How A Victorian-Era Drink Led To The Invention Of Ginger Ale

There are a lot of companies producing non-alcoholic spirits and beer these days, but you might be surprised to learn that way back in the Victorian era, the invention of ginger ale was born from an alcoholic drink called ginger beer. No, not the darker, spicier cousin of ginger ale often used in cocktails like a dark and stormy. The original contained a low amount of alcohol (thus the word "beer" in the name). While its popularity hit its height during the Victorian era (1837 to 1901), the drink's roots go back hundreds of years in England.

As far back as the 14th century there were recipes for homemade brews that included ginger (along with other warming spices like cloves), part of a British tradition of home brewing using various herbs and spices for what was called low-alcohol small beers. The Victorian-era ginger beer was fairly simple to make, which is probably why it was so popular.

Technically, Victorian-era ginger beer wasn't even really a beer since it didn't contain malted grains. However, it was fermented. Making alcoholic ginger beer at home involved adding ginger, sugar, lemon zest, and yeast (often spread onto a slice of bread to help the fermentation process) to water. This mixture was then stored in a bowl for 24 hours, before being decanted into earthenware jugs for up to several months. The resulting effervescent drink was a popular summer-time quaff in the U.K.

The amount of alcohol in the brew depended on how long it fermented and could range from a very low ABV of around .25% for a one-day fermentation period to 2.36% after a week, according to The Fermentation Adventure. Even at the higher end, it was still a fairly low-alcohol drink. For comparison, an average beer is around 5% ABV with craft beers going as high as 15% ABV with some double IPAs. Commercially produced ginger beer, on the other hand, could have an ABV of as high as 11%. An apothecary named Thomas Cantrell crafted the first commercial non-alcoholic ginger ale in the 1850s in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and before long this soft drink, so called to designate it from "hard" alcoholic beverages, overtook its inebriating forebearer.

The rise of the anti-alcohol Temperance Movement in the late 19th century, especially in the United States, helped popularize soda fountains and soft drinks, while also helping to sound the death knell of alcoholic ginger beer. In the U.S., the oldest commercial soft drink was a ginger ale from Michigan called Vernors, which was born in 1866 and is still around. Like the Irish ginger ales its inventor James Vernor was trying to mimic, his product was golden in color and a good deal spicier than the ginger ales we drink today.

Canadian chemist and pharmacist John McLaughlin was the first person to produce the ginger ale that became the modern standard. After first selling a darker Irish-style ginger ale, McLaughlin began making a paler, less ginger-forward version in 1904 that he named Canada Dry Pale Dry Ginger Ale. This new dryer style became popular during Prohibition as a mixer at speakeasies, since the ginger helped cover up the harsh taste of illegally produced liquor. Yes, somehow the mildly alcoholic Victorian-era ginger beer was replaced with a non-alcoholic ginger ale that became popular as a cocktail mixer. Go figure.