Q: Why is root beer called "beer"?Here’s the short version: it was originally a fermented drink made from roots, especially sassafras and sarsaparilla. Early versions—dating back to Indigenous beverages and later adopted by European settlers—often had a tiny amount of natural alcohol from fermentation. Because of this, and because it was brewed like other drinks, people called it a beer.
A bit more detail:
1. It was literally brewed
Early root beer was created by boiling various roots, herbs, spices, and bark in water, then letting the mixture ferment slightly. This brewing process was similar to how people made small beers (low-alcohol drinks) at home.
2. “Beer” didn’t always mean alcohol-heavy
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term beer often referred to any brewed, yeast-fermented beverage, even if it contained very little alcohol. Many families drank “small beer” because it was safer than untreated water.
3. Hires popularized the name
Charles Hires commercially marketed “root beer” in the 1870s. He originally considered calling it "root tea," but “root beer” appealed more to working-class customers who liked hearty, old-fashioned beverages. His version was non-alcoholic, but the name stuck.
4. Today, it’s alcohol-free
Modern root beer is carbonated and flavoured, not fermented, so it doesn’t contain alcohol unless specifically labelled as hard root beer.
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