text:
" Brand: Crabbie's / Type: Ale "
I started getting crabbie's when I get my twenties since the additives in most ciders and alcopops and ciders just disagree with me and are largely to acidic and end up burning the back of my throat.
The labels are instantly recognizable with their brand name in bold the flavour is also written in small writing below. The bottles are a transparent brown in colour and vary in size from 500mls to 330mls. They also come in tin form but as with most drinks the quality depreciates due to the drink absorbing some of the metal taste. In terms of drinking preparation the drinks should be ice cold and served in a glass for best results.
The flavour and appearance
The beer is a nice gold in colour and thebeer is carbonated, it smells sweet, spicy and is also slightly tart and the beer itself is really quite fiery it definitely has a big heat to it though it also contains a mild sweetness to it though the ginger comes through very strongly. The original flavoured beer may not be for everyone due to its strong flavours. I have found that it is also a more leisurely drink to either have it on its own or with dinner instead of something you would drink on a night out. Ideally you would drink it with a milder meal such as a Sunday Roast or perhaps with a good Italian dish but definitely not for a spicy Indian or Thai dish since the ginger in the beer fuels the heat from any chillies or hot peppers in the meal which I found out the hard way. The alcohol content is also around the 4%-4.5% mark and doesn't taste alcoholic in my opinion it tastes fairly similar to the non-alcoholic varieties with a stronger ginger flavour and is also a little less sweet.
I also find that it helps me digest my food better than other alcohol equivilants and definitively results in either less or no hangovers compared to wine or regular beers and I find it easier on my stomach in general too.
The beer also comes in three other flavours including Raspberry, strawberry and lime and orange. I found that unfortunately the Raspberry and strawberry and lime suffer from the same artificial acidity as alcopops do however and I found them rather disappointing. Though on the other hand the Orange which appears closer to Christmas which is my favourite does not taste particularly acidic and is best balanced of the alternative flavours. In terms of colour also while the more Summer flavours give off a pinky tinge the Orange gives off more of a golden amber colour which just looks more natural. The orange flavour also has a really pleasant after taste that makes me reminisce about childhood sweets like cola cubes and aniseed rock candy and just seems to smell of everything Christmas.
3 or 4 of the larger 500ml bottles can commonly be found on off for £5 from Tesco or Asda I usually avoid the actual four packs since they work out as much more expensive since they are smaller maybe 330ml in size.
Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Having recently reviewed the strawberry and lie, as ell as the raspberry version of Crabbies ginger beer i felt i should probably review the original version also. At my local off license they are on offer at 2 for £3...
Personally I have to admit to being a massive fan of all drinks that don't taste like alcohol - and as such this is one of my favourites. Each 500 ml bottle is 4%, and this works out to being 2 UK units. However they don't taste like they contain alcohol. Which is both a pleasure - as they are lovely to drink, but also hazardous, as this can mean that you're not as aware o how much you've had to drink. As with all alcohol make sure you drink responsibly...
Crabbies to me seem to have managed something wonderful. They ginger beer taste has a nice fiery kick to it, without being too much for me to enjoy. Each mouthful of this tipple works to refresh my palette, and leaves a nice warm afterglow in my mouth. I always serve my Crabbies beautifully chilled, and usually over ice, as this helps to make it taste as good as it can. Having once tasted it slightly warmer than usual at my sisters house shortly after getting back from the supermarket I can state that it does in fact taste bad warm...
Personally I feel this is the time of year to be enjoying lovely chilled tipples on the (newly grown) lawn while eating BBQ'd food. As such this definitely gets 5*'s from me.
I also have to say that I recommend all of the different Crabbies flavours that I have tried - they can't seem to do anything wrong in me eye at the moment...
I loved (non alcoholic) ginger beer as a child so when i saw Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer I decided I had to try it. I got it from our local Tesco for £2.05 for a 500ml bottle but they also do a pack of 4 for £5.50 but I thought that I would just buy the one bottle to start with in case I didn't like it. It also comes in a number of different flavours including spiced orange and Scottish raspberry. Each bottle contains 225 calories and is 4% vol.
It came in quite a chunky, large glass bottle with a label on the front with the company name, logo, description of the product and alcohol content on. There was also a label on the back with all of the relevant information on it; ingredients, warnings etc.
I chilled it in the fridge and later that day poured it into a glass with ice, as recommended. Before I took the first sip I could smell that lovely spicy smell that took me back to my childhood and brought a small smile to my face. I sipped it down and it was amazing. The cold, spicy liquid went down very smoothly, in fact a bit too smoothly. You cannot taste any type of alcohol in it at all, so when drinking it it is like drinking a fizzy drink and you can very easily drink quite a lot without thinking about the alcohol you are consuming.
Overall I loved it and can't wait to try some of the other flavours.
When I was a child, I devoured every Enid Blyton book I could lay my hands on and probably read most of her books several times. Other readers of Enid Blyton will remember she would often write about "Lashings and lashings of Ginger Beer" (Though I read somewhere recently that she never actually wrote those lines....they must have come about in later editings of her books.)
Anyway, I'm sure that the Ginger Beer in the books bore no resemblance to the Ginger Beer I am reviewing. For a start, I'm assuming there was no alcohol in the homemade variety that George. Anne, Dick and Julian drunk on their adventures.
Crabbies Ginger Beer is made in Great Britain and made using a secret recipe. The ginger is shipped in from the Far East, steeped and combined with quality ingredients. It is then matured for 8 weeks to get its unique flavour.
The beer comes in a brown bottle with a picture of what I can only assume is the flower that tops a ginger plant. If this isn't the case, I stand corrected. I have an allotment but its not something I have ever grown.
You get 500 ml in the bottle and its alcohol is 4% which is equivalent to 2 units. It has 254.5 calories and if you happen to be on the weight watcher's point system, it's 21.5 points per bottle.
On the front it informs you that the Ginger Beer is "Best served over ice with a slice of lemon or lime. Made to a unique recipe with fruits, spices and real ginger."
When poured, the beer looks a lovely pale golden colour with just the right amount of fizz and a small head.
The first mouthful is exquisite! Its so refreshing and light. You do get a distinct taste of ginger but it's not too sweet or over powering. I love it and can imagine downing a few of these on a hot summer's day. (Well actually, the sun wouldn't even have to be shining)
They are currently being sold in Tesco for £1.77 per bottle. They can also be included in the offer they have on speciality beers at 3 for £5.00 making it slightly cheaper but the best deal, if you develop a liking to it, is to buy a case of six for £9.00 making it a very reasonable £1.50 a bottle!
Enjoy your lashings of Ginger Beer!
After being interested in the drink after seeing those comical vintage feeling adverts I finally got round to trying it, and it quickly became my drink of choice for lighter drinking.
It is absolutely delicious, and more refreshing than cider- the perfect drink for warm weather. But it also has a slight warming quality from the ginger so it's also nice on colder evenings too.
The bottle is simple, and quite classy looking with the crabbies logo and scottish thistle on the label.
The idea of an alcoholic ginger beer is still quite novel, and there's only a couple of alternatives on the market, crabbies is definitely my favourite of all the alcoholic ginger beers.
The drink is 4%, which is about average for a larger but weaker than a cider. It tastes is delcious, and the strong taste of ginger makes it taste less alcoholic than that though, it's very drinkable so watch you don't drink too much.
The bottles advice you drink it chilled with ice, and I admit that's how it tasted best.
It's quite easy to find in shops, and also in bars- but you will occasionally find yourself in a bar that doesn't stock it.
Highly recommended, try it!
I like Ginger Beer. I like alcohol. I love alcoholic Ginger Beer. Ginger Beer for me has always reminded me of days gone by with the warm tingling being comforting and refreshing.
==The Look==
Bottle wise this looks like any real ale on the shelf. A sturdy stout traditional shape with an attractive brown hue to the drink when the light shines on it. The label is well presented with a thistle flower giving reference to it's Scottishmanufacturer. Once in a glass it has a lovely clear finish with a delicious yellow tint.
==The Taste==
I've tried alcoholic ginger beers before and only ever been disappointed. This one however ticks all the boxes. It is smoother than say Idris non alcoholic ginger beer with a less agressive carbonation leading to a more pleasant drinking experience. The flavour is a cross between something like Idris and the real homemade stuff my Mum used to make. There is the right amount of warmth on the throat and the alcohol is barely discernible in the pleasant drink. The bottle reccomends serving over ice, however serving chilled seems to give the same smooth flavour.
==The Facts==
500 ml bottle (enough for 2 tumblers)
4% alcohol (similar to a beer)
£23 for a pack of 12 (approx £2 per bottle)
Not a cheap option but one that I will definitely be returning to. This is the kind of drink that is great all year round, I can see it replacing Pimms at my summer barbecues and it is a great drink in the winter as it warms you from the inside out! Delicious and highly recommended.
Review also on Ciao
Since summer has finally decided to show up in time for the Olympic games, we are celebrating in our household by putting the hot chocolate away and have reached into the back of the drinks cupboard for something a bit more fitting to the season. My partner loves Crabbies' ginger beer, and she introduced me to it a couple of summers ago. While I love the taste of ginger, Inever quite warmed to it the way some others have. I'm going to have one now, because I haven't tried it for a few years, and also because it's lunchtime on Friday and although I do have more constructive things to do, writing about daytime drinking is much more fun than spending half an hour on hold to the EON energy people.
Although Crabbies soared from relative obscurity to pub ubiquity a couple of years ago, it's been around for centuries in one guise or another since 1801. Coming from the Scottish port of Leith, where the imported ginger was processed into tonics to cure sea-sickness and, purportedly, loss of libido, it's a slightly different type of ginger beer from the fiery stuff that comes from the Caribbean. Perhaps the gloomy Scottish climate takes a bit more of a toll on the drive for nocturnal activities than the balmy West Indian sunshine.
