"My Brother's Girl": Ginger Ale

[miss landers]

Wally, Beaver, and Mary Ellen sipped ginger ale in tonight's episode. When I was a tot, ginger ale was served to me to settle an upset stomach. Which it did.

THE STORY OF GINGER ALE IN AMERICA

America's oldest soda is Vernor's Ginger Ale - created over 130 years ago by a 19 year old drug store clerk named James Vernor.

Vernor began experimenting in Detroit with his own ginger ale recipe. In 1862 he enlisted in the Union forces. Before leaving for war he placed his ginger ale extract into an oak cask. At the end of the Civil War Vernor opened a drug store - and opened his oak cask as well. The four years of aging had blended his golden ginger ale to perfection.

Vernor began selling his ginger ale to his drug store customers but in 1896 he made the decision to take his ale to a larger market. He closed his drug store and opened a plant to focus solely on the production of golden ginger ale. Vernor's ginger ale became a very popular soda.

Prohibition however killed most golden ginger ale in the US. "Dry" ginger ale - less sweet than golden ginger ale - was used as a mix with alcohol during prohibition and golden ginger ale fell from popularity.

Vernor's was one of the few golden ginger ales to survive prohibition however. The company was sold several times over the years and finally merged with 7Up in the 1980s. Vernor's Ginger Ale is distributed today in limited areas of the US.