Can You Substitute Ginger Ale For Ginger Beer?

Ginger's flavor profile makes it one of the most unique root vegetables to cook with. It has a warm, comforting flavor that emits a hint of spice and a slight sweetness, while it gives a bite to classic cocktails like the Moscow mule or foods like the lovable gingerbread cookie. It's used to flavor two popular fizzy drinks, too: ginger ale and ginger beer. While you might order a mule and expect ginger beer, or ask for a Shirley Temple and expect ginger ale, you don't always anticipate either drink being made with the opposite carbonated soda. But when it comes down to it, can you swap ginger ale for ginger beer? Technically, yes — you just might have to modify the recipe and be prepared for a flavor difference.

Ginger ale and ginger beer both have ginger flavor (though, in most cases, ginger ale is not made with real ginger), but their profiles are pretty different. Ginger ale is the sweeter, more subtle of the two, with ginger beer having a lot more spice to it. If you want to substitute ginger ale for ginger beer, then expect the drink or dish to taste substantially sweeter.

When making a cocktail or drink involving ginger ale — such as a Shirley Temple, a classic drink made from ginger ale and grenadine — then you should anticipate a pretty substantial flavor change when swapping in ginger beer. To make the ginger beer sweeter, consider adding simple syrup to the drink, which could balance the harsher, ginger-forward flavor that ginger beer offers.

If you're making a Moscow mule with ginger ale, you can use the same amount of ginger ale, but understand that it will be noticeably sweeter. Moscow mules also involve lime juice, so you can dim the sweetness by adding a little extra lime. If you happen to have freshly grated ginger on hand, add some of that to the drink to amplify that ginger flavor as much as possible. Something else to consider is that ginger beer does have trace amounts of alcohol, so keep that in mind when interchanging it with ginger ale, which has no alcohol.

Interchanging ginger ale and ginger beer in cooking gets a little trickier. If a recipe calls for ginger beer and you want to sub ginger ale, you're better off adding in just a small amount at a time to make sure it doesn't turn the dish too sweet.

If a recipe calls for ginger ale and you want to sub ginger beer, then you have to make sure you understand the role ginger ale plays in the dish. As a soda with plenty of sugar, ginger ale caramelizes as it heats and acts as a glaze. If you're making ginger ale-glazed roasted vegetables, for example, then you can easily substitute ginger beer because it's also a high-sugar carbonated beverage. But the rule still stands that both have different flavors, so adding too much ginger beer to a glaze or sauce recipe might cause it to taste too harsh when it's supposed to be on the sweeter side. Consider sprinkling a little sugar into the sauce to increase its sweetness. So while the short answer is yes, substituting one for the other will work, there is a little trial and error that comes with getting the flavors to be similar.