Anyway, there's only so much pseudo-science that one can cram into a 500ml bottle of fizz, so what does it actually taste like? Before we try some, best prepare it the way the manufacturers reckon. Lots of ice... check... big chunk of lime... and since it's marketed as pop for grown ups, I'm going to put a curly, dayglo orange straw in it too. Huzzah! Summer is here.
The first thing that hits me is the sugar. Crabbies' ginger beer is sweet. Molasses sweet. Its sugar content is ridiculously high, and since I don't have much of a sweet tooth this is really too much for me. Past the sweetness is a lot of ginger, which I really like. According to the website, the ginger is steeped for 8 weeks in the brew, which is no doubt a good idea to give it a deep natural gingery flavour. Flipping the bottle round, the nutritional gubbins on the back tells me that per 100ml serving, it has 7g of sugar. Ouch. I can almost feel the enamel sliding off my teeth here. It also coats the mouth with sticky goo, much in the same way that Coca-Cola does. The ABV is a respectable 4%, which isn't going to give you the KO straight away but given that a) this doesn't taste remotely alcoholic and b) it usually comes in bottles that are either 500 or 700ml, it could be quite easy to get wrecked off this stuff without realising it.
Although it is far too sweet for me to drink half a litre of this in one go, it is really quite cool to cook with. Adding a generous glug to some spices and tomato puree, this makes a fairly decent sweet barbecue sauce. Credit where it's due, I took this idea from fellow dooyoer Lady Bracknell's suggestion to reduce Coca Cola down to a sticky BBQ sauce, which worked really well. This is pretty much the same, only with a Caribbean ginger twist to it.
You can buy this stuff readily now, with most pubs serving it and it turns up at very low prices in Home Bargains and B&M, usually around the £1.29 mark for a 500ml bottle. Personally, I think I'll stick with hoppy ales or G&T for alcoholic summer drinks, as Crabbies is just a bit too sickly, though on occasion the little 330ml bottles are quite nice, when I feel the need for some ginger beer that's 'only for grown ups'.
Crabbies is a brand of alcoholic ginger beer from Scotland, but the ginger is sourced from the far East. It contains 4% ABV which is weaker than a lot of lagers and about the same percentage as ciders like Kopparberg. Per 500ml bottle there are 225 calories. In the shops you can pick up a 500ml bottle for between £2 and £3 and usually more in bars.
The taste is almost identical to normal non-alcoholic ginger beer and you can hardly taste the alcohol. The ginger is quite fiery, but it's not quite as dry as some cloudy non-alcoholic ginger beers like Old Jamaican. There are other spices It is best served over lots of ice with a slice or lemon or lime.
Crabbies also make non-alcoholic ginger beer that isn't that widely available that comes in a diet version with only 3 calories per bottle. They also make ginger wine which is 13.5% and ginger mac which is equal parts ginger beer and scotch whiskey. As an alternative to the original alcoholic ginger beer there is also an orange flavoured one, which isn't as orangey as I was expecting - ginger is still the overwhelming taste
I personally hate their advertising campaign. The TV adverts and website are very focused on a 1940s/50s 'jolly good clean fun' which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Of course this is no reflection on the drink itself, but I'm a bit of a sucker for a cool advertising campaign. Brothers cider for instance has a great festival chic advert on the television at the moment which appeals to me a lot more!
Just one more note to leave you with; just before I was about to post this review I was speaking to a friend who told me Crabbies isn't vegetarian! As a vegetarian I was absolutely shocked and did a bit of research to find that it's true because of some ingredients used in the finishing process. I'm gutted! I think it's a bit ridiculous that they can't make it with vegetarian friendly products and it's really annoyed me because I love this stuff!
Recently while at our local convenience store my husband noticed an offer on selected bottled drinks. The offer was for beers and ales but also included Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer. My Husband bought himself two bottles of ale and me a bottle of Crabbies as I had mentioned I'd like to try it.
As the name suggests Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer is Ginger Beer with alcohol.
I am not a big drinker and only occasionally have a glass of Lambrusco but can happily take it or leave it. I have never really found an alcoholic drink that I particularly like so stopped regularly drinking quite a few years ago.
On opening my first bottle of Crabbies Ginger Beer I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had a vague recollection of the sweet sickly concoction we used to make in our Soda Stream as children but have never drunk it otherwise.
We didn't have any ice so I chose to chill it a bit first. As we were both keen to try the drink we shared the bottle between us.
The drink looks a bit like a lager or cider and has a nice frothy head when poured. It is very fizzy at first but seems less so after a while or if drunk without being chilled. I found the drink very light and refreshing and not too sweet or sickly. I find Bacardi breezers and other similar alcoholic drinks are quite sticky and leave a furry feel in the mouth but Crabbies is not like this at all. There is a taste of ginger but it is not overpowering but is very light and almost like a cordial or schloer. There is no nasty aftertaste and I imagine it would be perfect with loads of ice.
Since my first Crabbies I have developed quite a taste for it and it has become a regular feature on my shopping list. I have noticed that I do struggle to drink a whole 500ml bottle. This is down to the drink being fizzy as it makes me feel bloated if I drink the whole bottle. I find half a bottle is just enough for me and can even be enjoyed on a school night!
I never drink enough to get drunk but do find that even with just one glass of Lambrusco I can start to get a headache even before I have gone to bed and I sometimes do feel a bit light headed and fuzzy. I have not had any side effects from drinking Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer even when I have had a full bottle.
This drink would be perfect for lazy summer days with lots of ice and good company!
The beer comes in a brown glass bottle with a black metal bottle top. The label is black and gold and has a large green and purple thistle on it.
At the moment (May 2012) in my local Asda Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer is £1.98 for a 500ml bottle or 3 for £5.00. You can buy the beer singly, in packs of 4 330ml for £5.48 or in packs of 8 500ml for £15.20. In addition to the Original Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer you can also get Crabbies Diet Ginger Beer (£2.00), Crabbies Traditional Cloudy Ginger Beer (£2.00), Crabbies Spiced Orange Alcoholic Ginger Beer (£1.98) and Crabbies Twist of Orange Cloudy Ginger Beer (£2.00).
From the label: Best served chilled with ice and lemon. Gluten free. Contains sulphates. 4% vol
Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer, the new pimms?
I enjoy sweet and fizzy alcoholic drinks and have been quite a fan of Crabbie's Ginger Beer for a while now and thought it was about time I reviewed it.
Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer was the first brand to sell alcoholic ginger beer in the UK in 2009. So it is a relatively new drink to the market. I didn't know this until today but the Crabbie's brand was founded in 1801 in the port of Leith, where I live! The Crabbie's elephant logo comes from their links and trading's with the Far East which they still maintain today with the ginger beer drink.
The Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer advertising is quite funny and quirky using lots of words like 'spiffing' and couples dressed from the forties sipping the drink. They are also official sponsors of Leith base Hibernian Football Club
Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer
The bottle is a dark brown glass colour that is slightly see through. The bottle size is 500 ml with a bottle opener pull off bottle cap. The labelling is quite classy and classic. The main colours are green and gold, with the Crabbie's logo written boldly across the front in large white letters. Above this is the traditional Scottish thistle emblem in purple and a tartan coloured background.
The Drink
As with most carbonated alcoholic drinks this beverage has to be served cold, over ice and with a nice wedge of lime in the glass. On opening the bottle you can immediately feel its fizziness and freshness and this is quite long lasting.
Once poured the drink has a lovely golden colour to it, it is really light and not like a normal beers shade. The ginger smell is quite sharp and spicy smelling, but at the same time the drink has a fruity aroma to it too. The taste is amazing and the first time I tried this I immediately loved it.
Again it is quite spicy to taste but in a nice way. It is very smooth to sip and an extremely refreshing and light drink, again unlike regular beer which can be quite heavy. After a few bottles of this you can feel like you have had a bit of a sweetness overload, but I think the spice does a good job of overpowering the sugariness.
I do not drink carbonated ginger drinks regularly and have only really tried alcoholic ginger beer. To be truthful I don't really enjoy ginger flavours in foods either but this alcoholic ginger beer really does tempt my tastebuds! The ginger and spice and sweet flavours work really well together and I love this on a sunny day or just simply when I need a bit of a pick-up.
The Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer is made from a secret recipe with four top secret ingredients (ginger obviously not being one of them!). It is also stated to be steeped for six long weeks to produce its deep, deliciously spicy flavour.
A 500 ml bottle will cost you about £1.66 in the supermarkets, obviously in bars and restaurants you could pay anything up to £5. This has a 4% ABV which you totally forget about whilst drinking as it really doesn't taste very alcoholic at all! Dangerous yet very tasty stuff.
The first time I had ever heard of Crabbies Ginger Beer was when my mate who is a landlady was going mad in her pub. Loads of her customers were asking for it but she was on a waiting list with suppliers to get it, when she did get it on the shelves it was temporary......everyone in her pub was going Crabbies mad! It was a like a new craze. One night in her flat above the pub a few us were behind drinking in her living quarters and we had a huge array of alcohol to choose from and she had got her hands on a load of these for us to try before they sold out and that's when my love affair with Crabbies started!
Since those days Crabbies is far more easier to get hold of. Just today I had one in a Hungry Horse pub with a meal and it cost £3.75 for just the one 500ml bottle of it. I was then in Asda later on and 3 x 500ml bottles for £5.00 (on offer at the moment) were there. As I love them so much I did treat myself to the 3 bottles and am sat in now supping one, over ice with a straw!
The Packaging:
I have noticed that these in multi packs come in 330ml bottles and that bought in singles like I have they are 500ml in size either way the bottles in appearance look the same. The bottle is brown, see through and glass with a pull off cap to the top of it. On the front of the bottle we are told that this drink was Established 1801 and that of course it is Crabbies 'Original' Alcoholic Ginger Beer 'Made to a unique recipe with fruits spices and real ginger' and that it is 'Best served chilled over ice with a slice of lemon or lime'. On the back of the bottle other information listed includes being told a bit about the drink and that it is Gluten free, that this sized bottle is 4% vol and contains 2 units of alcohol and there is also a chart to show us how many units we shouldn't be exceeding a day and contact details for Crabbies are given.
