The taste is strongly reminiscent of the Austrian drink Almdudler, except that Fassbrause is less sweet, and not quite as spicy.

As the term Fassbrause is not protected, completely altered variants with no direct link to the original Berlin recipe have been created and marketed starting in the 2010s.

[4] The chemist Ludwig Scholvien invented Fassbrause in 1908 in Berlin for his son, in order to offer a non-alcoholic beer substitute of similar color and taste.

Scholvien's original recipe included a natural concentrate of apple and licorice, intended to approximate the beer taste, along with the main ingredients of water and malt.

Wild GmbH & Co. KG began producing the Fassbrause concentrate in Spandau after acquiring a factory in 1985.