This came up somehow when I met H&L last Saturday. I asked if they were still using their soda machine because I was wondering if birch beer was one of the flavors available.

Linda said she had never heard of it.

It seems  to be something that is popular on a regional basis - New England and the midwest.

I love it... can't get it in this part of the country (GA) so I've been ordering it on the internet from Kutztown, PA.

It's similar to root beer, but not quite as sweet, and has more of a kick in the back of your throat than root beer.

So, if any of you guys from that neck of the woods are going to the rally, please bring some along so that H&L can give it a try.

Thanks, Tim

First time I had it was many years ago up in Canada someplace. Haven't had it for a long time but If I remember right, it was pretty good.

Jim

We like birch beer. We live in New Jersey and it is sold just about everywhere. I guess it is one of those things that you don't think about till you move and cant get it anymore. Ther are alot of things in this area that you don't find in many parts of the country.

Walt

I can't imagine anything tasting better than root beer

i like birch beer a lot & miss it - I lived most of my life in Pennsylvania but now live in the Keys. I also liked sarsaparilla - anybody remember that?

On the web I've found a place in Kutztown, PA from which I can order birch beer.... have done it a couple times, and still have most of a case sitting on the dining room table - there isn't enough room for it all in the fridge (time to clean out some leftovers).

There used to be a chain of hamburger joints in Forida that served it in beer mugs that were kept in a freezer - Royal Castle. Their burgers were commonly called 'sliders'... little burgers like White Castle or Krystal. Boy that icy cold birch beer was G-O-O-D on those blazingly hot south Florida summer days.

If you like root beer you've gotta give birch beer a try if you can find it. If there's a 'Philly Connection' franchise in your area (Philly steak and cheese sandwiches) you might be able to find it there.

I think I'm going to load a few bottles into the fridge and put a couple beer mugs in the freezer... I'm starting to drool... Of course that could merely be due to old age...

Tim

Ahhhh yes....Birch Beer.  Kutztown makes the best.  Living near Hershey, we have access to both birch beer and sarsaparilla.  Both are really tasty.  However, I prefer good ol' root beer.  I will make sure to bring some of both to the Fall Rally for Howard and Linda.  Can't wait to meet everyone!

Cheers !!

(Bob and) Kathy

I grew up in Maryland and it was easy to find there and I loved it. I now live in Colorado and haven't seen it.

Birch beer!  I haven't even thought of it in years.  Joan and I grew up in NE PA and I think birch beer was a staple there.  Gonna have to try and find some when we start traveling!

I have never tasted birch beer, i have put it on my bucket list, and will look for it on my travels

We had birch beer at the rally here in TN for the chili cookoff!  Art Biroc was thoughtful enough to buy a case when going through PA on his way to the rally.  It tasted just as good as I remembered it.  Thanks Art!!!

Hats off to ART for providing Birch Beer at the rally.  I grew up in Southern Ohio and have lived in Virginia for years and had never tried it. 

I loved it and now wonder where I can get some more?  Only Pennsylvania?  REALLY?
If so bummer........we're travelin' west from here.

Sherry
www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

Surely it's available in more places than Pennsylvania. I grew up in Detroit (now basically a dead city) and I can remember we got it there when I was a kid

I have no idea why this ever popped into my head several months ago, other than out of nostalgia. I really fell in love with it in South Florida where we could get it at a now defunct hamburger chain called Royal Castle.

As I said, there is a franchise restaurant chain called 'Philly Connection'. There used to be one here in Columbus but it's gone out of business ( sad... I loved the cheese steak sandwiches with mushrooms, onions, and green peppers). They had birch beer by Fanta in their soft drink dispenser.

If you like root beer, and you can find birch beer somwhere, you've got to give it a try. It's very refreshing (especially when ice cold), and not as cloyingly sweet as root beer or most other soft drinks these days.

I have a few bottles left from Kutztown Bottling Works on the dining room table.... have to make room for them in the fridge. It is also non-caffeinated if that matters to you.

To me, it's one of life's simple, childlike (not childish - there is a difference) pleasures.

Have fun, and stay safe,

Tim







Necro wrote:

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LOVE Birch Beer. My favorite was Crystal, in Pa. , but they no longer exist. Now I don't mind Fox Run White Birch. Can't drink it but occasionally because of my diabetes, but if i'm gonna cheat... birch beer is always a good item to cheat with. :)

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 My wife was a type-1, insulin dependent diabetic. Sometimes, despite best efforts, her blood sugars would crash. In a case like that, where you need to get your blood sugars up, why not do it with birch beer? (disclaimer - I am not a medical person, but I do know that you have to keep your blood sugar levels stable).

That's not really cheating... is it?

Tim

LOL  That's what I sometimes do on purpose, but it's not the way to do it.  Luckily, i'm only type 2 diabetic, but still... keeping it level is the way to go.  My pill sometimes makes me crash though, so I always keep some sweet things around, but just learned that sweets and stuff like that don't work fast enough.  You need carbs or juices, that will work faster.  

I bet i'll be having some birch beer soon tho.  All this talk is getting me craving it.  :)  

This has been fun. I know that birch beer is a regional thing. Maybe for the Hersey rally there can be a birch beer 'taste off', and we could launch a global 'birch beer everywhere' campaign. I still have a few bottles left, and they are going in the fridge as soon as I log off.

