That was good and figures marketing comes into it, lol. The word beer itself goes back even farther - look at the entemology section of this article. A true beer is brewed. Personally I like ginger beer, and the more flavorful the better. Of course I also like ginger tea, crystalized ginger, and ginger ice cream. It's the yankee in me !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer