# Birch Beer -- A Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [October 13, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553 "2011-10-13T16:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/1 "2011-10-13T16:54:45Z")
What say you? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/2 "2011-10-13T17:16:19Z")
You didn’t include options about the vareties of Birch Beer. There’s the dark stuff and the clear stuff, and some inbetweens. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/3 "2011-10-13T17:40:55Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. Bottoms up! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/4 "2011-10-13T17:50:05Z")
Not a fan. I’ll try a new one if I see it, but I have yet to find one that I’ll try again. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/5 "2011-10-13T18:08:00Z")
I went for ‘meh’, but with an explanation. The only time I’ve had birch beer it was a homebrew experiment by some friends. They said they overdid the birch flavor. In fact, they named the batch “Bite of the Backyard” because it tasted like you’d gone outside and just taken a big bite out of a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/6 "2011-10-13T18:46:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You didn’t include options about the vareties of Birch Beer. There’s the dark stuff and the clear stuff, and some inbetweens. Yeah, I was aware of that when I set it up, but I didn’t want a 30-option poll either. This is stemming from the camping trip we took last weekend. I asked my Indiana born-and-raised girlfriend if she’d like a birch beer, and was floored when she said she had no idea what I was talking about. What I didn’t realize was… > [@](#): > > Birch beer is primarily sold in the northeast part of the United States. There are manufacturers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who distribute mainly to the Mid-Atlantic states and New England, although some birch beer may be found outside these areas. I thought the stuff was everywhere. Go figure. Poor, non-birch beer-having folks… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/7 "2011-10-13T18:52:01Z")
I went with “meh”. I must not be very discerning, as root beer, birch beer, and sarsaparilla are all pretty much the same thing to my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/8 "2011-10-13T18:53:08Z")
I haven’t had any in probably 20 years, since I moved out of NJ. I always preferred it to root beer… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/9 "2011-10-13T19:28:33Z")
Yum - but the only place I ever found this stuff was Boy Scot Camp in New York. No, the tasting room in the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta had some also. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/10 "2011-10-13T19:40:58Z")
Meh. It is alright for a novilty to have when we visit my wife’s family on the east coast, but it will never surplant a frosty mug of Root Beer. ---
**Author:** ![beachbetch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@beachbetch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beachbetch)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/11 "2011-10-14T01:01:56Z")
Sweet, sweet nectar of the gods. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/12 "2011-10-14T03:39:36Z")
Love birch beer. Seems to have more of a hard bite than root beer. Just like Sasparilla Root Tea- that hard birch beer favor. Damned high fructose corn syrup…messing up the purity ! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/13 "2011-10-14T05:11:59Z")
Yuck. Like all other drinks with “beer” in the name, I am not a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/14 "2011-10-14T07:10:47Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yuck. Like all other drinks with “beer” in the name, I am not a fan. I like root beer, birch beer, and ginger beer. But not spruce beer. That shit’s nasty. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/15 "2011-10-14T10:10:34Z")
I love it, along with root and ginger. Wish it weren’t so hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![anthonyrootbeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@anthonyrootbeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anthonyrootbeer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/16 "2011-10-14T15:07:33Z")
i quite enjoy it myself. in fact i have a website where i review it alogn with root beer and sarsaparilla! [Anthony’s Root Beer Barrel](http://rootbeerbarrel.com) there are some gross ones out there but the good ones are indeed amazing. -anthony ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/17 "2011-10-14T15:11:24Z")
It’s fine, but I’d just rather stick with a good root beer or ginger beer. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/18 "2011-10-14T15:13:18Z")
I need an option between “Meh” and “Yum”. I like birch beer occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/19 "2011-10-14T16:20:53Z")
I’ve heard of it, but have never had it. Are there regions in the US where it’s more likely to be found, so I can keep an eye out for it next time? I’ve never seen it around here. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553/20 "2011-10-14T16:23:14Z")
True story: Back in 1950 my father, who’d grown up in east Tennessee, was in the FBI, assigned to New Jersey. He was about 24 at the time. He and some other agents went to lunch at a café, apparently on duty. After food orders at the café were taken, the waitress asked what everyone would drink. Dad’s fellow agents all asked for “Birch Beer." Dad, never having heard of “birch beer” before, asked for Miller High Life, to collective shock of the other agents! It’s only through that story that I know of the existence of birch beer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-beer-a-poll/599553.md?page=2)