Happy Easter to everyone.

Tim

When is the Hershey rally?  I've never been to one, but would love to go to this year's.  I'll make sure to bring some Birch Beer.  

The Hersey rally is Sept. 11-15 I believe. There is a 'thingy' that scrolls across many of the RV-Dreams web pages that you can click on for more information.

Thanks.  We should be able to get to that.  

 Never heard of such a thing as Birch Beer . Out West our Beer is made from Hops & Barley .

2fortheroad wrote:

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 Never heard of such a thing as Birch Beer . Out West our Beer is made from Hops & Barley .

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 Well yes, there is that too.... in case you haven't already guessed birch beer and root beer are soft drinks. An ice cold hops and barley brand is good too especially on those hot, sweaty summer days after you've finished mowing the lawn...

Tim & Robyn wrote:

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2fortheroad wrote:

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 Never heard of such a thing as Birch Beer . Out West our Beer is made from Hops & Barley .

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 Well yes, there is that too.... in case you haven't already guessed birch beer and root beer are soft drinks. An ice cold hops and barley brand is good too especially on those hot, sweaty summer days after you've finished mowing the lawn...

 

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   Idaho humor,"You either love it, or you don't". Maybe thats why we have a low population State .

   Will have to give Birch Beer a try sometime. Not a big fan of Root Beer  unless it has vanila icecream in it .

Boy when I read the title Birch Beer, I thought, alright a BEER thread. But to my surprize, I kept reading to learn its a soft drink, DARN it. Well when we get to the Northern states, we'll have to try a new to us soft drink. Do they also have Birch flavor BEER? I try it too.

 

 

 

 

   Will have to give Birch Beer a try sometime. Not a big fan of Root Beer  unless it has vanila icecream in it .

 

 

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 Ah yes... I believe it's called a brown cow... Love those things too, but have had to throttle back on them in recent years. Now I actually haven't tried one with birch beer... that's on my to do list. I guess I'm going to have to go buy some vanilla ice cream so that I can give it a try. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Birch beer and root beer are not the same, but for comparison purposes they are as close as I can come to any other pair of soft drinks. To me, birch beer seems to have more of a 'bite' or 'kick' on the back of your tongue than root beer, and yet it's sweet enough and refreshing, especially when served in a thick glass beer mug from the freezer... I like it when even the foam starts to freeze as you pour.

Discovering regional delights is one of the many things I envy about you fulltimers who are able to travel hither and yon... as budgets permit...

I saw it the other day at Cost Plus World Market.  That's a chain store - I'm not sure where all they are located.  I tried some ginger brew from them (Maine Root was the brand.)  Woohoo! That's some real ginger ale.  When I was a teenager I made ginger ale from a recipe in Moosewood cookbook.  I wonder if there is a birch beer recipe out there - or even an extract you could add to carbonated water?

Heidi

Check out this site.

http://www.kutztownbottlingworks.com/storehtmls/storebirch.html

Jim

Jim01 wrote:

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Check out this site.

http://www.kutztownbottlingworks.com/storehtmls/storebirch.html

Jim

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 That's where I've been getting it from, in the glass bottles.

I found this company one day last fall just by Googling 'birch beer' for some demented reason.

All the styrofoam peanuts in the packaging are kind of a pain in the butt though because of static electricity. They stick to my hands when unpacking, they stick to the bottles, and it's a nuisance getting them all cleaned off without getting them all over the floor. I'll unpack the next order in the garage...

I made myself a birch beer brown cow for dessert last night and it was good... frozen birch beer in all the chinks of the ice cream scoops in the glass. Yum!

Tim

The Hershey rally is coming up soon. If you haven't ever encountered it, don't forget to give birch beer a taste. I look forward to hearing all opinions... 

Bob and Kathy wrote:

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Ahhhh yes....Birch Beer.  Kutztown makes the best.  Living near Hershey, we have access to both birch beer and sarsaparilla.  Both are really tasty.  However, (Bob and) Kathy

 

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 Thank you very much!!!  It is nice to see someone using the correct term and spelling for sarsaparilla.  All the movies and such call it sassparila, and it just makes me cringe.  I found some sarsaparilla a good while ago, bought it and enjoyed.  It could be called strong root beer (to my unrefined taste)

Coming from South central Pa. I just thought everyone knew of "Birch Beer".

Enjoyed it all of my life until we started to fulltime and then sort of forgot about it, nut this does bring back memories.

I do prefer it over Root Beer as well.

Now when it does come to the "Hops & Barley" type beer no compares to "Yuengling" the lager is the one I prefer.

Now I do realize that it is a more or less an East Coast beer and is not heard about in many parts of the country.

I do also realize that "Opera Fudge" is a Lebanon county, Pa product and is not heard by most of the people in surrounding county's, but this is another topic. 

We do plan on being at the Hershey rally for one day as that is all our schedule permits.

I will try and remember that since we plan on going.  

We were in Wakarusa last week and bought 4 bottles. After drinking all 4, I still like rootbeer better.

  Wayne

grew up outside of Phila. and the best flavor soda is birch beer. I miss it, don't have it GA