Everyone has already remarked upon the taste of ginger beer and how very different from ginger ale it is.
I’m just here to offer up a very tasty drink I had recently:
ginger beer + vodka + fresh lime juice
It had such a fresh bite!
Otherwise known as a Moscow Mule.
That’s why I thought ginger beer = root beer; ginger beer is made from ginger root.
Ignorance fought again.
Qadgop, would you mind elaborating on your list there? I love the stuff but I’m poor and I don’t like experimenting as much as I want. Out of your list the only one I’ve had is Reed’s and I think it’s weak. What’s the ginger strength of the others?
You gotta go with Reed’s extra ginger brew. The rest are indeed too weak.
Otherwise, all the others I listed had a pretty strong ginger flavor. As does the Ginger People brand.
My favorite is A. J. Stephans, but I can’t get it easily.
I happen to be lucky and live in a place with a very large Carribean population. Which means I can get Carib Shandy products by walking to the corner store. I like Old Tyme and and Reed’s ginger beer better than Carib’s ginger beer with beer in it, which is not to say I’d turn down a ginger shandy. But the sorrel shandy is sooooo tasty!
Aha! Thanks silenus! Now I know what to order.
Ginger beer is what ginger ale is supposed to taste like. When I was a kid, I learned that at restaurants, soda and the like are called soft drinks because they’re not alcohol, which are hard drinks. I then went on to think that ginger ale was so called because it was not alcoholic like real ale (ginger=soft, right?). It wasn’t until my first sip of ginger beer when I was 20 that I had this huge revelation: oh, ginger ale is supposed to taste like ginger!
In conclusion ginger ale sucks. (actually, I like it. But not when I want something that tastes gingery. Were there ginger beer available everywhere, I’d never drink ginger ale again.)
Merci. 
It’s too bad you’ve not had Barritt’s; I’d love a comparison between that and the others.
Thanks to this thread, I tried the Reed’s extra ginger brew. It’s slightly less wimpy and vile than the other Reed’s products, but still not actually worth drinking. Stick with the Stephan’s, Blenheim red-cap, or Fentiman’s.
ISTR that A-Treat Golden Ginger Ale (local brand in eastern PA) was also good, but haven’t had it in probably 20 years.
The ginger beer I’ve had was…strong. Not alcoholic, just kind of intensely flavoured.
I’ve drunk Fentimans. Expensive for a soft drink (especially since it was from a tourist-trap cafe) and so never a regular with me, but I’d agree that you get what you pay for.
I went to an “ethnic” grocer in my neighborhood and they wanted $8.00 for four 12 ounce bottles for ginger beer. I passed on that.
I understand that no major brand of “Ginger Ale” (Schwepps, Canada Dry) actually uses ginger.
When I first tried Old Tyme ginger beer I was not at all prepared for it. If you live in Canada you can get it at the Superstore, in the aisle with the rest of the pop. It may not be available at all Superstores but it is at mine…in N.B. I picked it up thinking it was just a naturally-flavoured ginger ale (okay, I also liked the cuteness of the bottle), and I took a big swig in my car and choked it up all over the steering wheel. It is very strong, especially if you are expecting the relatively mellow taste of ginger ale. Mine was a Jamaican-style variety. My immediate thought was ‘do they now secretly sell liquor at the grocery store?’ And then after a few tastes I thought it tasted like medicine, and by the end of the first bottle it had grown on me. I want to try the Moscow mule (ginger beer, vodka, and lime juice). I think it might clear my sinuses…I think you’ll like it but it is of some service to know what you are getting into; it is better to take small, piquant sips rather than reckless gulps.
Mary-Ann Beer is sweeter and hotter.
What about Lovey Beer?
Richer.
Well, I guess for some people… who like an aged beverage…
Bravo! Nicely done!