Ginger beer and kombucha are having a moment

Ginger Libation from Artisan Beverage Cooperative.

You probably haven’t had a true ginger beer.

Even ardent Moscow Mule fans might be surprised to learn they’re mixing their vodka and muddled lime with a soft-drink variant of ginger ale, made under labels like Gosling’s and Barritts.

Invented by the British in the 18th century, traditional ginger beer is alcoholic — as high as 8 or 9 percent. It’s made with a “ginger beer plant,’’ a starter of lemon, sugar, and ginger that spurs the drink to ferment, much like a “mother’’ helps sourdough bread rise.

Complicating things further, real ginger beer isn’t technically beer, which by definition contains grain. Today, most outfits making the good, old stuff classify the drink as a wine, which is how the Artisan Beverage Cooperative in Greenfield sells theirs.

To get around the naming issue, the co-op labels its beverage Ginger Libation. The drink is an evolved home-brew recipe, scaled up to 500-gallon batches, and varies from the English tradition only in the use of a gluten-free yeast rather than a starter.

“We were a winery, so we sort of made more of a wine style with a little higher alcohol,’’ says Garth Shaneyfelt, the co-op’s general manager. “It’s just fruit juices and sugar and ginger in there.’’

The co-op also makes a Local Libation with local ginger, cider, and cranberries, as well as blueberry and dry-hopped versions.

Shaneyfelt is one of six equal owners of the co-op, whose 20 employees craft kombucha under the Katalyst brand and make Green River Ambrosia, a kind of mead.

“We sort of joke that wanted to go into a business where we have to explain absolutely everything that we do, because nobody’s heard of any of it,’’ says Shaneyfelt.

The drinks play off each other nicely in the company’s tap room, where customers can sample from six varieties of kombucha.

“We usually have a bunch of different flavors that we’re trying out that we’re not bottling or canning yet,’’ says Shaneyfelt. “This spring actually, I have a big spruce tree in my backyard, and I picked a bunch of spruce tips and made a kombucha and also a spruce libation, which was kind of fun.’’

The tap room is a welcoming place even for someone who doesn’t drink alcohol.

“The kombucha’s a nice counterpoint,’’ says Shaneyfelt. “Kombucha can certainly have a tang, but a lot of kids —especially out here in hippie Western Mass. — a lot of kids are into kombucha.’’

Artisan Beverage Coop products have made their way into the Boston area. The tap room (324 Wells St., Greenfield) is open Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 2 to 6 p.m.