Why is root beer called root beer if it's not beer?

Question

There is no alcohol in it. So, is it made from the roots of hops or something?

Answer 1

But, it IS beer.

Root beer is a dark beverage that comes in two forms, alcoholic and as a soft drink. The alcoholic version is made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, artificial sassafras root bark flavoring (the pure form is mildly carcinogenic), nutmeg, anise, and molasses among other ingredients.

The soft drink version of root beer is non-alcoholic and is generally made using root beer extract or other flavored syrups along with carbonated water. The soft drink version of root beer constitutes about 3% of the American soft drink market

Answer 2

Root beer (ginger ale, etc.) is brewed (heated) to extract natural flavors and oils from roots and to dissolve the sugars (cane, honey, molasses, etc.). Then water is added to the brew to cool it down room temperature, and yeast is added.
The brew does not sit around for two weeks like regular beer. It is immediately bottled.
The yeast multiplies fast for a few days and produces lots of carbon dioxide in the process. This carbonates the beverage which is all you want (not much alcohol). Then you put the bottles in the refrigerator. (In the old days they'd put the stuff in a cold place like a root cellar. It often wasn't cold enough and the bottles would explode!) The cold temperature stops the yeast from working. They go dormant. Home made root beer probably should not be drinken from the bottle unless you like the taste of yeast... some will almost surely be in the bottom of the bottle.
Real brewed root beer is about 0.25% alcohol (or less). This is not much, and fruit juices like orange juice have about as much

Mass market Root beer isn't carbonated that way anymore.. so it has no alcohol in it.

***UNVERIFIED LEGEND***

Mr. Hires originally was going to call it Root Tea at first.. But figured the word beer would sound better to the coal miners of the era.

Cheers :-)

Answer 3

Yep - it was originally made from the root of the sasparilla tree, then sweetened and carbonated. If you buy a piece of sasparilla root, you can make some very good hot tea by simply soaking the root in some hot water for 5 minutes. Then let the root dry out, and you can use it again - 5-6 times!

Answer 4

I belive that Ruth Beer is non-alcholic drink that could be a substitute for a real beer.I think that it's safer to drink root beer than real beer. i think it tastes similar to reel beer it just doesn't have alcohol in it. root beer is non-alcoholic and is generally made using root beer extract or other flavored syrups along with carbonated water.

Answer 5

Beer moderately isn't undesirable for you. in case you at the instant are not gonna bypass on a bender each and every evening, yet perchance have a pair of pints with a meal a pair of situations a week, you're able to do ok. The neat component approximately ingesting purely infrequently is which you would be able to spend your cash on high quality stuff particularly than the junk it fairly is offered in 12 packs.

Answer 6

Real root beer actually is beer with alcohol and everything.

Answer 7

"Beer" isn't necessarily an alcoholic thing. I think the word has more to do with how it's made.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Beer
2. any of various beverages, whether alcoholic or not, made from roots, molasses or sugar, yeast, etc.: root beer; ginger beer.

Answer 8

I think it was originally made using the root of the Sasafrass (sp?) tree.

Answer 9

well, its fissed up just like beer............its juice from roots
Also its believed to make kids crazy(hyper).....while beer is known to make adults crazy(weird-like)


P.S. Fact: Adults would rather buy root beer because it's caffeine free(no carbonated water,less sugar that makes kids hyper).

Answer 10

I think they used to make it like they make beer, hence the name