• WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Yes, That is why it is also called Ginger Beer and Root Beer is also called Wintergreen Ale

    • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      To be clear, the drinks labeled ginger beer in every store i’ve been to is VERY different from the one labeled ginger ale

        • Letstakealook@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          That’s not the case. “Ale” is a type of beer. In any case, carbonated ginger beverages, regardless of name, were traditionally carbonated by fermentation, but modern mass market sodas are often artificially carbonated and flavored.

          • Traditionally yes. But that hasn’t been the case since, like, the 40’s or 50’s when soda fountains became huge. Even most modern root beer like A&W, Mug, and Barqs aren’t technically root beer, in the traditional sense. It might be different regionally, but here where I am if you go to a store and see ginger ale and ginger beer both being sold, they aren’t the same thing.

          • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            Yeah both root beer and ginger ale were historically made via a brewing process, often brewed to rather low ABV because the flavor of the spices was mostly the point, and with the invention of the soda fountain it became typical to make them by adding soda water to flavored syrup.

            You will get different things if you ask a bartender for a “ginger beer” or a “ginger ale.”

            • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              This is really at the core of what I was trying to say. If i asked for a drink with gi ger beer in it and received one with ginger ale in the place of the ginger bee, I’d consider that incorrect, regardless of either beverage’s history

          • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            1 month ago

            At least in Australia, Bundaberg Ginger Beer is brewed traditionally still. Tastes way better than artificial carbonation. Also works better for tummy woes.

    • Cadeillac@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 month ago

      Interesting. This goes deeper than I thought. I need to get to the root of this conspiracy

    • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      Oooooohhhhhhh!!!

      THAT’S why so many people say that root beer tastes like toothpaste!

      • Mango@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        People say that? Also wtf, I never knew there was some kind of mint involved!

        • Cadeillac@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 month ago

          I’ve not heard it personally before now. I had no idea either. This has been quite the educational thread

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    I think the genuine answer is “no but they are closely related.”

    As my junior officer Ensign_Crab pointed out, Ginger is a rhizome, not a root, but both started out as low ABV brewed beverages flavored with spices (ginger and sarsaparilla or sassafras respectively) that with the invention of the soda fountain transformed into soft drinks made by mixing flavored syrups with carbonated water.