Franklin probably did encounter spruce beer, a Vitamin C-rich drink formerly quaffed during sea voyages to prevent scurvy.
From the washingtonpost.com
It offers a window into those days with recipes for items such as spruce beer and tongue pie set beside page images from the original cookbook.
From the dailyherald.com
While Crush had a short run producing nonalcoholic spruce beer, today Marco Beverages and various mom-and-pop restaurants still produce the piney, crisp soda in Quebec and Newfoundland.
From the newsweek.com
Once upon a time, spruce beer was so common that people regularly boiled the tips of spruce branches so they could have bottled extract on hand for quick use.
From the latimes.com
A hurricane of energy, built like a barrel of spruce beer, Putnam quickly won the rank of general during the disorganized fighting before Washington took command.
From the time.com
In the meantime, the colonists improvised a beer made from red and black spruce twigs boiled in water, as well as a ginger beer.