Samuel Adams Traditional Ginger Honey Ale

Samuel Adams Traditional Ginger Honey Ale

Traditional Ginger Honey Ale is an authentic brew that can be traced back to the ginger brews of the late 1700s. In fact, records show that Thomas Jefferson and his wife brewed 15 gallons of ginger beer with fresh lemons and honey every two weeks for daily consumption. Following that tradition, Samuel Adams Traditional Ginger Honey Ale is a highly effervescent beer that is brewed with authentic ingredients from the colonial era, such as fresh ginger puree, lemon peel and wildflower honey. Pale golden in color, the brew has a subtle maltiness with a floral, sweet honey finish. The sweetness of the Traditional Ginger Honey Ale is the perfect partner for sweet and spicy foods alike. We recommend pairing it with a glazed honey ham, Chinese spareribs, or baklava.
3
263 reviews
Boston, United States

Community reviews

1.7 Bottle. Cloudy golden pour with tons of sediment. Very little lacing. Did enjoy this, the Ginger was not overpowering. This is not something I would venture out to find again.
2.5 Bottled. Muddy pale amber, brief head, lots of sediment. Light ginger aroma. Fairly sweet with rounded, oily mouthfeel. Besides the ginger and honey there is not a whole lot going on. Finishes with low bitterness and a slight ginger burn.
2.9 Given that this was an attempt at a historical brew, I have to be a bit liberal in my scoring. I generally thought this was overly bitter. There was not enough sweetness added by the honey to make a good ginger ale (and I’m not talking about the sweet swill that most grocery stores make). It just seemed unbalanced.
3.3 12 oz. bottle from BevMo, consumed fresh just after release in 2006. Pours slightly hazed golden orange with a creamy off white head that leaves thick layers of lace. Not surprisingly this has a strong aroma of ginger with hone evident as well and some lightly bready maltiness. Flavor also dominated by ginger, but very sweet with honey and toasty malts, tart lemon, acidic and floral notes as well. Medium body, gentle carbonation. Another interesting offering from SA in this series. I seem to have liked them better than most people - maybe I could have survived in the early days of the country. Wait, no Ratebeer then? Guess I wouldn’t want to try afterall.
2.5 Light orange gold color - ALOT of sediment. The carbonation is high and the ginger is not too forward. Expected more ginger
2.5 Off notes from 10/06. Pours a cloudy gold with a lot of large chunks of sediment floating around. Nose is strong like perfumed hand soap. No kidding. That was the first thing I thought - hand soap. Taste is very odd. Effervescent on the mouth with a tangy sweetness. Leaves a honey residue on the tongue. Mouthfeel is good, but not enough to save this one. Might be interesting to tryk but not to keep around.
3.0 Bottle: Honey in color, very cloudy with HUGE chunks of sediment... and I mean HUGE!   Head is moderate and fizzy, dies quickly, spotty lacing.   Strong ginger nose, some honey for sure, but also a touch of soap.   Likely because of the ginger.   Whoa, loads of ginger on the tongue.   Not spicy, but quite prominant.   Honey flavors on the backside.   Maybe even a bit of melon, honeysuckle to be exact.   Not a bad little beer, different, and certainly spiced.   Underlying beer is light, or should I say not much else about this one other than the ginger.   Moderate to thin body and mouthfeel.   Heh, this doesn’t even seem like beer.   Lingering watered down ginger flavors.   Meh, not bad.   Certainly more entertaining than some of these other "Authentic Recipe" beers.
3.2 Name: Traditional Ginger Honey Ale Date: 10/24/2006 Mode: Bottle Source: Green’s, Atlanta cloudy orange, whispy white head, traces of drippy lace, sweet aroma with a sharp ginger bite, strong ginger flavor, touch of lemon character without being tart, hint of honey sweetness, touch of spicy character, light bitterness, Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20 Rating: 3.2/5.0 Drinkability: 7/10 Score: **+/4
3.2 12 fl oz. Bottle. Pours hazy yellow to orange with little off-white head. Ginger and slight citric nose. Citric and ginger flavoured, mellow. Same in the finish. Nice but has no lasting finish.
2.9 (Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of yespr. Cloudy, pale amber golden with tiny impurities and an off-white head. Distinct aroma of citrus and ginger. Medium body, lightly sweet caramel and fruit and again distinct flavours of ginger. Drinkable indeed. 180807
3.3 Hazy orange color with minimal head. Malt and a surprising amount of ginger on the head. A surprising amount of ginger flavor survived the brewing process but dominated the honey.
3.1 12 oz bottle. Poured a slightly hazy golden-orange color. There was lots of sediment on the bottom of the bottle. Head was thin, white, and didn’t leave any lace behind. Aroma was of biscuity malt and ginger ale. Delicately sweet up front with a distinct ginger bite at the end that lingered. Flavor was reminiscent of ginger ale with a touch of lemon. Interesting, but wouldn’t go out of my way to get more.
