Zing

During my first ever visit to D's Six Pack and Dog's in Regent Square at some point last year I came into contact with my first ginger beer. It was Atlantic's Island Ginger. The friend I was with (the always mentioned Beer Snob Sr.) added a bottle of it to his mix and match six pack. I got a rash of text messages a few days later about how great it was.

I hadn't ever had a ginger beer before. I eventually got myself a bottle of the Island Ginger and was fairly pleased with it. It was intriguingly different. My next experience with ginger beer wasn't until last night at Hough's in Greenfield.

Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer is the UK's top-selling ginger beer and is quite new to the states. It only made it ashore within the last calendar year and has only been native to the Pennsylvania market for approximately six months. I was invited to a tasting party at Hough's and indulged into the world of ginger beer once more.

Tradition has it that the Crabbie's concoction is served on ice with a slice of lemon or lime. As a traditionalist in most respects, I made sure the first drink of this stuff I had was the traditional way of having it. I must admit that it was a refreshing end to the mini heat wave we had here in Pittsburgh over the past three or so days. It has smooth honey taste with some punchy zest from the ginger on the back. It left me with an interesting peppery sensation on the aftertaste.

Hough's also featured some cocktails and a few food dishes to pair with the ginger beer. As a big rum fan, I chose to go with the Dark and Stormy, a Crabbie's with a shot of dark rum. It's amazing how a drink can change with just a minor altercation. The food selections included the likes of wings with a ginger sauce and a pulled pork BBQ with ginger. I chose the pulled pork. I'm also new to attending beer pairing events, but the zing in both the ginger beer and the BBQ sauce combined well.

Keep a sharp eye. I sure will.