In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, “Borshch” Wasn’t Soup!?

In 2020, the St Petersburg brewery Knightberg Brewery released an unusual sour beer called “Borshch”. At first glance, the idea looks like a typical modern craft-beer provocation: take a familiar soup and turn it into a sour beer.

But the deeper I looked into historical references to borshch and hogweed, the less this connection seemed like a joke.

Sources from the 16th to the 19th centuries repeatedly describe drinks made from hogweed that were fermented, consumed instead of beer, directly associated with brewing, and even used to produce strong alcohol [2][3][4][6][7][9][10][12].

Moreover, this history is directly connected with the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and present-day Belarus.

This is why my main hypothesis is the following: early “borshch” may originally have been, first and foremost, a fermented liquid base made from hogweed — perhaps a weakly fermented drink comparable in function to kvass or light beer. It could have been consumed on its own or used as a sour base for preparing soups. Later, the name of the fermented product may have passed to the dish itself.

I am not claiming that this sequence has been conclusively proven. This is my reconstruction. But in my view, the combined historical evidence is strong enough for the question to be taken seriously.

What “Lithuania” Do the Old Sources Mean?

An important clarification is necessary here.

When an English, German or French author of the 16th–18th centuries writes about Lithuania, “Lithuanians”, or the lands of Lithuania, this cannot automatically be mapped only onto the territory of the modern Republic of Lithuania.

We are dealing with a very different historical geography — the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the regions associated with it. In each individual case, therefore, it is important to look not only at the word “Lithuania” itself but also at the geographical references surrounding it.

In our case, such references exist.

Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert described hogweed directly in the vicinity of Grodno [1]. Nineteenth-century ethnobotanical materials record the use of hogweed in the territory of present-day Belarus, including Polesia, Navahrudak, Slonim, Vawkavysk, Pruzhany, and other districts [11].

Even the title of the materials collected by Michał Federowski and later used by modern researchers is highly revealing: he gathered information about plants among the “Lithuanian people” in the areas around Slonim, Vawkavysk and Pruzhany, while at the same time being one of the major collectors of specifically Belarusian folklore [11].

Navahrudak, now located in Belarus, is referred to in the Belarusian historiographical tradition as the first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

For this article, however, an even more important point is that a significant part of the evidence concerning hogweed, borshch and fermented products does not belong to some distant tradition unrelated to Belarus. It is directly connected with the historical territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and with lands that are now part of Belarus.

I therefore consider this subject to be part of the history of Belarusian food culture, fermentation, brewing and alcoholic beverages.

At the same time, this was obviously not an exclusively Belarusian tradition: the sources also connect it with Poland, Ukraine, Prussia and other neighbouring lands.

From Hogweed to Borshch

Today, borshch is almost impossible to imagine without beetroot. Historically, however, the name itself is associated with a completely different plant — common hogweed, Heracleum sphondylium.

One of the most important scholars to study this question was the Polish botanist and professor at the Jagiellonian University Józef Rostafiński (Józef Rostafiński, 1850–1928).

In his 1916 work O nazwach oraz użytkach ćwikły, buraków i barszczu, Rostafiński investigated the historical names of beets and borshch and demonstrated the ancient connection between the word barszcz and hogweed [5].

The plant was eaten, fermented and used in the preparation of sour dishes [5].

What is particularly interesting is that this tradition is also well documented in the territory of present-day Belarus.

A modern ethnobotanical study of the responses to Rostafiński’s 1883 questionnaire shows that Heracleum sphondylium was used there to prepare sour soups. In the sources, the plant appears under the names borszcz, barszcz and barszczewnik. The researchers note that the hogweed was probably subjected to lactic fermentation beforehand [11].

The materials come, among other places, from Polesia and the western regions of present-day Belarus. The tradition of using hogweed was recorded around Navahrudak, Slonim, Vawkavysk, Pruzhany and elsewhere [11].

This is extremely important for the reconstruction that follows: what we see is not simply a plant thrown into a cooking pot, but a fermented product associated with the preparation of sour food.

