isithalal.food

Is Ginger beer Halal?

It depends on what the label says.

Halal if verified
Medium confidence About this ruling

About this ruling

Condition
Verify the product or supplier in hand
Evidence confidence
Medium means the sources are named, but they do not pin the evidence to a specific market or product. Use this page as orientation, then read the pack in your hand.
How we score High, Medium, and Low

Reviewed

'Ginger beer' covers three kinds of drink.

Next step Most ginger beer is a soft drink with no alcohol, despite the name. Check the label: avoid the alcoholic kind, such as Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer, and note that brewed ginger beers like Fentimans use a fermented ginger extract. How to verify
Scan a label

Photo: Open Food Facts contributors · CC BY-SA 3.0

How to verify

  1. Read the front: 'alcoholic ginger beer' and an ABV mean it's an alcoholic drink.
  2. Soft ginger beers list water, sugar or sweetener, ginger and flavourings.
  3. Brewed ginger beers list a fermented ginger extract or yeast; on trace alcohol from fermentation, see the scholarly note.

Quick checks

  • Soft ginger beer: no alcohol listed.
  • Brewed: fermented ginger extract.
  • Alcoholic ginger beer: not Halal.

What decides the answer

  • Soft ginger beer (no fermentation, no alcohol listed)

    Halal

  • Brewed ginger beer with fermented ginger extract

    trace alcohol possible; see the scholarly note

  • Alcoholic ginger beer

    not Halal

Why this ruling

Ginger beer sounds like beer, but most of it is a fizzy soft drink flavoured with ginger. The name covers three different drinks, and the label tells you which one you have.

Soft ginger beer

Old Jamaica lists carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, flavourings including ginger root extract, gum arabic and preservatives,[3] and Fever-Tree lists spring water, sugar, ginger root and natural flavourings.[4] Neither lists alcohol, and both are Halal.

Brewed ginger beer

Some ginger beers are brewed. Fentimans lists a "fermented ginger root extract" made with water, glucose syrup, ginger root, pear juice concentrate and yeast.[5] Fermentation can leave traces of alcohol. Answering about Bundaberg's brewed ginger beer, Mufti Ebrahim Desai ruled that "alcohol produced from anything besides dates and grapes is permissible provided that the amount is so minute that it does not cause intoxication".[7] Stricter scholars avoid any alcohol in a drink; see non-alcoholic beer and kombucha for the same question.

Alcoholic ginger beer

Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer is an alcoholic drink, recorded as such on Open Food Facts.[6] Like beer, it isn't Halal. The word "alcoholic" on the front is the giveaway.

Where you'll find it

  • Soft drink on its own
  • Mixer in mocktails
  • Brewed craft sodas

Frequently asked questions

Is ginger beer Halal?
Most is. Soft ginger beers such as Old Jamaica and Fever-Tree list no alcohol. Alcoholic ginger beers such as Crabbie's are not Halal.
Is ginger ale Halal?
Ginger ale is a soft drink, lighter than ginger beer. Canada Dry lists carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, a preservative or sweeteners, natural flavouring and caramel colour, with no alcohol, so it is Halal on its ingredients.
Does ginger beer have alcohol?
Soft ginger beer doesn't list any. Brewed ginger beer, such as Fentimans, uses a fermented ginger extract made with yeast, so traces from fermentation are possible. Alcoholic ginger beer is sold as an alcoholic drink.
Is Fentimans ginger beer Halal?
Fentimans lists a fermented ginger root extract made with water, glucose syrup, ginger root, pear juice concentrate and yeast. Mufti Ebrahim Desai permits non-intoxicating traces of alcohol not from dates or grapes; stricter scholars avoid any.

Scholarly view

An alcoholic ginger beer is an intoxicating drink and not Halal. For brewed soft ginger beers, the question is trace alcohol from fermentation. Mufti Ebrahim Desai holds that 'alcohol produced from anything besides dates and grapes is permissible provided that the amount is so minute that it does not cause intoxication'. Other scholars are stricter about any alcohol in a drink, as with non-alcoholic beer.

Sources

Named Islamic, certifier, manufacturer, and regulatory sources used on this page. Inline markers like [1] jump here. Retrieval dates show when we last checked the live URL. Editorial methodology.

Islamic / scriptural

  1. Is Bundaberg Ginger Beer and other beverages containing traces of alcohol halal?

    AskImam, Mufti Ebrahim Desai (via IslamQA.org) Retrieved

    Lists Bundaberg's ingredients including yeast and rules: 'alcohol produced from anything besides dates and grapes is permissible provided that the amount is so minute that it does not cause intoxication'.

Manufacturer / product

  1. Canada Dry Ginger Ale (barcode 0078000026238)

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Jurisdiction: United States

    Carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative), natural flavours, caramel colour.

  2. Schweppes Canada Dry Ginger Ale, 1 litre (barcode 5449000133465)

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, acidity regulator (sodium citrate), colour (caramel E150d), sweeteners (acesulfame K, sucralose), natural flavouring.

  3. Old Jamaica Ginger Beer

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, flavourings (including ginger root extract), gum arabic, sodium citrates, sodium benzoate, sucralose.

  4. Fever-Tree Premium Ginger Beer

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Carbonated spring water, sugar, ginger root, natural ginger flavouring with other natural flavourings, tartaric acid, ascorbic acid, natural flavourings.

  5. Fentimans Ginger Beer

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Carbonated water, fermented ginger root extract (water, glucose syrup, ginger root, pear juice concentrate, yeast), sugar, pear juice concentrate, natural flavourings (ginger, lemon, capsicum), cream of tartar, citric acid, steviol glycosides, herbal infusions (speedwell, juniper, yarrow).

  6. Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer

    Open Food Facts Retrieved

    Recorded as 'crabbies alcoholic ginger beer' in the alcoholic beverages category.

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