As temperance movements gained steam in the 1880s and 90s, it became important that these fizzy refreshments not contain booze. The colonials were enthusiastic about birch beer which would not be classes as a beer at all in modern terminology, since it was not a malt drink.
In United States, original birch beer was first made in an apothecary in 1890. The first birch beers were homemade, brewed without a standard recipe. Black birch trees as with maples, have a sap run in the spring. Early versions of birch beer contained yeast and were left to ferment, making them alcoholic.
The one ingredient used in all recipes of birch beer is birch sap. The sap has less sugar than maple sap, but it does have sufficient sugar to be boiled down and used for beer.
The birch beer is usually carbonated and often called a soft drink. However, there is also an alcoholic version of birch beer caused by fermenting a birch sap.
Birch beer is a regional specialty sold mostly in the mid-Atlantic states and New England. Birch beer is quite similar to an American root beer. It is made from bark of a birch tree and sap. What is the difference between root beer and borsch beer? The primary difference between root and birch beer is their key ingredient. Birch beer is made from the sap and bark of birch trees, while root beer is made using the flavors of the sassafras vine and root.
Birch beer – beverage made from sap of the birch tree