The Drink:
Slightly fizzy and golden in colour, as soon as you take the lid off this you can smell the sweet aroma of ginger this has to it. The fizz doesn't 'die' as soon as its poured either but a word to the wise with this! Do not neck it, its gassier than it appears and on a couple of occasions I have been greedy, supped a load and ended up with terrible cases of trapped air underneath my bust for ages like I've been kicked. It isn't overly fizzy in its appearance but appearances can be deceptive lol!
If you like ginger beer your probably going to love this. If you, like me like alcoholic drinks to taste like pop and not of alcohol at all, again your probably going to appreciate this because this is so similar to drinking pop its unreal which my taste buds appreciate but I forget completely that this is alcohol and sup too many on occasion!
The taste is smooth, very sweet but naturally so. It has a nice ginger flavour to it but it isn't one bit harsh or breathtaking. It does leave a bit of a tinny aftertaste after consuming it which makes me a tad thirsty but hey I just drink more of it or drink long soft drinks!
For me this is one of my favourite drinks along with Kopperberg Pear Cider. I don't want to be drinking shorts or highly alcoholic beverages and this isn't too bad and tastes great. Its best served chilled and with ice in my opinion just keep it away from the kids as it is alcoholic after-all!
A pack of 4x330ml bottles is usually around the £5.50 mark and the 500ml bottles about £1.80 each though do look out for deals as I did, they may be a tad on the expensive side but be warned they are so worth it lol.
Available in all good supermarkets, off licences and so on!
This review is also posted on Ciao under this same username.
I think with crabbies, you either hate it or love it! I was first introduced to crabbies a few years back when I got a job behind the bar at my local pub. In the chillers we had all types of beer, including crabbies! I was suprised at how popular this drink was. I had never heard of it before and though it was worth a try. I loved it so much! It has such a nice spicy taste in the mouth that it so different from anything I had ever tasted before. Because I liked it so much, I decided it was worth me getting myself some for at home. A bottle costs around £1.80 at tesco and this is for the large bottle. Its rather expensive, but as a treat is well worth the money you pay for it.
I find that is best served extrememly cold. I add lots of ice to it and its really refrshing in the summer heat. It is slightly frothy, but this doesnt bother me like it does some people. Also add some lemon or lime to the drink if you can because it adds a nice taste to it.
I much prefer this to normal ginger beer, it has a great taste that your taste buds will like. Last summer I did notice that they were advertising this a lot on tele and on billboards. I think its good that people are discovering it more now. its something that you wish you would have tried before because its quite addicitve in the summer heat.
The bottle and drink is a browny colour. its much darker than lager and looks strange to begin with in a glass. its also an unsual design on the bottle, with the company logo and a small bit of information on crabbies on the back!
overall I think this is well worth you trying, you never know, you may just love it! There is a split feeling about this drink among my friends! many of them love it, where as many really hate it. Its kind of got the marmite situation about it! so go out and buy a bottle of it from your local shop and give it a go, im sure you wont regret it! Perfect drink for me. wish it was cheaper though, I have it as a treat :)
Thanks so much for reading, hope the review helped a bit! :)
I had seen the adverts on the TV for Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer and every time that it came on I always thought to myself that I would have to try it as I used to absolutely love ginger beer as a child and it is something that I never really see any more in the shops unless it is some expensive farm shop.
I decided to pick myself up some as a treat when doing my grocery shopping and I paid £5.50 which got me a pack containing four 330ml bottles. I did think this was on the expensive side but as it was a treat I didn't mind paying it.
I decided to take my bottles of ginger beer with me to my friend's house one night instead of taking my usual wine and as soon as I had my first taste of the ginger beer is instantly became one of my favourite alcoholic drinks.
I was instantly in love with the taste, it was so refreshing and different to wine or beer that it made a really nice change.
It tasted just as I remember how ginger beer used to taste and I was surprised with just how little alcohol I could taste in it even though it has 4% alcohol content. It also didn't taste artificial and was really sweet without being sickly. It also wasn't overly gassy which is good as I usually have to leave carbonated drinks for a little while to let the gas escape some before I can drink them.
The only problem that I can think of with this ginger beer is that it is so tasty and the alcohol taste is so mild that you could easily drink more than you intended before you even realised that you had done it. Luckily I only had the four bottles as I could have quite easily drunk more of it.
I have decided that this is going to be my new summer drink and I think it lends itself perfectly to warm weather and bbq's. Make sure that you drink it straight from the fridge though as it doesn't taste anywhere near as nice when it starts to warm up.
I cooked a romantic meal for my partner and myself last night, and whilst I was in the supermarket picking up the ingredients, I thought I'd pick up a few different drinks for us to try as a change to the usual ciders we get.
I bought the Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer after seeing the advert and being tempted by the idea of a nice warming winter drink. I loved Ginger Beer as a child, and figured it would taste similar but with an alcoholic element. I bought one bottle of this as part of a deal which involved other drinks, but individually they cost around £1.75 for a 500ml bottle.
The drink is described as a refreshing ginger beer, made to a unique recipe with fruits, spices and real ginger. According to the label Crabbies have a secret recipe, and the steeped ginger is combined with quality ingredients and matured for 8 weeks to release a deliciously distinctive flavour.
I have to say, I couldn't really argue that this drink isn't distinctive. It's completely different to anything else I've ever tasted, including non-alcoholic ginger beer! The first thing I noticed was the smell, which I found really off-putting. I commented to my other half that it smelt like washing up liquid. We poured the drink into two glasses, and I played guinea pig and gave it a try. He could probably tell by the look on my face that I wasn't keen, but I thought I'd let him make his own mind up. He did, by pushing the glass away from him to indicate that he wouldn't be drinking any more, and exclaimed "That's vile!".
The taste of this drink matches the smell and I can't really think of any other way to describe it than by saying that I've never tasted washing up liquid, but this is how I imagine it would taste. It's very frothy and fizzy which means you couldn't drink much of it without feeling really bloated and gassy. And the taste....well, you can definitely taste the ginger, and it tastes fruity, but it's horrendously sweet and also medicinal tasting. It's a cross between washing up liquid and cough medicine with added sugars and made into a carbonated nightmare in a bottle. I persevered for a while thinking maybe it was an acquired taste, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish this. It ended up down the sink where it probably did a good job of getting rid of limescale judging by the frothing and fizzing that went on as it went down the plughole!
For allergy information, we are told it contains sulphur dioxide/sulphites, but I would recommend that anyone with sensitive tastebuds steers clear of this drink as it really is quite potent and unpleasant. The disappointing thing was that it didn't taste like ginger beer (the non-alcoholic version) that I used to enjoy as a child.
The drink contains 4% alcohol, and it recommends serving over ice with a slice of lemon or lime. I would recommend not bothering and saving yourself a couple of quid!
Product specs
4% vol.
Per 500ml Bottle 2 UK Units
About £2 upwards for a 500ml bottle. Also available in multipacks
Having grown up with homemade ginger wine, it didn't take long for me to be swallowed up by Crabbie's advertising campaign "only for grown ups." At first I was put off by the fact that it was a beer, after all I hate beer and thought for that reason that I wouldn't like this. How very wrong I was.
There's just enough firey ginger to fight off the bitterness of the beer. The product smells vaguely of ginger, but not enough of it in my opinion. Though alcoholic, Crabbie's does not taste alcoholic and can be drunk quite easily without feeling like you're getting tiddly. For me, there isn't quite enough ginger on offer as the taste, though there isn't enough to set your mouth on fire. My memories of drinking ginger wine is the hot, burning feeling you get as it slides down the throat. Crabbie's doesn't offer that but it's still a happy alternative to the bitterness of beer. Try it with a slice of lemon and the flavour really comes alive.
The ginger in Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer is steeped for 6 long weeks to give it that distinctive flavour. The ginger is shipped from the Far East, just as the first Scots Merchant Adventurers did all those years ago which is why the Crabbie's trademark is an elephant. The product is available in a range of sizes in the shops and in most bars for no more than a typical pint. I would recommend not drinking out of the bottle as its wide shape and weight can make it quite an effort, plus it looks nicer in a glass with some lemon. Founded in 1801 as the Crabbie Clan in Leith, the design still retains something of a traditional touch as is reflected in the advertising campaign of the fifties house wife.
What I like about this product as well is that in can be quite a money saver. I'm the sort of person that if something is in front of me I will polish it off quite quickly whether it be food or drink but when sat in a pub with a Crabbies I find I can sip at it quite merrily for over an hour without another trip to the bar as the gingery taste means you only need to take small sips to get a fix. Now that's a money saver.
Unfortunately I have yet to pour a Crabbies with the foamy white top as seen in the photograph but it still tastes good regardless. A word of warning, you may find yourself burping ginger for a while afterwards.
Brand: Crabbie's / Type: Ginger Beer


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subset: commoncrawl


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The use of video by organizations for marketing, communications, training and education continues to grow. Leading publications are turning to Ustream and its experts for insights and best practices.
Check out the latest articles highlighting Ustream on a diverse range of subjects:
Digital Trends, "Stargaze in Glorious UHD with NASA's Upcoming 4K Network," September 14, 2015
In announcing NASA's new 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) channel, Digital Trends writer Adam Poltrack noted that 57 million users have logged on to the International Space Station feed on Ustream — a testament to the popularity of NASA's footage.
Streaming Media, "Teradek Announces VidiU Pro for High-Bandwidth Streaming," September 1, 2015
Troy Dreier covered Teradek's release of the VidiU Pro to complement its VidiU and VidiU Mini on-camera encoding and uploading devices. The new technology is compatible with several live broadcasting platforms, including Ustream.
