Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Why is root beer called root beer?
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
A glass mug of root beer float with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top sits on a blue napkin, with a spoon and an ice cream scoop nearby on a wooden table.
Quick Facts
Related Topics:
root beer
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
A glass mug of root beer float with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top sits on a blue napkin, with a spoon and an ice cream scoop nearby on a wooden table.
Brown cow or root beer float? A root beer float is made with vanilla ice cream and root beer. It is also called a brown cow. Despite these names, the yummy dessert does not include roots, alcohol, or beef.

Why is root beer called root beer?

Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
‱History

Root beer is a popular sweet, carbonated beverage that contains no alcohol. It is called “root beer,” however, because its original formulation was derived from roots and herbs, and the name was chosen to appeal to a specific customer. The primary ingredients in early recipes of the drink included sassafras, wintergreen, and sarsaparilla, which were commonly used by Indigenous North Americans in medicinal teas. These roots and herbs gave the beverage its distinctive flavor, which was carried over into the commercial versions of root beer, although replaced with different ingredients.

Some early root beers contained small amounts of alcohol. The recipes involved cooking the mixtures down to a syruplike consistency, adding more water and a small amount of yeast, and leaving the beverage to ferment. Yet the “beer” part of the drink’s name was a clever marketing move by Charles Elmer Hires, a Philadelphia-based pharmacist who was the first person to successfully sell root beer on a mass scale in the late 1800s. Hires called it “root beer” to make the drink more appealing to coal miners, despite the fact that Hires’s recipe was nonalcoholic.

The addition of carbonation as well as high-fructose corn syrup or sugar, caramel coloring to give the product its trademark dark brown appearance, and small amounts of natural and artificial flavorings to traditional root beers led to the modern, fizzy version we know today, but the name “root beer” stuck as a nod to its origins.

A photo of brown beer bottles without brand labels on a conveyor belt in a production facility.
Why Are Beer Bottles Brown?
Five glasses of beer with foamy heads are arranged in a row on a dark, reflective table.
How Was Alcohol Discovered?
Close-up of a cappuccino in a white cup with latte art on milk foam, resting on a saucer with a spoon on a cafe table in Rome, Italy.
Latte vs. Cappuccino: What’s the Difference?
Diagram of the human digestive system viewed from the front, showing and labeling organs including the mouth, teeth, tongue, salivary glands, pharynx, esophagus, liver, stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, large intestine, small intestine, appendix, rectum, and anus.
How Long Does It Take Food to Digest?
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.