28 April 2012

Jeremiah Weed – Sour Mash Brew and Root Brew [By @SpectreUK]


Jeremiah Weed – Sour Mash Brew

There was a quote on the bottom of the bottle stating that Mr Jeremiah Weed was an original southern gentleman from Kentucky, USA. This Sour Mash Brew was produced and bottled by the Jeremiah Weed Distilling Company in London, rather far from the Deep South of the USA. Its ingredients included; fruit alcohol (16.5%), Bourbon (4.9%) and flavourings, and was 4% volume.

On opening this brew definitely had a whisky type bourbon smell to it. The beverage had an initial fruity taste, followed by a bourbon or whisky flavour mixed with ginger. There was no beer taste to this beverage at all, this was proved by Cinabar when she tasted it, stating that she liked it and that it tasted like a “fruity fizzy whisky pop!”, although there had never been any promise of beer or ale on the bottle’s label. There was a distinct ginger ale aftertaste to this beer, with fruity undertones. The fruitiness in this beverage didn’t taste overly sweet like some fruit beers I have tasted in the past, as it had a grown up feel to it, with a mild sourness merged smoothly with the ginger. I found this beverage had a very pleasant flavour, it also had warming qualities that was most welcome during this cold and rainy April.


Jeremiah Weed – Root Brew

The name “Root Brew” suggested Root Beer to me. I’ve never been a fan of American Root Beer. It has that wintergreen flavour that we Brits usually identify with mouthwash. Not a good thing, not something that we’d want to swallow, rather something that dentists torture us with after they’ve already tortured us with a drill or some other nightmarish dentist’s torture equipment. I’m fortunate to have a fantastic dentist, but he has some serious torture equipment and an equally sadistic sense of humour! Anyway, I digress... the ingredients in this beverage contained fruit alcohol (19.4%), spirit (1.6%) and flavourings and was 4% volume.

On opening there was a seriously heavy ginger smell that almost made me sneeze. There was no discernable root beer in the smell, but there was a hint of unidentifiable liquor. There was such a heavy ginger smell that I began to worry that this beverage was a pure ginger beer / ale. Like Root Beer, I’ve never been a fan of ginger beer or ale either. I like ginger in biscuits and other foods, but not in drinks. I passed the brew to Cinabar who said it tasted like a fruity ginger ale, but was far too bitter for her tastes. This intrigued me, so I decided to take a swig. There was indeed a heavy ginger taste to this fizzy beverage, followed by a smooth fruitiness and a kick from the liquor. There was no discernable root beer flavour to this brew, of which I was most relieved. This beverage had a smooth fruity and yet heavy bitter ginger flavour that both tickled the taste buds and gave them a pleasurable kicking from the bitterness at the same time. I was so taken by this ginger brew, that I will definitely try other gingers ales / beers to see if my taste buds really have changed over the years and that I do actually like ginger drinks now.

I had at first been put off these drinks by their traditional style labels, as Jeremiah Weed sounds a little like a toothless mud covered gold panning Southern country gent who stinks of some unknown alcohol that was brewed in his oily shed, which would put hairs on your chest regardless of whether you are a man or a woman. How wrong was I? Both these Jeremiah Weed beverages had pleasurable fruitiness and ginger bitterness that smacked of pure unabashed liquor. I will definitely have these beverages in for regular consumption. If the Deep South of the USA tastes like this then I’ll certainly have to visit someday. “Yee...harh! Thar’s gold in them thar bottles!!”
By Spectre

10 comments:

Catherine said...

I tried the Sour Mash Brew once and loved it more than I can say, but have yet to spy it again, anywhere. Where did you find these, please??

cinabar said...

Asda (specifically the Telford branch) has them... but I think I've seen them in Waitrose too.

Jules said...

the crabbies alcoholic ginger beer might be a good place to get started exploring other ginger drinks

bob said...

Sounds a lot more appealing than their US counterparts (A common gripe of mine, as you already know by now!)
The American versions are generally Vodka mixed with cold sugary Tea. Oh, how I wish I were winding you up about that, but it's sadly true.

Papacy Of Evil said...

They are very refreshing over ice in this heat. The undertones of bourbon are light but noticeable and the ginger kick is mellow, not at all like ginger beer. The soak in Selly Oak and the junction in harborne have these behind the bar.

MealtimeStrateG said...

Be interested to hear if you've tried Crabbies yet, Spectre! I used to dislike ginger drinks (daywalkers!) but tried the Reggae Reggae Ginger n Lime stuff with rum in it as a summer punch a couple of years back and it got my taste buds all zingy :) Now it's my go-to mixer, though I usually go for Old Jamaican now, or Fentimans if I'm feeling a bit posh (like Sean off Joypod!)

Unknown said...

I love this!!
I love most alcohol though tbh...
If you enjoy this, I would recommend Carbbies like Jules said, or Ginger Joe (easily identifiable by the HUGE ginger moustache on the bottle) or even the new flavours of Magners, I think theres a spiced apple and ginger one. Or something similar!!

pparkinsonnew said...

I found it a bit sweet in Asda, James Bond had sower mash mint julep in Gold finger it was to be tart

Shaun said...

Just bought my first bottle of J.W. sour mash brew. It wasn't till I got it home and into the light that I noticed a lot of little black bits floating around inside the bottle. Is this normal?
Shaun

cinabar said...

Shaun - ours didn't - I should tell the company or shop and get your money back.

We are popping to a huge supermarket at weekend so will keep an eye out for interesting ciders/drinks