ginger ale and ginger beer are very similar beverages that at one time were the same but have evolved to represent slightly different products. Ginger has for centuries been used as a medicinal compound as well as a beverage flavor. The earliest ginger concoctions were fermented like beers and wine to produce ginger beer that had a light alcohol content of 2–3 percent, with recipes being handed down through the generations. Many recipes for the fermented version were published in books, and advertisements for bottled ginger beer appear in the early 1800s as one of the first carbonated mineral waters to add a flavor.
In the 1800s, the terms ginger ale and ginger beer were interchangeable, but eventually they became somewhat distinct products. Ginger beer became associated with the fermented beverage and was targeted by the temperance movement because of its alcohol content. Ginger ale became associated with the nonalcoholic, artificially carbonated version.
The Flowing Bowl, ginger beer is used in a number of drinks including the Bridge Brace and the Easter Crocus.Belfast ginger ale was often described in publications as the finest ginger ale available. The key ingredient that made Belfast ginger ale popular was capsaicin from hot peppers. The capsaicin was used to duplicate the spicy zing of fresh ginger because the compound in ginger that give it its kick, gingerol, rapidly breaks down in the presence of water, creating zingerone. Zingerone is far less pungent than gingerol, hence the need to add an approximate replacement. Today, ginger beers still use capsaicin to boost their flavor profile, giving it a distinctly spicy quality.
A typical ginger ale formulation would be made using fresh ginger or ginger extract, capsaicin tincture, sugar, and citric acid, as well as flavoring compounds like lemon or orange oil and sometimes caramel coloring. This mixture is prepared either as a syrup or bottled with carbonated water but could also be mixed with water and fermented.
Nowadays the key difference between ginger ale and ginger beer is that modern ginger ale is a much milder product that lacks the spicy punch of its sibling. Ginger ale should not contain capsaicin tincture, though there are no regulations that control this, and some brands may contain capsaicin.
One of the modern inventors of modern ginger ale was John McLaughlin, a graduate of the University of Toronto pharmacy program, who patented a formula for “Dry Pale Ginger Ale.” This product is still sold worldwide today as Canada Dry Ginger Ale.
Ginger ale is a very popular mixer at bars. The most common combinations of ginger ale are with basic whisky or blended scotch. The Vodka and Ginger is a simple take on the Moscow Mule, which uses spicy ginger beer, lime juice, and vodka and is served in a copper mug. There are many popular cocktails made with ginger beer such as the aforementioned Moscow Mule and others like the Dark and Stormy, Horse’s Neck, Kentucky Buck, and the Gin-Gin Mule. See Gin-Gin Mule.
Donovan, Tristan. Fizz: How Soda Shook Up the World. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2013.
O’Neil, Darcy. Fix the Pumps. N.p.: Art of Drink, 2009.
By: Darcy O’Neil