Hires brewed his own root beverage and changed the name to “root beer” to make it more appealing to coal miners. His ...

Because 'powder root tea,' the name of the original concoction, just didn't sound like it had the kick that beer, the miners' ...

Even modern root beer as we know it (carbonated, cold, sweet) was initially marketed as a medicinal beverage by drug stores. Hires Root Beer, for example, was invented by a pharmacist who first ...

Tyler Monastero Preview this article 1 min The 5,600-square-foot Berywn home was built for one of the sons of Charles Hires, a pharmacist best known for popularizing root beer in the late 19th and ...

But it is Charles Hires who is credited with creating the first commercially popular root beer, initially called “root tea,” in 1875. He began distributing it in 1893. A bevy of producers ...

While Hires fell victim to mergers and acquisitions, the others are still doing just fine. In fact, A & W is said to be the gold standard in judging root beer. You don't have to buy it ...

Also, it wasn't until the late 19th century that root beer was fully commercialized. Charles Hires, a devoted Quaker, marketed his Hires Root Beer with the hopes of it replacing beer and other ...