2.1 clear golden with little head. the aroma is not for me. ginger for sure but it smells too medicinal for my tastes. sweet ginger flavor. yep its got ginger AND honey it. next please.
1.9 Hazy pale yellow color with a big white head. Ginger aroma. Strong ginger flavor with some honey and malts.
3.1 A hazy golden ale with a thick white head. Aroma of seet malt, honey and ginger, with light sulfury notes. In mouth, refreshing concoction with sweet spiced honey, the ginger lingering throughout but restrained. Overall, an interesting brew. Bought in Oswego, Nov. 2006.
2.7 Bottle sampled on 2/21/07: Pours a clear pale golden with a thin ring of wispy white head. Warming honey sweet aroma has a touch of ginger spice. Starts mildly earthy and sweet, drying toward a warming honey finish. Does not hide its modest alcohol very well.
1.8 Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden with a one finger white head that leaves minimal lacing. Aroma of ginger and honey. Taste is all ginger with a touch of honey. This is as far as I got because I instantly poured it down the drain.
3.2 Pours a three finger white head that fades to a thin layer leaving some lace. Cloudy amber color with yeast suspended. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Honey/ginger nose. Flavor is sweet honey with some ginger, not an early Spring beer, better for hot weather. $9.99 - 4-pak, 12oz bottle from Shaw’s Supermarket Concord, NH.
2.6 Pours a light honey color with a white head. Ginger lemon aroma. Ginger dominated flavor with some lemon.
3.4 Poured a lightly hazed golden yellow color with a thin white head. The aroma had a big amount of ginger with a sweet taosty malt base underneath. The flavor was sweet with almost a ginger candy quality to it. Like those fancy rectangular candies that are wrapped in paper. Light bitter finish. Light to medium body. Not bad.
3.1 Bottle from UncleMattie! Nose of ginger, graininess, honey; Gold with a small off white head; flavor showed off the ginger with a tiny bit of citrus in the background, along with some sweetness and a peppery finish.
2.7 Chuky body with lots of flowers, lemon and ginger in the aroma; prickly palate and a sweet initial flavor with a drying, slightly astringent ginger finish; not too lemony or heavy on the ginger; quite differnt and not too horrible.
1.8 worst out of the 4-pack. i thought i tasted a little lemon in here but not sure. all i know is the aftertaste left me not wanting more.
2.5 bottle . . pours cloudy dull/grey . . light white head . . aroma is ginger and honey obviously with a slight dishsoap floral nose . . taste is VERY gingery, like eating a gingerbread cookie . . not bad, but not great . .
2.7 Having said that, this is the best of the four, which was unfortunate for us as we had it first. It pours a light yellow color with an average, off-white fizzy head. Fully diminishing head, leaving behind virtually no lacing. Hazy body with small particles. Looks like a light lager. Aroma was of citrus, lemon, and ginger. Nothing too spectacular in the nose, but it is distinctive. Initial taste was moderately sweet, shifting to a light bitter at the finish with an average duration. Light on the mouth, it has a watery consistency with lively carbonation. Thoughts from the review were; not a great taste, the ginger taste was present, at least we were able to finish it (isn’t that what all brewers strive for?) Reviewed on September 14th, 2006
2.1 Pop the lid and the heavy aroma of ginger.Flavor is full of ginger.This was from the patriot series and this was ok
2.1 Poured a golden color with a little head. Aroma was ginger, ginger, and more ginger. Taste was not good and that might have had something to do with the ginger aroma but, either way I didn’t like it.
3.3 My not so vigorous pour resulted in a thin off white head that diminished quickly. Lots of sediment in this thick honey colored brew. Mild sweet aroma. Very sweet with mild ginger burn. Impressed.
1.8 Poured a straw gold color with a foamy, sudsy white head. The first aroma from the bottle was powerfully ginger which concerned me, but after it settled it smelled like a strong lemonade. Flavor was very odd astringent and overly bitter after which the honey softens the bite. Honestly, I had to pour this out, the flavor was just off.
2.7 Poured a hazy golden with a large fizzy/frothy white head. Aroma of honey, ginger (big surprise), a bit of citrus, some grassy hops. Flavor is sweet with loads of toffee, an unrefined sweetness, some grassy hops to it, with the ginger coming up from behind and filling the background. The finish is off-dry and somewhat acidic with the toffee finishing strongest. The off-dry honey qualities sort of give this the feel of a hopped mead, and they clash quite a bit. While I would consider this more drinkable than the root beer brew, it still is not recommendable, even as a novelty.