Is ginger beer a beer?

First of all - why I decided to write about this! Being a beer lover I really struggled to find a decent non alcoholic beer when I was pregnant. I was in the UK at the time and I tried all kinds English and German, 0% and 0.5% and they all just tasted too sweet. I like a good IPA or a bitter but what is it with non alcoholic beer having that slight sweetness? I did find one good one in the end, it was an IPA but it was so rare, hardly any bars and zero shops had it in. So I decided that instead of being perpetually disappointed by wanting a beer but getting stuff that doesn't quite hit the spot, I'll go for something else. Ginger Beer has beer in the name and ginger is supposed to be really good for me and my digestion, so kinda killing 2 birds with one stone 😀 I love the taste obviously too; dark n stormy is one of my favourite cocktails. But I never really thought why it's called ginger beer. Maybe some of you were wondering too? In that case - read on!

Is ginger beer and ale the same thing?
Ginger beer is a fermented slightly fizzy ginger beverage with a very strong and spicy ginger taste. Unlike ginger ALE which is sweeter and lighter in taste, more like a flavoured lemonade. Traditionally made ginger beer gets its fizz from fermentation, whereas ginger ale is carbonated. Despite BEER and ALE in their names, neither of them are alcoholic drinks (nowadays...).

So why BEER? Is it brewed in the same way or does it contain beer? No. It is made by fermenting ginger, sugar and water. So more lika cider. That's the traditional method from back in the day when it was first made in Yorkshire, England around mid 18th century. Nowadays there are still traditional makers like Australia's Bundaberg, but mostly it's manufactured using flavourings and carbonation. The traditional method is to make it using the "Ginger Beer Plant", which is not a plant but a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). The symbiotic culture of bacteria in the Ginger Beer Plant is lactobacillus;making it similar to a kombucha or a kefir SCOBY. So that's allegedly where the beer bit comes from in the name. The original SCOBY has unfortunately been lost and the origins are unknown, but various similar ones exist in home brewing. Manufacturers don't use a SCOBY, they use a yeast starter called "ginger bug" to make the drink. It contains water,brewer's or baker's yeast, ginger and sugar.

Another reason why it might have "beer" in the name is that originally it was an alcoholic drink, with allegedly around 11%ABV. Some sources suggest that this drink became non-alcoholic to be sold to US during the prohibition. To make it non-alcoholoc they had to make it without using the Ginger Beer Plant or SCOBY, and that's why allegedly the original one disappeared.

The good news is that you can now buy Ginger Beer Plant online, even Etsy sell it. And, if you are into that kind of thing, not only the plant but whole ginger beer making kits are available. Proper ginger beer, not some carbonated watered syrup.