Alcohol by volume 4.0% | Manufacturer John Crabbie & Company Introduced 2009 | |
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Distributor St. Killian (USA)Halewood International Limited (UK, AU)Bruce Ashley Group (CAN) | ||
Crabbie's is a Scottish brand traditionally known for its green ginger wine but now promoted for ginger beer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The brand was also known for its malt and blended scotch whiskies. The brand name is owned by Halewood International Holdings PLC.
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Background
Crabbie's traces its founding to 1801 when Miller Crabbie was a merchant in Edinburgh. The business was inherited by his son John Crabbie (1806 – 1891) who went on to found John Crabbie & Co.
In the mid-19th century, John Crabbie acquired a former porter brewery located between Yardheads and Great Junction Street in Edinburgh's port of Leith. Over the ensuing years the premises were extended mainly to provide bonded warehouses for Crabbie's whisky business. The company was also engaged in gin rectifying and the production of fruit-based cordials. Of these, Crabbie's was best known for its green ginger wine which was continued to be made in Leith until the 1980s when John Crabbie & Co was acquired by another Leith distiller and blender, Macdonald & Muir, and production of green ginger wine was transferred to Broxburn, West Lothian. Macdonald & Muir had acquired the Glenmorangie Distillery in 1918 and renamed itself The Glenmorangie Company in 1996. In 2007, it sold the brand to the present owners, Halewood International. Preserving its links with Leith, John Crabbie & Company Limited is in the present day a dormant company with a company address in Mitchell Street, Leith. However, production of Crabbie's ginger beer takes place in Liverpool, England. Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer is 4.0% alcohol by volume. It is a carbonated beverage but is not brewed. It is based on a ginger steep, which takes up to six weeks to produce, and four secret ingredients. Crabbie’s is typically chilled over ice with a slice of lemon or lime.
Distribution
Since 2011 Crabbie's has been distributed in Australia through Woolworths Liquor, Beer Wine Spirits and Dan Murphy's grocery stores. In 2012, Crabbie's began distribution in the United States through St. Killian company
Variations
In the UK and USA, Crabbie's is available in flavours such as spiced orange, strawberry & lime, and Scottish raspberry. Outside of the UK and the USA, variations might be found in speciality shops. In the USA, Crabbie's is sold as a malt beverage, and is not gluten free. The discovery that the American version of Crabbie's is not gluten free caused much alarm and controversy among the celiac and gluten intolerant community as Crabbie's was originally marketed as gluten free in the United States. In the UK, it is a gluten free product.
Sponsorship
Crabbie's is the official sponsor of the Grand National Festival.
Scottish football club Hibernian has also been sponsored by Crabbie's.