Streaming Media Review, September 1, 2015
Streaming media producer and consultant Jan Ozer offered a detailed review of Pro Broadcasting, Ustream Align and Ustream's Pro Broadcasting Video Marketing Module, concluding that Ustream is "just getting started" and rapidly moving to augment its offerings to enterprise clients.
CNET, "Will gaming breathe life into live-streaming YouTube?," August 27, 2015
With the announcement of YouTube Gaming, CNET Digital Media contributor Joan E. Solsman explored whether the new feature will strengthen YouTube's share of the live streaming video market. Among the experts consulted for their insights was Ustream CEO Brand Hunstable.
Macworld, "Forget television: The revolution will be live-streamed," August 19, 2015
Macworld staff writer Caitlin McGarry reviewed the reasons for the rapid rise of streaming video in recent months, and she asked Ustream CEO Brad Hunstable to contribute his expert opinion.
Bloomberg News, "The Media Landscape: Are More Partnerships in Store?," August 18, 2015
In this Bloomberg News video, Ustream CEO Brad Hunstable and Revolt Media CEO Keith Clinkscales reacted to NBC Universal's $200 million investment in Buzzfeed and the deal's implications for the future of media partnerships.
CIO Review, "6 tips for pivoting your business," August 17, 2015
CIO Review's Jennifer Lonoff Schiff asked key business experts — including Ustream CEO Brad Hunstable — to offer their advice on how to tell whether it's time for your business to make a shift.
San Francisco Chronicle, "Ustream settles in with TechCrunch, Adobe in SoMa tech hub," August 15, 2015
San Francisco Chronicle's Julie Balise took readers on a virtual tour of Ustream's San Francisco headquarters in an historic building that was once home to Macromedia, Eventbrite, Zendesk and Yammer.
Wall Street Journal, "Twitter, Facebook Flex Live Video Muscles," August 14, 2015
In her coverage of Facebook's and Twitter's forays into the live video arena, WSJ's Cat Zakrzewski noted that Ustream powers many of Facebook's live events, including the Game of Thrones season premiere.
CIO Review, "Is Your CDN Strategy the Elephant in the Room?" by Arpad Kun (page 20), July 30, 2015
How can a CIO address the demand for more high-resolution, high-bitrate video without stressing the company's servers to the breaking point? Ustream's own Director of Network Operations, Arpad Kun, shared his insights on this question in the July issue of CIO Review.


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Tory MP: My expenses ordeal is over
A Conservative MP has said he is pleased after his legal wrangle with the parliamentary expenses watchdog was resolved.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) had launched legal action to recover £54,000 from Stewart Jackson, who claimed taxpayer cash to pay mortgage interest on a property in his constituency.
Mr Jackson was one of 29 MPs told to hand over a total of almost £500,000 to Ipsa to cover a proportion of the increased value of properties funded by their expenses.
He accused Ipsa of over-estimating the capital gain on his family home in his Peterborough constituency and then rushing into ''heavy-handed and disproportionate'' litigation to recover the sum. The other MPs involved agreed to pay the sums demanded in full.
The watchdog moved to ban the use of Commons expenses to pay mortgage interest in May 2010, in the wake of public fury over ''flipping'' and other abuses.
However, transitional arrangements were put in place permitting MPs elected before 2010 to keep claiming the money up to August 2012 - as long as they agreed to return any potential capital gain.
Some MPs, including Mr Jackson, were asked to repay more than they had received because the value of their property was calculated to have risen by more than the cost of the interest payments.
Mr Jackson refused to agree a repayment plan as he rejected the valuation placed on his property.
He has said in a statement that he was pleased to announce that a 16-month "ordeal" involving Ipsa was over.
"Ipsa claimed in October 2012 that I owed the taxpayer £54,000, as a result of an alleged notional capital gain in respect of my family home in Peterborough, in which I live and have not sold, nor made any profit from, arising out of property valuations undertaken in 2010 and 2012 under the parliamentary expenses scheme."
He said he felt the valuations he submitted to Ipsa in good faith had errors or were negligently made by the surveyor concerned, and submitted alternative valuations, asking for them to be taken into account, and making an offer to pay an appropriate sum.
However, Ipsa issued proceedings in the High Court for the recovery of the £54,000, but the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) had confirmed they had issued an order against the original valuer as he had breached their professional rules and regulations.
"On Friday 21st February 2014, a Tomlin Order was sealed in the High Court, the result of which is that Ipsa's case against me has been stayed.
"I am not required to pay any monies back to the taxpayer."
Ipsa said that when it stopped MPs claiming for their mortgages, Mr Jackson commissioned and provided two valuations from RICS registered valuers, as it requested, which showed that the property had risen in value and the taxpayer was due £54,000.
A statement added: "Only at this point did Mr Jackson take the view the valuations he provided were fundamentally flawed.
"He produced no acceptable evidence to support this and refused to pay the taxpayer back, in contravention of the rules.
"And so in looking after the taxpayers' interest - we were left with no option but to seek legal advice."
A final, independently appointed surveyor who valued the property at Mr Jackson's expense judged that there h ad been no rise in the property value between 2010 and 2012, and Ipsa was happy to accept the surveyor's assessment.
"If Mr Jackson had submitted accurate valuations in the first instance, or produced suitable evidence in the months of discussion about this, we would not have had to escalate this issue or seek legal support to try and conclude the matter.
"Having ended the practice of MPs claiming mortgage repayments from the taxpayer - this situation can never arise again."


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MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- A joint committee of the Vermont House and Senate grappled Wednesday with the question of how to balance the state's need for renewable energy with local residents' concerns about the noise from wind turbines, the smoke from woodchip-burning power plants and other annoyances.
Some committee members expressed disappointment with the recommendations of the Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission, which Gov. Peter Shumlin appointed last year after complaints that the state had not adapted well to the plethora of new wind-powered, biomass, solar and other renewable energy generating facilities. Critics charged that the state Public Service Board, which reviews utility projects, was not doing enough to welcome towns and residents into the review process.
The commission released its findings earlier this year.
At the Wednesday hearing of the House and Senate Natural Resources and Energy committees, lawmakers focused on how best to balance the concerns of residents who live near energy projects versus the needs of the state as a whole for energy.
Sen. Robert Hartwell, D-Bennington and chairman of the Senate panel, cited the example of a man who told him he was trying to establish an organic vegetable farm in Addison County between a Vermont Electric Power Co. high-voltage power line and the route of a natural gas pipeline Vermont Gas Systems is proposing.
Like many property owners affected by such projects but who can't afford to hire lawyers to represent them before the state Public Service Board, Hartwell said, the man he spoke with was "just hanging out there ... He's nowhere" in terms of having an adequate voice in the process.
Hartwell later said he thought the commission's recommendations would still leave Montpelier with too much control of the energy planning process and too little room for participation from towns and regional planning commissions. He said another hearing has been set for Oct. 30, and he expects legislation will be drafted that deals with the issues when the full Legislature reconvenes in January.
Chris Recchia, commissioner of the state Public Service Department, which makes recommendations on projects to the board, said that he had visited with residents who had complained about some projects but found instances in which the "credibility, data, actual evidence supporting a petition aren't there."
The commission acknowledged in a report presented to lawmakers that work remains to restore public confidence in the project-approval process. Small towns and community groups often feel outgunned by developers, the report said. Some residents feel they lack "sufficient time, guidance and resources to adequately plan for or respond to projects proposed for their communities."
Matt Levin, a lobbyist with the group Vermonters for a Clean Environment, said the recommendations to the board came up short in three respects: they failed to make sufficient use of a Vermont development control law; the process they envision gives too much control to the state; and they do not adequately address problems with existing projects.


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International Ice Core Team Hits Bedrock in Greenland
Next to Antarctica, Greenland is home to the largest ice sheet on Earth. Scientists in the frigid north of this enormous island have achieved quite an accomplishment by drilling all the way to the bedrock under the ice. On Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling site (NEEM), the team completed their drilling to a depth of 2537.36 meters (1.58 miles).
The Eemian is an interglacial period, 115,000 to 130,000 years ago, when global temperatures were 2-3 degrees Celsius (3-5 F) higher than they are today. Sea levels were five meters higher, but ice still existed on Greenland. The researchers believe this may useful for predictions of future climates.
The NEEM project has involved over 300 ice core scientists from 14 nations including Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the United States of America. It was headed by Project Leader Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. The project took over five years to complete.
The team has brought up ice near the bedrock that has not seen the light of day for hundreds of thousands of years. Clues such as DNA or pollen embedded in the ice can give the researchers an idea of what existed on Greenland before it became covered by ice over three million years ago.
Dr. Eric Wolff of the British Antarctic Survey said "It is a tremendous achievement to have collected ice right down to the rock, 2.5 km below the ice surface. This core should really help us to understand how the Arctic ice responded in the past at a time when it was warmer than today."
Such a tremendously long core is like having a book of the history of the world. The trick is learning how to read it. For example, variations in climate can be detected by a host of high-tech equipment that can analyze a number of factors. The stable water isotopes found within the core can indicate moisture sources going back in time. Greenhouse gases trapped in the ice can be read by state of the art laser instruments. Also, biological content can be analyzed to determine what life existed there and at what point in time, as well as their annual variability. Other impressive tools used for analysis include online impurity measurements and advanced studies of ice crystals.
The purpose of the study was to gather more information on the warmer Eemian interglacial climate and use that to help predict the warming climate in Earth's future. The team hopes to figure out how reduced the Greenland ice sheet was during that period and how much its melting contributed to sea level rise.
Climate science is perhaps the most complicated of all sciences due to the myriad of factors involved. The work done by the NEEM team will help bring us one step closer towards a more accurate model to be used by today's and future generations.
