, I don’t know what this brewery is going for here, because this stuff doesn’t taste like ginger ale.  At all.  It doesn’t taste like the canned kind, or the homemade kind.  Look, I would get it more if this was just supposed to be some ginger craft beer.  But the name implies that it is supposed to be like GINGER ALE!  It isn’t.  Don’t waste your time.

Finally, I think Herman likes it because he has nothing to compare it to.  He wasn’t expecting a ginger ale flavor, really.  He doesn’t drink the stuff.  He may like the flavor on its own.  I do not, because I was expecting a ginger ale flavor.

I would take a pass.  I don’t like this crap or the Not Your Father’s Root Beer.  I don’t get all the hoopla over this brand.  Both suck.  Drink a regular ginger ale, and drink vodka on the side.  Or mix the two!  Don’t waste your money on this garbage.  More on that in a minute…
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In our area, a SIX PACK of Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale costs $10.99.  FOR A SIX PACK!  This is complete insanity, people.  We realize that there is a higher alcohol content, but it isn’t anywhere close to worth the price.  And yeah yeah yeah, craft beer is more expensive.  Whatever.  This is a waste of money.  Period.

Overall, we are split on flavor.  But we both agree that the cost isn’t worth it.  Let us know what you think in the comments.

Happy New Year, Snobs!