On Mar 5, 2:03*pm, Doug Freyburger > wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
> > David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
> >> Dave > *writes:
> >>> Doug Freyburger wrote:
>
> >>>> I see very good Jamiacan style ginger ale in stores here in Chicao metro.
>
> >>> Is that ginger ale or ginger beer?
>
> >> What's the difference?
>
> > Ginger ale is generally very light straw colour, probably lightly
> > coloured with a small amount of caramel. *Ginger beer is usually more of
> > a grey colour with tones of brown and or green. It has a bite too it. I
> > love the ginger beer, but most people around here steer clear of it.
>
> There are "ginger ale" sodas like Canada Dry where the amount of
> flavoring is small or like Vernors where the flavoring is strong but
> it's not obvious to me that it's from ginger.
>
> There are ginger sodas like the one from Trader Joe and the Jamaican one
> with the bird on the label where the ginger flavor is so strong I can
> almost taste the soil the ginger grew in. *I have no idea if these
> products count as "ginger beer". *I figure based on the clarity of the
> flavor they would be called "GINGER ale".

Ginger beer is still around. Last winter I was in San Diego, eating at
a Chicago-style joint called Wolfy's. (RIP) I noticed a bunch of
pewter mugs hanging from the back bar. Turns out they were used for a
60s cocktail called the Moscow Mule. Mine went down very easily,
perhaps aided by the ginger beer in the recipe.

There used to be a mom and pop fish and chips joint in Downers Grove
that sold ginger beer. I believe it was made by Schweppes.