A Hogweed Drink Consumed Instead of Beer

Hogweed, however, was not used only for soups.

One of the most important pieces of evidence for my hypothesis appears in the famous English herbal by John Gerard (John Gerard, 1545–1612), The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes, published in 1597 [2].

When describing hogweed, Gerard reports a practice among the inhabitants of Poland and Lithuania: the plant was used to prepare a fermented product that was consumed instead of beer and other ordinary drinks [2].

A similar account appears in earlier 16th-century botanical literature [9].

For me, this is one of the central points of the entire investigation.

If the sources spoke only about a sour soup, early borshch could safely be interpreted exclusively as a predecessor of the modern dish.

But a 16th-century source describes a drink and defines its role specifically by comparing it with beer.

Already at this point, therefore, another line in the development of borshch becomes visible — not only towards soup, but towards fermented beverages.

Bartsch — a Summer Drink Instead of Light Beer

Almost two centuries later, a similar account appears in the work of the German scholar Friedrich Samuel Bock (Friedrich Samuel Bock, 1716–1785).

In the multi-volume Versuch einer wirthschaftlichen Naturgeschichte von dem Königreich Ost- und Westpreussen, published between 1782 and 1785, Bock described the natural environment, economy and everyday life of East and West Prussia [4].

Among other things, he mentions a Lithuanian drink called Bartsch, consumed in summer instead of light beer [4].

The name Bartsch itself is particularly interesting. It belongs to the same historical and linguistic field as barszcz, barzch and the East Slavic “borshch”.

Once again, we encounter the same combination:

borshch — drink — summer consumption — substitute for beer.

It is increasingly difficult to dismiss this as a coincidence.

Grodno: Hogweed Producing an Intoxicating Product

An even more important piece of evidence for Belarusian history was left by the French physician and botanist Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert (Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert, 1741–1814).

In the 1770s, Gilibert worked directly in Grodno, where, with the support of Antoni Tyzenhaus, he established a medical academy and botanical garden and studied the local flora.

The results of these investigations were incorporated into Flora Lithvanica inchoata [1].

Here we are therefore no longer dealing with a general European statement about some distant “Lithuania”, but with an observation directly connected with the territory of present-day Belarus.

When describing Heracleum sphondylium growing near Grodno, Gilibert specifically draws attention to the plant’s ability to ferment.

In my translation, the relevant passage reads:

Heracleum Sphondylium occurs quite frequently in wet meadows near Grodno and elsewhere; it flowers in July and is perennial. The herb and seeds have a pungent taste and are slightly aromatic. An infusion in wine spirit turns green; livestock do not eat it. If the crushed herb is mixed with burnt sugar and allowed to ferment, an intoxicating spirit is produced: even a small dose causes dizziness and disturbing dreams [1].

For the history of alcoholic beverages in Belarus, this testimony is, in my view, particularly important.

Here we have a plant growing near Grodno that an 18th-century author directly associates with fermentation and the production of an intoxicating substance.

Barzch: Water, Hogweed, Yeast and Fermentation

Perhaps the clearest technological description was left by the German physician and pharmacologist Johann Friedrich Cartheuser (Johann Friedrich Cartheuser, 1704–1777).

In the second volume of Fundamenta Materiae Medicae, published in 1767, he describes the use of hogweed in Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland [10].

His account is especially interesting because it allows us to see the actual principle of preparation.

A water-based decoction was made from the plant. Baker’s yeast was then added, producing a fermented drink that Cartheuser calls Barzch.

In my translation, the passage reads:

For internal use, a water decoction or a water-and-wine infusion is most commonly prescribed. In Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland this decoction is drunk very frequently; baker’s yeast is added to it, producing a light medicinal kvass called “Barzch”. Poor people drink it instead of beer, believing that it removes stones and sand, cures scurvy and reduces feverish heat [10].

The medicinal properties attributed to the drink should, of course, be understood solely in the context of 18th-century medical beliefs.

