Fat Wombat Hard Ginger Beer Review

 

I was introduced to Ginger Beer back in 2020 when I was visiting New Zealand’s South Island. I mistakenly thought it was beer and kept refusing invitations to drink it. I did manage to get past that and fall in love. What I didn’t realize is that, although it can contain alcohol (because it is a fermented beverage), the amount of alcohol is typically less than 0.5% (1°), if any is present at all.

 

Ginger Beer is to Ginger Ale much like discovering you have a half-sister that your dad never told you about. Ginger Beer is brewed with real ginger. Ginger Ale is a sweetened, carbonated beverage where, if it contains any ginger at all, it comes from processed ginger syrup. Most of the Ginger Ale that you find on store shelves is artificially flavored and far milder than Ginger Beer.

 

Lt. Commander Greg Keeley served in the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. Raised in Australia, he is a combat veteran who saw action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Pacific. During his service, he became disabled, and after his discharge, he and his wife, Katie, founded Lawrenceburg Bourbon Co. in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, in 2021. Last year, he and Katie rebranded the distillery, which now operates as Larrikin Bourbon Co.

 

Larrikin Bourbon Co. doesn’t just produce Bourbon. It also offers Light Whiskey, Gin, and its Fat Wombat line.

 

If you weren’t a zoology major in school, you may not know what a wombat is. Like every other creature in Australia, wombats are a bit unusual; they are short, fat marsupials that like to dig holes and leave cube-shaped poop (no, really, and Larrikin even uses the hashtag #WePoopCubes). There is also an urban legend suggesting wombats lure predators into one of their tunnels and then use their butts to crush the predator’s skull against the tunnel’s ceiling.

 

The Fat Wombat line includes infused Gin, Vodka, and now a canned “Aussie Style” Hard Ginger Beer.  

 

“The untamed spirit of Australia in a can. Inspired by the country’s first hard ginger beer, Fat Wombat delivers a bold, fresh-ginger punch that’s crisp, lively, and rebelliously refreshing. It’s the kind of drink that knows how to behave-but never really wants to.” – Larrikin Bourbon Co.

 

Fat Wombat is all natural, 190 calories, and 5% ABV (10°). It is packaged in 12-ounce cans. Larrikin Bourbon Co. was kind enough to provide me with a sample in exchange for my no-strings-attached, honest review. Let’s #DrinkCurious! 

 

• Whiskey Type: Ready to Drink/Ready to Pour Cocktail
• Distiller: Larrikin Bourbon Company
• Age: N/A
• Mashbill: Cane sugar, ginger juice, lemon juice
• Cooperage: N/A
• Alcohol Content: 5% ABV (10°)
• Price per 12 fl oz: $6.00

 

Appearance: I used a rocks glass and sipped it neat. While not required, I did chill it for a couple of hours. It appeared as murky citrine in color.

 

Nose: I smelled ginger and lemon, which didn’t surprise me considering the ingredients. Drawing the aroma into my mouth revealed more ginger, and my lips detected the Ginger Beer’s fizziness.

 

Palate: The texture was less sparkling in my mouth and throat than it was on my lips; it had a definite crispness to it. It had plenty of ginger spiciness to it; there was a citrus flavor that was closer to grapefruit than lemon. There was no front, middle, or back.

 

Finish: Fat Wombat sat on my tongue and the back of my throat longer than I anticipated. I found ginger spice, mild cinnamon, and the grapefruit sensation changed back to genuine lemon. It lasted 1:34, initially falling off in about 15 seconds, but then quickly surged back for the remainder of the duration. Ginger spice held out the longest, fading to a candied ginger flavor.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy a good Ginger Beer and tend to gravitate towards those made in Australia and New Zealand (as opposed to the Jamaican style). Fat Wombat was tasty and had enough character to maintain my attention and interest.

 

The low alcohol content made Fat Wombat an easy sipper. Frankly, if the can didn’t say it was an adult beverage, I wouldn’t have been the wiser. I could well imagine myself drinking this on a summer or early fall evening while relaxing after work; it makes for a lovely indulgence.

 

On my Bottle, Bar, or Bust scale, Fat Wombat Hard Ginger Beer earns my Bottle rating (which, in this case, should probably be Can). Cheers!

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit, but begs you to do so responsibly.