North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling website: http://neem.nbi.ku.dk/


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The Coolest of CEDIA 2011: Lutron's Battery-Powered Shades
To me, the most exciting and revolutionary home theater product at the CEDIA Expo wasn't a new speaker or projector or HDMI-over-CAT5 solution. Nope, it was the battery-powered version of the Sivoia QS motorized shade from Lutron.
I've always envied the rich guys who could afford to have motorized shades in their media rooms, converting the whole space from a sunny living area to a dark entertainment space at the touch of a button. But at prices starting around $1,200 per shade - plus another few zillion for the control system and installation - I never thought I'd enjoy that luxury myself (unless someday speaker measurement becomes all the rage among the kids and I get rich writing a book about it).
Imagine my shock to discover at the CEDIA Expo that Lutron's new battery-powered Sivoia QS cellular shades start at just $299 per - and you don't even need a control system for them.
Lutron simplified the new shades in three ways. First, they're cellular (accordion-style) shades. Second, they're powered by a set of six D batteries housed in the top section, so there are no power wires to run. (Lutron says that thanks to its Triathlon power-saving technology, the D cells will last about three years in typical use.)
And third, the least-expensive version can be controlled by a conventional IR remote. You can even teach the codes to a learning remote, so you can include them in a macro and get the same one-touch convenience I described above. Somewhat pricier versions work with Lutron's Pico RF remote and GrafikEye, RadioRA, and HomeWorks automation systems.
The shades are available in three versions. The one home theater fans will want is the blackout shade, which completely blocks outside light to create an ideal viewing environment. There are also single- and double-cell shades that allow some outside light to pass through. The $299 starter price covers a 3- by 5-foot shade; sizes up to 82 by 82 inches are available. You can choose from more than 100 color/pattern combinations.
I can't say with a straight face that most of the speakers and TVs we cover in S+V will make you the envy of everyone on the block - but these shades just might.


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Here Comes Summer -- a preview
Starting on July 9, and running every Tuesday night through August 20, a rotating schedule of bands will perform on the Town Green for Tuesday Concerts on the Green. The weekly, eight-night concert series will feature local musicians including Manchester's own The Battenkillers - set to perform all of The Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street" - and Southern Vermont bluegrass band The Bondville Boys.
Bennington-based blues band, Blues Sanctuary, will begin the series on July 9. The next week, bluegrass locals Gold Town, fresh off performing at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Mass., and The Frendly Gathering in Windham, will perform on July 16. They are followed by The Battenkillers on July 23, and The Bondville Boys, another bluegrass group, on July 30. Don't Leave Band are set for August 6, and "folk impurists" The Buskers on Aug. 13. The final band to play Tuesday Concerts on the Green will be folk rock duo Sullivan & White on Aug. 20. In the event of rain, the concerts will take place in the Park House. For more information, head to the Chamber of Commerce's website visitmanchestervt.com/tuesday-concerts-on-the-green.
For those looking for something to do that is more edible, Gringo Jack's will begin hosting barbecue parties every-other Sunday, starting July 7 from 1 to 6 p.m. They will be setting up a smoker to the right of the building, serving a variety of summer barbecue foods. A spot for live music will also be added, and Fred Shehadi and Company will be performing the parties throughout July.
"We're hoping to continue these at least to September," said Michelle Kropp of Gringo Jack's.
The Vermont Summer Festival returns this summer, and started on July 2, to the Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset. For six weeks, the farm will host six rotations of equestrian shows - the Vermont Summer Special from July 2 to 7, the Manchester Summer Festival from July 9-14, the Manchester Classic Horse Show from July 16 to 21, the Valley Classic Horse Show from July 23 to 28, the Manchester & the Mountains from July 30 to August 4, and the Vermont Summer Celebration from August 6 to 11.
"It features Olympic-quality riders and such beautiful horses," said Berta Maginniss, Executive Director of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. "It really is a top dollar show."
Each rotation of shows will begin on Tuesday and run through Sunday; each week will feature new riders and their horses in addition to new judges and course designers.
"I love this being in our town," Maginniss said. "It is six weeks of people in our inns... shopping in our stores... whatever they do, they will be doing it in our community."
For those who prefer to spend nice, summer days with a good book, Northshire Book Store has a full calendar of events planned for readers of all ages. Children are invited to see author James Howe, famous for his 1979 children's book "Bunnicula," speak at the bookstore on July 27 at 11 a.m. The event is titled "Bunnicula and Friends," and follows the conclusion of his two-week summer camp of the same name. The event, and the camp, are tied in with the Dorset Theatre Festival. For more information on the camp, head to its website at dorsettheatreestival.com/community/bunnicula-and-friends.
Northshire Bookstore is about more than just books, and they show that by hosting craft series "Create with Bogate" on the third Saturday of each month, from July through December. Each session has a specific theme and project, starting with felting.
Adults are invited to a wine and cheese tasting with author Michael Paterniti on Aug. 29 while he discusses his book "The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese." A full, and detailed calendar of events for the bookstore can be found on their website, northshire.com.
This year, Manchester will be a part of the six-week Hills Alive! festival in multiple ways. The formerly one-week festival has expanded this year, not only in length but in content, and includes the Manchester Music Festival as well. MMF spotlights classical, chamber and orchestral music in eight concerts between July 11 and Aug. 25. A full schedule can be found on mmfvt.org. The Concerts on the Green are also considered a part of the Hills Alive! performances. Other events, including those happening in Bennington, are listed on the Hills Alive! website: hillsalive.org.
To stay updated with each event, and for announcements of newly added events, check out the Manchester Chamber of Commerce's website visitmanchestervt.com.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


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Flameless Wax Pillar Candle
Easy, hassle-free returns online and in-store for eligible items.Learn More
- Summary
Our battery-powered candles have hand-dipped white wax exteriors, so they look, feel and flicker like the real thing – without the fire concerns. Perfect for indoor and outdoor entertaining, they're safe around children and pets, and they stay lit in breezy weather. Thanks to a push-button timer, they'll even "extinguish" on their own.
- Hidden LED bulb glows with authentic, flickering light.
- Hand dipped in real wax and finished with a realistic wick.
- An on/off switch is located on the bottom of each candle.
- Pillar timers let you customize the "burn" time.
- 2" x 4" pillar has a 5-hour timer.
- All other pillars feature 5-, 10- and 24-hour timers.
- Batteries not included.
- Dimensions & More Info
- 2" x 4" pillar uses 2 AA batteries (not included) and runs up to 750 hours per battery life.
- All other pillars use 2 C batteries (not included) and run up to 2,000 hours per battery life.
- Made in China.
- Use & Care
- Due to the nature of real wax, the candles' coating will melt in temperatures over 104°F/40°C.
- Protect from freezing.
- Do not immerse in water.
- Shipping
Shipping Information
UPS can deliver most in-stock items within 3-5 business days. UPS is unable to deliver to P.O. boxes.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping destination. View Shipping Options and Charges.
Next Day Delivery
For an additional charge of $17.50 per address, we can expedite delivery to most destinations. This service is not available for some oversize items, items shipped directly from the supplier (including perishable and custom-manufactured items), out-of-stock items and items to be shipped outside the contiguous 48 states.
Orders received by 9:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Thursday will arrive the next business day; orders placed Friday through Sunday will arrive on the following Tuesday.
Return Policy
At Williams Sonoma, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction are our priority. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement.
If within 30 days, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value. An original receipt or gift receipt is required for all returns and exchanges. Returns with a gift receipt will be refunded in the form of a Merchandise Credit for the amount indicated on the gift receipt. Returns with original receipt will be refunded in the original form of payment, cash and check refunds over $100 will be issued as a company check (may take 14 business days from time of request).
For all cutlery returns (knife sets, single knives, cutting boards, knife sharpeners, and knife storage) please contact us at 888.922.4108 to initiate the return.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, special-order items, custom upholstery, food, items shipped direct from the vendor, or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. Final sale items ending in .97 or .99 cannot be returned.
Made to Order and Final Sale Furniture items are non-returnable, and cannot be cancelled once the order is placed.
For returns of items purchased from your Williams Sonoma Gift Registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later. View Full Returns Policy.


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COLUMBIA, Mo. (MSU Athletics/WCBI Sports) – Another extra inning game and another win for Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs used a two-RBI single by Reid Humphreys in the top half of the 11th inning to get past Missouri 9-7 in the final game of a three-game Easter weekend Southeastern Conference series at Taylor Stadium.
MSU improved to 26-15 overall and 10-8 in league play. The Bulldogs are in third place in the Western Division standings and stand both two games back in the division and overall conference races. Fresh off a series win over nationally-ranked Kentucky, Missouri dropped to 17-21 and 6-12.
MSU has now won four of six conference series this year but it was the first sweep by the Maroon and White. The Bulldogs took all three games in a road series for the first time since doing that at Texas A&M last season.
"We fought or tails off," MSU head coach John Cohen said. "Down four runs late and the kids just found a way. We had some quality at-bats and the pitchers did their job. We just really competed and played hard the entire series."
MSU improved to 4-0 in extra-inning games by winning for the second time in 11 innings in this series. The Bulldogs and Tigers have now played four times under the SEC banner with three of the four going extra innings and all four going into the Bulldog victory column.
"We really needed something good to happen," Cohen said. "I would be distraught to be in the other dugout and to lose two 11-inning games. In this league, it comes down to the little things. Most games are a coin flip when the league is this bunched. We feel fortunate. It was really important to come out and get the third game, even though we had won the series."
An already stretched bullpen got a huge lift from senior right-hander Ben Bracewell. In what matched his second-longest outing of the year, Bracewell threw six innings, allowing five hits and one run (earned), with seven strikeouts and two walks. Jacob Lindgren got the final out for his third save.
"We just asked Ben to go out there and throw up some zeroes," Cohen said, "We wanted him to give our offense a chance and he was magnificent."
