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A non-alcoholic beer called spruce beer
Contrary to what its name suggests, spruce beer is a fir-flavoured, non-alcoholic fizzy drink. Native Americans were already brewing a coniferous decoction that they thought had medicinal properties, when Jacques Cartier borrowed the recipe from them in 1536 to treat his sailors who were suffering from a mysterious disease. This was, in all likelihood, scurvy, a disease resulting from a vitamin C deficiency.
The traditional recipe still uses spruce bark, cones or twigs that are actually very rich in vitamin C. These items are mixed with water and sugar and then left to ferment. This drink is called beer because beer wort was originally used for making it. Although yeast is used nowadays, the name beer has remained. The fizziness of the drink is in fact due to the presence of yeast and soda bicarbonate.
These days, spruce beer is made in a semi-artisan way by a handful of small producers in Quebec and Newfoundland. Their products are marketed in some grocery stores, convenience stores and traditional restaurants.
Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on August 20, 2011.
Author
Cinzia Cuneo, founder of SOSCuisine.com, never wanted to neglect the quality of her food. She shares her special expertise to make good food quickly and without complications!
so happy to find your page…am looking for my favorite pop..(soda) spruce beer…please tell me that you make, carry, ship to michigan…will be eagerly waiting for reply.. thank you…im originally from montreal and been looking for this for years…thanks…lwpratt
Hi Lawrence, We do not make nor sell spruce beer. I suggest you contact this spruce beer maker: http://www.bieredepinette.ca/
I want to buy non-alcoholic spruce beer in B C
How do I get some
Hi Neal,
I recommend you google “spruce beer” for your area.