But the technology is far more interesting.

There is plant material.
There is water.
There is yeast.
There is fermentation.
The resulting Barzch is drunk instead of beer.

In effect, the source describes the technological scheme of a fermented beverage.

This is precisely why I consider Barzch one of the strongest arguments in support of my hypothesis.

What if the Soup Came from the Drink?

This, in my view, is where the key to the whole story lies.

We usually look at ancient borshch through a modern model: borshch is a soup, and therefore everything found in the sources is interpreted as some early version of that soup.

But the sequence can be viewed in the opposite direction.

What if there was first a fermented liquid product?

It could be consumed on its own.

It could be drunk instead of light beer.

It could be stored as a sour fermented base.

And that same base could then be used to prepare a soup.

The apparent contradiction between sources in which “borshch” appears as a drink and those in which it appears as a sour dish then disappears.

These may not have been two completely separate traditions, but two ways of using the same fermented product.

This is why I suggest that early “borshch” may have existed somewhere between our modern concepts of a drink, kvass, fermentation starter and soup base.

If other ingredients were later added to this fermented liquid base and it was turned into a complete soup, it would be entirely natural for the name of the base eventually to become attached to the dish made from it.

In this sense, the familiar question “was borshch originally a drink or a soup?” may itself be incorrectly formulated.

Perhaps this strict distinction did not originally exist at all.

Nevertheless, I believe that chronologically and technologically the primary form may have been precisely a fermented liquid base — a weakly fermented hogweed borshch.

This is the central hypothesis of my article.

Hogweed Instead of Hops

There is another argument that connects this entire story not merely with fermentation, but directly with brewing.

The German physician Caspar Hofmann (Caspar Hofmann, 1572–1648), in his De Medicamentis Officinalibus, published in 1667, mentions hogweed in the section devoted to hops [3].

The source refers to the use of hogweed in Lithuania in a brewing context — as a plant capable of replacing hops [3].

A similar statement later appears in academic literature from the beginning of the 18th century [8].

Hogweed therefore appears in old sources in several different roles at once: as a food plant, as raw material for sour fermentation, as the basis of a drink consumed instead of beer, and as a plant directly associated with brewing.

Even Alexandre Dumas Wrote About “Beer” Made from Hogweed

Traces of this idea survived well into the 19th century.

Alexandre Dumas père (Alexandre Dumas, 1802–1870), best known as the author of The Three Musketeers, left behind the enormous Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, published posthumously in 1873 [12].

When describing hogweed, Dumas writes:

…this plant possesses other properties as well: a kind of beer is made from it, very strong and highly intoxicating… the Lithuanians, it is said, drink a great deal of this beverage… [12]

Dumas, of course, was not a direct ethnographic witness to the traditions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th–18th centuries.

But his statement demonstrates something else: the association between hogweed, Lithuania and an alcoholic drink was persistent enough to continue circulating in European literature into the 19th century.

Hogweed Was Also Used to Produce Strong Alcohol

The story does not end with weak fermented beverages.

The Italian botanist and physician Carlo Allioni (Carlo Allioni, 1728–1804), in the second volume of Flora Pedemontana, published in 1785, wrote about a sweet substance found in the petioles and flowering stems of hogweed [7].

In my translation:

Beneath the skin, especially in the petioles and flowering stems, there is a mealy substance containing sugar, from which in Lithuania food is prepared and a strong spirituous drink is distilled [7].

The British physician and botanist William Withering (William Withering, 1741–1799) also described the extraction of a sweet substance from hogweed in 1776 [6].

According to his account, parts of the plant were cleaned and dried, after which a flour-like substance resembling sugar appeared on their surface:

The Russians clean the root petioles, hang them in the sun, then tie them into bundles and hang them again until they turn yellow. They are then placed in sacks, and a mealy substance resembling sugar forms on the surface. It is shaken off and served to guests as a great rarity. A strong spirituous drink is also distilled from it [6].