Junior right-hander Brandon Woodruff drew the start and battled for 4.1 innings. Woodruff allowed seven hits and five runs (all earned), with two strikeouts and two walks.
MSU grabbed the early 1-0 lead on Brett Pirtle's first home run of the season. The lead would be short-lived as Missouri scored twice in the home half of the first inning.
The Bulldogs battled back for the equalizer in the fourth inning when Pirtle doubled and scored on an RBI-single by C.T. Bradford. The lead shifted sides in the fifth inning when Matthew Britton collected one of his three hits and scored a sacrifice fly by Alex Detz.
Missouri responded by chasing Woodruff during a four-run fifth inning. Back-to-back hits and a hit batsman loaded the bases for the Tigers. In relief, Myles Gentry was touched for a sacrifice fly by Dillon Everett and a two-run double by Ryan Howard. Bracewell followed and gave up an RBI-single by Kendall Keeton.
The Tigers tacked on another run in the sixth inning before the Bulldogs went to work.
MSU chipped away with an RBI-single from Seth Heck in the seventh inning and an RBI-double by Demarcus Henderson in the eighth inning. The big blow came in the ninth inning when C.T. Bradford ripped a game-tying two-run single after Pirtle had singled and Heck reached base on one of two Missouri errors.
By that time, Bracewell was in a groove and it was just a matter of time until the Bulldogs found a way to close the deal.
"Everybody kept battling the whole game," Cohen said. "You have a guy like Reid Humphreys who just waits patiently for his opportunity and then delivers. C.T. Bradford had clutch at-bat after clutch at-bat. Matthew Britton has three hits. That will do wonders for his confidence.
"It was like a heavyweight fight. It was just a matter of who was going to fall over first."
MSU finished with 15 hits, including three-hit games by Britton and Pirtle. Heck, Bradford, Humphreys and Henderson had multiple hits.
Missouri finished with 13 hits, including a four-hit afternoon by Logan Pearson. Peter Fairbanks (3-4) pitched the final 2.2 innings and took the loss.
MSU remains on the road for Tuesday night's Governor's Cup matchup with Ole Miss. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. at Trustmark Park in Pearl. SEC play resumes next weekend when Texas A&M comes to Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs and Aggies play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU), 6:30 p.m. Friday and 2:15 p.m. Saturday (FSN South).


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With negotiations on a new contract under way and his third MVP Award imminent, Alex Rodriguez conducted a clinic for kids at the Southwest Miami Boys & Girls Club, where he spent much of his youth.
Rodriguez told yankees.com that the club was "sort of a third parent for me, because my parents were so busy working. I spent hundreds of thousands of hours here -- seven days a week."
Rodriguez spent time with the children teaching them the basics of baseball. But he also talked about how important it is to dream and hope for a better life through education and hard work.
"You can do whatever you want with baseball," he told the youngsters. "I also want you to think a lot about education, about the SAT. The SAT will be one of the most important things you take in your life, because it can influence what college you go to, maybe what opportunities you get along the way. I am passionate about education.
"I always wanted to be better, but I didn't really think it would be baseball for me. I really didn't think I had the ability to be what I am today. But with time and hard work and confidence, I've become that person."
Rodriguez also had a strong message about alcohol and drugs.
"A bunch of garbage," he said, noting that he is proudest that he has never touched a drug.
Torrealba not a member of the Mets after all: The Colorado Rockies may still be in the hunt for free agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba after all. Torrealba, who helped the Rockies reach the World Series in 2007, appeared set to sign a three-year deal with the New York Mets.
The deal, however, has fallen through and agent Melvin Roman has contacted Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd about reopening negotiations.
"I told him I'd get back to him," O'Dowd told the Rocky Mountain News.
It appears there is no chance of Torrealba signing any kind of deal with the Mets.
"The Mets did not reach an agreement with Yorvit Torrealba," Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said, "and there are no current negotiations."
Mulder could be throwing in January: Mark Mulder, bothered over the past two seasons with rotator cuff problems, appears to be on schedule to throw off of the mound by Spring Training -- though nothing is written in stone as far as a return date.
"Definitely in this type of process, every step is important," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We are trying to qualify where he is and get the best prediction possible for what he will be able to contribute. At this point, I think it's best that (a timetable) is still vague. ... Everything so far is positive."
Last season, after the team put him on multiple "return dates," they have been careful not to do that this time around. That being said, after meeting with Mozeliak, team doctor George Paletta and trainer Barry Weinberg the team believes he will be throwing in January -- then throwing off the mound by March.
Sabathia intent on Reviving Baseball in Inner cities: When it was announced last week that Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia had won the American League's Cy Young award, he became the first Indians pitcher to win it since Gaylord Perry did so back in 1972. He is also the first African-American to win it since Dwight Gooden in 1985, and the first in the AL since Vida Blue in 1971.
Bart Swain, who heads up the Indians' PR department, "told me about Vida Blue earlier," Sabathia told the Akron Beacon Journal. "That's awesome."
Something Sabathia prides himself in is helping to revive interest in baseball in the African-American youth communities.
"There's about 35 of us who are going to have a meeting in New York to talk about that," he said. "Maybe we can expand the RBI (inner-city) academies or hold more clinics. Something like that might be able to help."
Sabathia, who hails from Vallejo, Calif., sponsors multiple youth leagues back home.
Rollins wowed 'em as a high schooler: Philadelphia Phillies scout Bob Poole knew as soon as he saw Jimmy Rollins -- on the high school field back in 1993 -- that he was a special player. Sure, Rollins was small (he even had to list the 5-foot-6 Rollins at 5-foot-9 just to get higher-up scouts to come watch him, but Poole couldn't stop coming to watch the dynamic shortstop go about his business.
"As soon as they saw him play, his size didn't matter," Poole told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I still remember one of the big guys came out from Philadelphia. We stood under an umbrella because it was pouring rain. A ball was hit up the middle and Jimmy went to his left, behind second base, and made this amazing play -- in the mud! Then he hit a triple lefthanded."
The scout Poole was talking about was Marti Wolever.
"That game lasted only three innings," said Wolever, "but that was enough to see everything you needed to see."
All this time later, Poole still keeps a close eye on Rollins -- who now has a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award under his belt.
"Gee whiz, I always believed he could be this kind of a player," said Poole. "How could you not believe in Jimmy Rollins? He played big. He was tenacious. He was just a tough little son of a gun. He was the type of player you hated to play against and loved when he was on your side. He could hurt you offensively and defensively. I watch him on TV now and he's the same kind of player.
"I hope he wins the MVP. When it comes to Jimmy Rollins, I'm his biggest fan."
Sweeney honored as winner of Hutch Award: Veteran first baseman/designated hitter Mike Sweeney, who is currently a free agent but has spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals, has been named as this year's recipient of the Hutch Award -- an award named for Fred Hutchinson, a former player and manager who died from cancer at age 45 in 1964.
The award is given in recognition of "the fighting spirit and competitive desire" of Hutchinson and is scheduled to be presented on Jan. 23 in Seattle after Sweeney visits children at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Hutch School.
"To receive the Hutch Award is an amazing honor for me," Sweeney told the Kansas City Star. "If I can bring a glimpse of hope or an ounce of strength to a child fighting adversity, to me that's more enjoyable than hitting home runs."
Relief pitcher Villarreal traded to Astros: The Houston Astros continue to tweak the roster as the club traded outfield prospect Josh Anderson to Atlanta for relief pitcher Oscar Villarreal. Villarreal, a right-hander, is only 26 but has already pitched in 223 games in his career after reaching the Majors at the age of 21 with Arizona.
Last season with the Braves, he was 2-2 with a 4.24 ERA and one save in 76 innings of work. For his career, he is 23-12 with a 3.71 ERA.
"Our reports on (Villarreal) indicate that he's capable of pitching the seventh and eight innings," Astros general manager Ed Wade told the Houston Chronicle. "And he's also able to pitch back-to-back days and also multiple innings. ... He's a durable arm and has an ability to pitch late in games."
The deal was completed when the Astros signed six-year minor league free agent Yordany Ramirez. With the acquisition of Michael Bourn earlier this month and the signing the Ramirez, the Astros felt they had enough outfield depth to trade Anderson.
"They were both linked," Wade said of the trade and Ramirez' signing. "We had begun the discussions on the 13th with Ramirez and his agent. At that point, I contacted Frank Wren and started asking him about Villarreal."
Rivera expected to sign three-year deal with Yankees: Closer Mariano Rivera appears to be close to returning to the New York Yankees as he is expected to agree to a three-year deal with the club, the New York Post reported. Rivera, who has pitched in the Yankees organization since 1990, has 443 career saves, ranking third all-time.
Rivera, 38, has been seeking a fourth year to a contract, but the lure of pitching for the Yankees looks to be more important than getting the fourth year added to any contract offer.
Rivera would join Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada as three New York free agents who have decided to return to the Yankees.
"It feels great," Hank Steinbrenner told the New York Post of the chances of retaining the trio. "There was never any question we wanted to keep all of them. Obviously, they are being paid very well. Alex was the thing nobody expected, and he came through."
Hunter, Jones, Rowand interest Dodgers: The Dodgers are interested in adding a power bat to the lineup and are targeting the three free agent center fielders available this off-season: Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones and Aaron Rowand. Both Hunter and Rowand have expressed interest in the Dodgers.
"If we were not interested in a club, we would not look forward to having discussions with them," Hunter's agent, Larry Reynolds, told the Los Angeles Times. "We would entertain any discussions with the Dodgers."
However, of the three prime center fielders, Rowand is the one with local ties who would seem to have a vested interest in playing for the Dodgers. He grew up in Southern California and played college ball at Cal State Fullerton.
"The Dodgers would be one of the teams Aaron would be most interested in playing for," said Rowand's agent, Craig Landis.
