Short answer
Most ginger beer is halal: despite the name, it is a non-alcoholic soft drink made from ginger, sugar and water. Alcoholic ginger beer, which is brewed to intoxicate and shows an alcohol percentage on the label, is haram. Ginger ale is a soft drink and is halal.
A drink is judged by whether it intoxicates, not by its name. Non-alcoholic ginger beer, including brewed kinds with a natural trace of alcohol that cannot intoxicate, is halal; alcoholic ginger beer is haram in any amount.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Ginger beer began as a fermented drink brewed from ginger, sugar and a starter culture. Most ginger beer sold today is a fizzy soft drink, much like ginger ale but spicier. A separate product, alcoholic ginger beer, is made to contain alcohol like beer or cider.
- Soft drink ginger beer: sold with other sodas, no alcohol percentage, often marked non-alcoholic. Halal.
- Traditionally brewed ginger beer: may hold a natural trace of alcohol from fermentation that cannot intoxicate. Halal, like kombucha.
- Alcoholic ginger beer: sold with beers and ciders and labelled with an ABV like beer. Haram.
- Ginger ale: a soft drink. Halal.
The rule goes back to the drinks of the Prophet's ﷺ time. He drank nabidh, water in which dates or raisins had been soaked, for up to about three days, then had what was left poured away before it could turn intoxicating. A drink is judged by whether it intoxicates (see what is nabidh). The four schools agree.
A mocktail made with ginger beer and lime is halal if no spirit is added. Some people avoid drinks that are named or served like beer, out of caution; that is a personal choice, and drinks that imitate beer are discussed in non-alcoholic beer.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Intoxicants are forbidden; non-intoxicating drinks are not.
Sahih Muslim 2003
Sahih... كل مسكر خمر وكل مسكر حرام ...
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haram."
The test is whether the drink intoxicates.
Sahih Muslim 2004
Sahih... ينتبذ له أول الليل فيشربه إذا أصبح يومه ...
"Nabidh was prepared for him at the start of the night and he drank it the next morning."
Soaked, slightly fermented drinks were drunk before they could intoxicate.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Ashriba. Soaked and fermented drinks are lawful until they intoxicate.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.