11 Facts About Vernors

Vernors is the oldest surviving American brand of ginger ale first served in 1866 by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist.

Vernors is the oldest surviving ginger ale, according to the company it was first served to the public in 1866 in the United States.

Vernors was next acquired by American Consumer Products and then by United Brands.

Today, Vernors is property of Keurig Dr Pepper of Burlington, Vermont, and Plano, Texas, and the flagship bottling plant serving Michigan is the Keurig Dr Pepper bottling plant in Holland, Michigan.

Vernors is a sweet "golden" ginger ale that derives its color, like other commercial, industrially produced ginger ales, from caramel, and has a robust, vanilla-heavy flavor.

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The Vernors style was common before Prohibition, during which "dry" pale, less sweet ginger ale became popular as a drink mixer.

Theories as to the reason for the evident change in flavor include that the secret formula has been changed, or the substitution of modern high fructose corn syrup for its traditional refined sugar; that it seems to have less carbonation than formerly; and that Vernors is no longer aged four years, but three in oak barrels.

Vernors was not mass distributed nationally for many years; by 1997, the brand's distribution had expanded to a 33-state area.

Vernors agrees that the gnome mascot surfaced sometime in the early 1900s and lasted through to the 1980s, but found no historical evidence of the name “Woody” being associated with the gnome.

Soul singer Aretha Franklin became famous in the city for demonstrating a recipe, traditionally at her church, for Christmas ham with a glaze made with the soft drink; Vernors has been used in a glaze for salmon and in a batter for onion rings.

Boston Cooler, known as a Vernors float, is an ice cream soda variant typically composed of Vernors Ginger Ale and vanilla ice cream blended together similar to a milkshake, although in other parts of the country, different combinations of ingredients are known as a Boston Cooler.