Mariners prospect Clement won't need surgery: Top prospect Jeff Clement had his season end early in the Arizona Fall League due to a sore left elbow, but he will not need surgery. Clement underwent an MRI and was diagnosed by Dr. Edward Khalfayan, the Mariners' medical director.
"Everything checked out," Greg Hunter, the Mariners' director of player development, told the Seattle Times. "He's going to rest and get on with his winter conditioning after a short break. It's not going to be anything major. From Dr. Khalfayan's perspective, he's fine."
Clement hit .275 with 20 HRs and 80 RBIs at Triple-A this season. He earned a September call-up and hit two home runs the final week of the season for the Mariners. A catcher throughout his career, Clement's position in the Majors is still up in the air.
"We still like him as a catcher, but we have [Kenji] Johjima there," Hunter said. "I don't know how that will all play out."
Astros sign ex-Padres prospect Ramirez: Wanting to add outfield depth to their organization, the Houston Astros signed six-year Minor League free agent Yordany Ramirez and added him to the 40-man roster. Formerly in the San Diego organization, Ramirez, 23, hit .269 with four home runs, 43 RBIs and 22 steals last season at Class A Lake Elsinore. He then joined Triple-A Portland and hit .315 with four home runs, 18 RBIs and stole six bases.
"Yordany Ramirez ranks as one of the top defensive outfielders at the higher Minor League levels, and we think that he will continue to make significant progress with the bat," general manager Ed Wade told Astros.com. "Felix Francisco, our recently hired director of Latin American scouting, originally signed Yordany while working for the San Diego Padres, and he thinks that Yordany will develop into a front-line big league player. There were several teams pursuing Ramirez, and we thought enough of his ability to sign him to a Major League contract."
Ramirez is currently playing for Licey in the Dominican Winter League, hitting .344 (11-for-32) with five RBIs in his first 12 games. In Baseball America's 2007 Best Tools Survey, Ramirez was tabbed as being the best defensive outfielder and the player with the best outfield arm in the San Diego organization.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Cards ready to move on from infield-fly ruling
By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com
"I can certainly see why people would have been frustrated," general manager John Mozeliak said, speaking, of course, for fans rooting for the opposition. "Had the ball been caught, it would have been completely a non-issue. But the ball wasn't, and that opened the flood gates to that level of frustration. I do feel like it was the right call, but I understand why perception of it was wrong."
Mozeliak watched Friday's Wild Card game from the stands and said he "got a little spray" on him as fans were throwing beer bottles, cups and other items onto the field following the eighth-inning ruling. The onslaught of debris led to a 19-minute delay. Mozeliak and other Cardinals officials waited out the delay in their seats.
"I didn't feel like we were in danger."
On Saturday, Mozeliak also recounted one amusing exchange he had with a Braves fan during the pause in play.
"A young man came up to me and said, 'So tell me really what you think about that call,'" Mozeliak said. "Give me a moment to think about that."
Cards add starting pitchers to roster for NLDS
ST. LOUIS -- Though the Cardinals will officially turn in their 25-man National League Division Series roster on Sunday, general manager John Mozeliak revealed the three upcoming changes during the team's Saturday workout at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals did not carry starters Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia and Chris Carpenter on their one-game Wild Card roster because of the length of the series. In order to add the trio, reliever Sam Freeman, catcher Bryan Anderson and infielder Ryan Jackson will be kept off this second postseason series roster.
None of the three appeared in the Wild Card game.
Neither Jackson nor Anderson earned much playing time as September callups, so their exclusions come as no surprise. Both will continue to work out with the club in case injury forces either to be added at a later date.
The Cardinals did discuss keeping Freeman in the bullpen as the team's second lefty but ultimately felt their right-handed pitchers were adept enough against left-handed hitters. Freeman will leave the team and report to the Arizona Fall League. He can stay sharp by pitching there and would still be eligible for the postseason roster at a later date.
With those three players off, the composition of the Cardinals' NLDS roster will look as such:
Starting pitchers (4): Wainwright, Garcia, Carpenter, Kyle Lohse
Relievers (8): Jason Motte, Edward Mujica, Mitchell Boggs, Marc Rzepczynski, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal, Fernando Salas
Catchers (2): Yadier Molina, Tony Cruz
Infielders (6): Allen Craig, Daniel Descalso, Skip Schumaker, Pete Kozma, David Freese, Matt Carpenter
Outfielders (5): Carlos Beltran, Jon Jay, Matt Holliday, Shane Robinson, Adron Chambers
Garcia, Carp to follow Wainwright in rotation
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals will utilize a four-man rotation in this best-of-five National League Division Series against Washington, which begins Sunday afternoon in St. Louis.
Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia draw the starting assignments in the first two games, both of which will be played at home. Chris Carpenter, who made only three regular season starts, is in line to start Game 3. Wild Card starter Kyle Lohse would take the mound if a Game 4 is necessary, and Wainwright would make a second start if the series extends to a fifth game.
General manager John Mozeliak said the decision to start Garcia in Game 2 had "very little" to do with the left-hander's drastic home-and-road splits, though it wasn't a factor entirely ignored.
Garcia finished the season with four straight strong starts, two of which came on the road. Garcia's overall season and career numbers, however, suggest that he is a different pitcher when on the Busch Stadium mound. This year, Garcia posted a 5.02 ERA in 11 road starts and a 2.82 one in nine home outings.
"He's been very good lately, so we are just excited to get him on the mound," manager Mike Matheny said. "He does like throwing at home. I don't know any of our guys that don't like throwing here, but it just worked out well."
Lohse, who earned the win in Friday's Wild Card game, would have been available to pitch Game 3 on a normal four days of rest. Instead, the Cardinals chose to insert Carpenter into that spot. Though Carpenter's regular season was abbreviated due to thoracic outlet syndrome and subsequent surgery, his nine postseason wins remains tops in franchise history.
"Clearly, the way Carp finished the season, we feel confident that he can also give us a quality start," Mozeliak said.
Worth noting
Jake Westbrook (right oblique injury) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Sunday. It will be Westbrook's first time back on the mound since shutting down in late September due to continued oblique discomfort. Westbrook has been throwing on flat ground for the last several days.
He said on Saturday that his oblique has given him no issue recently, and he remains optimistic that he can get himself healthy enough to contribute out of the bullpen if the Cardinals advance deeper into the postseason.
The gates at Busch Stadium will open at noon CT for Game 1 on Sunday; the pregame ceremony is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. CT. The first 42,000 fans to enter the gates will receive a rally towel. The national anthem will be performed by the 399th Army Band out of Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, By Gosh, It's Langosch, and follow her on Twitter @LangoschMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text: The course will discuss theoretical bases of speech/language assessment, including concepts of testing and measurement, formal and informal diagnostic approaches. Topics such as testing, multicultural considerations, interviewing and counseling, observational procedures for assessing in the field will be covered. Case presentations of childhood speech and language disorders will be presented. A textbook on psychometric testing will be used, as well as a reading packet, covering all the topics to be discussed in class. Requirements include periodic assignments (in class and home), a critique of a testing instrument in the field, and four exams. A required course for majors in Speech and Hearing Sciences


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Jennifer Lopez got a lift to the American Idol sound stage in West Hollywood yesterday in a white Bentley driven by boyfriend Casper Smart. In addition to her Idol judging duties, Jennifer has What to Expect When You're Expecting out May 18. We chatted with Jennifer at the film's LA junket, where she opened up about her own pregnancy and talked about her upcoming music tour — stay tuned for more from our exclusive chat! Jen's hitting the road this Summer with Enrique Iglesias as well as Casper. She's been perfecting her choreography with Casper's help, and fans will see the fruits of their labor when the tour kicks off in Panama on June 14.
There are only two weeks left until American Idol's season 11 winner is crowned, and the four remaining hopefuls took the stage last night. J Lo, Randy Jackson, and Steven Tyler joined Ryan Seacrest, who had a special guest, girlfriend Julianne Hough, in the audience. Julianne and her Rock of Ages director Adam Shankman went onstage with Ryan mid-show to talk about their upcoming movie. Ryan, though, decided to have a little fun with Julianne. Ryan pretended to propose by reaching into his pocket! Instead of pulling out a ring, Ryan produced a piece of paper. He said, "It's a question I've been meaning to ask you and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. Will you. . . give this note I wrote to Tom Cruise? I'm such a big fan."


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Does your employer offer a traditional defined-benefit pension plan that guarantees you a monthly pension payment for life?
If so, congratulations are in order—such plans are becoming scarce these days. The trend toward 401(k)s, 403(b)s and other defined-contribution plans means that more and more workers must rely on their own savings and investments to supplement their retirement income.
However, with a defined-benefit plan, you'll likely face a challenging choice at retirement: whether to take a qualified one-time lump-sum payout—which can be rolled over directly into a traditional IRA—or to receive a monthly annuity payment for the rest of your life or, in some cases, even longer.
The decision becomes even more perplexing when your annuity payout options include:
Your choice can have major financial implications, so it's a good idea to consult with a professional. But here are some important factors to consider as you work your way toward a decision.
The simplest analysis compares the monthly annuity payment offered to what you could generate yourself by investing the lump sum at a similar level of risk. Key to this analysis is an assumption about your life expectancy. As a general rule, those people with good reason to believe they'll live well beyond the average life expectancy will likely find the annuity option more attractive, while those who don't expect to live beyond the average may find more benefit from the lump-sum option. There are many other factors to consider, of course, and we'll get to those a little later. For now, let's talk about life expectancy.
Imagine that at age 65 your company offers you a single life annuity of $2,000 per month for life or a lump-sum payment of $300,000. At first blush you might think the annuity is the clear winner, since $24,000 per year ($2,000 × 12 months) amounts to an annual rate of 8% on $300,000 ($24,000 ÷ $300,000 = 8%), and 8% is hard to get without taking on significant risk.
In order to do an apples-to-apples comparison, however, you need to keep in mind that the annuity takes a total return approach (meaning that it assumes you will use both principal and interest during retirement, leaving a zero balance) with built-in assumptions about how long you will live.
If you assume a life expectancy of 18 more years at age 65, then the annuity's internal rate of return is really only 4.16%. In other words, if you drew down $24,000 per year in both interest and principal on your $300,000 lump sum, you'd only need to earn an annual return of 4.16% to make it last for 18 years. In fact, the $300,000 would last 12½ years even with a 0% return ($300,000 ÷ $24,000 = 12.5).
Of course, the longer you live beyond your actuarial life expectancy, the better the annuity deal becomes. You would also have the convenience of a hassle-free monthly check. For example, assuming you receive a check for $2,000 at the beginning of each month and live 25 years to age 90, your annual compounded rate of return would be 6.61%. And if you live 30 years, to age 95, the annuity's yield to maturity jumps to 7.31%—not a bad rate when compared to current high-quality bond yields of similar maturity.
Obviously, if you chose a payout based on your own life expectancy with no survivor benefits and you died after the first year, it would be a pretty good deal for the insurance company.
Here are some additional factors to consider.
If you already have sufficient sources of retirement income (a large portfolio, Social Security, other income, etc.), an annuity may be less attractive. And, because you wouldn't necessarily need to tap the lump sum for current expenses, you could leave it to grow for future use or include it in your gift and estate program.
The longer you live, the better off you are with the annuity. If you believe your life expectancy may be below average, a lump sum becomes more attractive. (If you're married, you'll want to take your spouse's potential longevity into account as well.)
Remember, by choosing an annuity, you're trading an asset for the promise of lifetime cash flow. By choosing the lump sum, you retain both the asset and the ability to generate income.
In retirement, reliability of cash flows is extremely important. There's something to be said for a steady monthly check regardless of what's happening in the markets.
First, make sure you're comfortable with the credit rating of the annuity provider or pension fund. (The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC, is a federal government agency that provides protection for pension participants, but the protection is not unlimited.)
Then, consider the advantage of leaving the risk of investment performance to others rather than taking it on yourself.
Unless the annuity payment carries a cost-of-living adjustment, you'll lose purchasing power over time. A lump sum could be invested to include a prudent allocation of equities and TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) to hedge against inflation. Of course, doing so would involve taking on some market risk.
Again, there's something to be said for having a monthly check automatically arrive in your bank account—especially if you plan on doing things besides managing your portfolio during your retirement (such as traveling). Even a bond ladder takes some expense and effort to manage, particularly if you're looking to generate a monthly check. You could pay a money manager to implement a total return strategy that generates income from your portfolio if you couldn't or didn't want to do it yourself, but that's essentially what you're doing with a fixed annuity.
Keep in mind that managing a lump sum for retirement income takes careful planning, budgeting and discipline.
Managing a lump sum yourself means incurring investment costs (management fees, transaction fees, etc.). Such costs are already factored into the annuity option. It can pay to do some cost comparisons here.
You may want to shop around to see what kind of fixed annuity you could purchase from a high-quality, low-cost provider for an equivalent lump sum and compare it to what your pension plan is offering.
If you opt for a lump-sum payout, you can roll it over to a traditional IRA and continue to defer taxes. Receiving a monthly check, by contrast, provides you with immediate taxable income. Consult your tax professional about your specific circumstances.
Unless you choose a term certain or survivor benefit option, your annuity ceases when you die. A lump sum, however, could provide your heirs with additional resources. Be sure to factor your gift and estate planning goals into any lump sum versus annuity decision.
You might choose to take a lump sum and allocate a portion to a high-quality, immediate fixed annuity. Ideally, you'd annuitize as much of your essential fixed expenses as possible and use the rest of your portfolio for discretionary spending.
A reliable, fixed cash flow during your retirement years, even at a modest level, has a number of benefits. It can:
Be sure to use a reasonable estimate of what your lump-sum investment might earn.
We think a conservative portfolio of 20% equities, 50% bonds and 30% cash could grow 3.3% on average annually over the long term.
Double that equity allocation to 40%—a riskier portfolio—and our 20-year estimate is still just 4.2% per year, much less than the annuity's total return in the 30-year example discussed here.
—Rande Spiegelman
Content in this article is © 2012 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Member SIPC. All rights reserved.
Donald Moody from NC posted over 5 years ago:
Since the lump sum distribution amount is based on some internal rate of return, does the current low interest rate market argue for taking the LSD now versus annuity payments which when annuitized in the future are likely to have a higher IRR interest rate factor?
Mark Wilson from CA posted over 5 years ago:
I have this decision in the next 45 days and am thinking of rolling the lump sum into a deferred life income annuity but I have heard that since interest rates are low right now it is not a good time to choose either an immediate or deferred Annuity. I can't find an answer to sizing the benefits of waiting til interest rates rise ...which I think they will. Any rough order of magnitude way to calculate this?
J Morlock from NJ posted over 5 years ago:
I think this was a useful article that is worthy of a part 2.
It would be helpful if AAII could publish a spreadsheet to calculate the internal rare of return for an pension annuity offered by an employer so it can compared to taking a lump sum and investing it for income distribution over time. There should be a way to calculate the breakeven point - the number of years someone must live in order for the annuity payments to equal the value of lump sum invested for growth and retirement income distribution.
An annuity protects against longevity risk and eliminates the risk of having draw downs in an investment portfolio being depended upon to generate retirement income distributions. The major disadvantage of an annuity is lack of protection from inflation risk.
Potential retirees should understand that the present value of their pension is dependent on the interest rates used by their pension plan to calculate lump sums at the time they make an annuity versus lump sum election. The lump sum present value present of an annuity is maximized when interest rates are low. That's becasue a larger up front lump sum is required up to generate the annuity payments over a persons expected life. The lump sum present value of value of an annuity will decline as interest rates rise.
Rick Croote from VA posted over 5 years ago:
Omitted from consideration is the creditworthiness of the annuity provider. Just ask an AA pilot who is concerned about collecting less from the Gov't Pension Insurance Fund then what s/he otherwise might have received if AA had not gone bankrupt.
Jeff Kozimor from OR posted over 5 years ago:
Great discussion and article. J Morlock's notes are right on - well done!
The key is the longer that you may live, the better the pension annuity becomes. If you die earlier than the actuarial tables predict, you lose money. Taking the lump sum puts money in the bank and takes early death and company specific risk off the table (like American Airlines).
Another key consideration is covering essential expenses with "guaranteed" income such as a pension and social security. That means that if all hell breaks loose in financial markets (like the period we just experienced), a retiree has peace of mind that they can cover their essential expense to live. A pension for the most part, takes market risk off the table.
Mark Wilson above, leads to another strategy; given that interest rates are presently low thus providing a larger lump sum amount today, why not take the lump sum now and wait for interest rates to rise and then purchase an annuity from a low cost provider?
Robert Mann from MI posted over 5 years ago:
On what life expectancy is the lump sump calculated: employee life expectancy, combined employee-spouse life expectancy, other? Could taking a lump-sum now purchase an annuity providing greater monthly payments than a 65% survivor pension from the employer?
Jeff Kozimor from OR posted over 5 years ago:
Caveat: I am not an actuary, and for exact answers it would be best to ask the plan administrator.
Given that, most should be based on the employees age at retirement, interest rates, and life expectancy. All other options, such as a 65% survivor pension benefit or others are mathematically equivalent to the single life option. If you want a little more in one place, you give up some $$$ from the single option.
It is unknown what you can get from another annuity sponsor and you'll have to shop it. If you do, let us know! In most cases, annuity firms need to make money, especially insurance companies. It seems logical that the employer sponsor pension annuity is not out to make a lot of money charging their retires high admin fees.
Donald Burman from IL posted over 5 years ago:
A site I've run across with useful limp sum calculators is: http://www.pensionbenefits.com/calculators/
Nice thread, thanks.
Dave Gilmer from WA posted over 5 years ago:
The way I calculate the IRR is with a $30 HP financial calculator, using the cash flow / IRR function, making the only reasonable assumption that you can make about your life span, and that is that you will live an "average" life, which I think right now is somewhere around 85. You can of course use any number of years for the cash flow you want, however I think this will bias your results - remember you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so I think to assume you are better than average is to play right into the insurance companies "longevity table."
I just made this decision for myself about 9 months ago and I spent about 6 months doing my research, what it came down to for me was an analysis of my needs vs my other cash flows and IRA / Roth accounts.
The NEEDS of the retiree was not stressed much at all in this analysis and I think is the most important aspect of it. What I mean by this is everyone has income in retirement that can be broken down into areas such as NEEDS, WANTS, & LIKES. I believe it is not necessary to fund 100% of all of the above with a secure fixed income. In other words if you also have a fair sized 401k account, you probably only need to fund the NEEDS portion of your income with fixed income such as pension and SS. The rest you can fund by taking a little more risk with your 401k type money.
So most importantly decide how much fixed income you really need (considering of course that most of it may not be inflation adjusted - including SS in the future) and then work your calculations from there.
It is entirely possible that the best choice is to take the lump sum but convert say half of it to an immediate annuity (and maybe even over 2-3 years 1/3 at a time) and put the rest into a good growth index fund that will at least track the market. What I did was a variation of this, part lump sum on what was a supplemental voluntary pension, but the main income from the annuity with survivor benefits.
Dave Gilmer from WA posted over 5 years ago:
As mentioned this subject probably needs a part 2.
Generally I liked the article, as I think it gave fair coverage to both Risk, and Cost comparisons of managing the lump sum yourself.
However, I disagree with the author's general rule that annuities are more attractive for those that expect to live longer. NONE of us really know whether tomorrow will be our last day or 30 years from now. The correct question to ask is for the NEEDS portion of my income do I need more fixed income.
I also don't think it is ever appropriate to annuitize 100% of your retirement savings to cover your income needs as this is just a disaster waiting to happen.
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