In historical literature, therefore, hogweed is connected with an entire technological spectrum: from sour food and weak fermentation to beer and the distillation of strong alcohol.

Polesia and the Belarusian Continuation of the Tradition

Nineteenth-century materials from the territory of present-day Belarus are particularly important to me [11].

They show that the use of hogweed did not disappear along with the medical and botanical books of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Researchers analysed responses to Józef Rostafiński’s ethnobotanical questionnaire relating specifically to the territory of modern Belarus. The areas represented included Polesia, Navahrudak, Slonim, Vawkavysk, Pruzhany and other localities [11].

Hogweed is recorded there under the names borszcz, barszcz and barszczewnik and was used in sour soups. The researchers suggest that the plant was first subjected to lactic fermentation [11].

This creates a very important bridge between the early written sources and 19th-century Belarusian folk culture.

In the 16th–18th centuries, European authors describe fermented hogweed, Barzch, Bartsch, a drink consumed instead of beer, and the use of the plant in brewing.

Centuries later, in Polesia and western present-day Belarus, the tradition of preparing sour borshch specifically from hogweed was still preserved [11].

Of course, this alone does not prove an uninterrupted alcoholic tradition lasting several centuries.

But it does demonstrate that hogweed and borshch were part of a living food culture in the Belarusian lands, rather than merely a subject found in foreign botanical books.

So Was “Borshch” Originally a Drink?

We do not have a medieval document containing a simple sentence such as: “original borshch was an alcoholic drink, and later it became soup.”

That is why I call this a hypothesis.

But let us put the evidence together.

In the 16th century, we see a hogweed drink consumed instead of beer [2][9].

In the 17th century, hogweed is mentioned directly in connection with hops and brewing [3].

In the 18th century, Barzch is described as being prepared with the addition of yeast and consumed instead of beer [10].

During the same period, Bartsch again appears as a summer drink consumed instead of light beer [4].

In Grodno, Gilibert describes the ability of local hogweed to produce an intoxicating product through fermentation [1].

Other authors report obtaining sugar from hogweed and distilling strong alcohol from it [6][7].

And ethnobotanical materials from Belarus show that hogweed was still being used for sour, probably fermented dishes in the 19th century [11].

My reconstruction is therefore as follows:

early “borshch” may originally have been a fermented liquid product made from hogweed — an independent, weakly fermented drink comparable to kvass or light beer. The same product could also have been used as a sour base for soups. Over time, the name of the fermented base became attached to the dish itself.

This is why I retain the somewhat provocative title of this article:

in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, “borshch” was not only — and perhaps originally not at all — a soup.

Why This Is Part of the Brewing and Alcohol History of Belarus

I think this conclusion deserves to be emphasised separately.

When studying the history of Belarusian beer, we should not restrict ourselves only to beverages that historical sources literally call by the familiar word “beer”.

In traditional food culture, the boundaries between beer, kvass, herbal fermented drinks, liquid starters and food could have been much less rigid than they are today.

The history of hogweed demonstrates this particularly well.

We are dealing with a plant that, in lands connected with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was used for fermentation; drinks made from it were compared with beer and consumed instead of beer; it was associated with replacing hops; and it was also used to produce strong alcohol.

Some of this evidence has a very specific Belarusian geography — Grodno, Polesia, Navahrudak, Slonim, Vawkavysk and Pruzhany [1][11].

I therefore consider it entirely reasonable to view the history of hogweed “borshch” as one of the little-studied subjects in the brewing and alcoholic-drink history of Belarus.

This does not mean that the tradition belonged exclusively to Belarus. It extended beyond modern state borders and existed within the shared cultural space of Eastern and Central Europe.

But Belarus is not an accidental neighbour in this history, nor is this a modern attempt to “appropriate” somebody else’s tradition.

Belarus lies within the geography of the historical evidence itself.

This is why a modern beer called “Borshch” turns out to be far less paradoxical than it first appears.

Perhaps, after several centuries, borshch has simply found its way back to beer.

Or perhaps that is where the story began in the first place.