PERSPECTIVE :Gruit can be understood in a historically precise sense (a traditonal ale of medieval Europe which was brewed with specific gruit herbs), or it can be also viewed as a open window on creative brewing: Gruit frees the brewer from Hops and is an invitation for inspiring recipes. When Hops are optional, call it Gruit.
Beer is the world's oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. Its history runs deep in our own, a rich and complex brewing tradition, one which has greatly evolved through time. In this respect, R. Unger writes that: "Medieval brewing and the medieval drink were a world apart from the modern industry. Though it is difficult to escape contemporary ideas about beer and brewing, it must be done in order to understand what beer meant to the people of medieval and Renaissance Europe".
For more than 700 years, gruit ale was the major brewed beverage of medieval Europe. Like today’s beer, it was brewed with water, cereal grain and yeast. But quite unlike today’s beer, it was spiced with any number of over 60 herbs, roots and spices. The Hop, which is now the quintessential aromatic and bittering herb of our contemporary beers, was before but one of many herbs sometimes used by brewers in their recipes. Hops were often completely unknown in some brewing areas of Europe. Instead, brewers relied on a healthy collection of herbs of which a mixture named gruit was the most used.
Gruit has a fascinating history: for centuries the heavily taxed brews were controlled by State and Church operated monopolies, technical, ideological and mercantile motives eventually placed the Hop plant as the superior and only proper brewing herb, and gruit was outright prohibited by law.
What Gruit is today
Today, Gruit is making a comeback. More and more, brewers are realizing that although Hops is a delicious herbal addition to beer, it has its fair share of down sides. As with any brewed herb, Hops conveys a number of qualities to the beer we drink. It helps to preserve the brew, gives it a delicate bouquet and delicious bitter taste – but it also causes drowsiness and diminishes sexual desire. Gruit Ale, with its herbs, roots and spices not only convey varied taste and flavor to a brew, but also a myriad of medicinal and psychotropic qualities. If we’re to remember anything at all from our brewing and beer loving ancestors, it’s that choice ingredients play a defining part in the way beer makes us feel. To the attentive mind, all plants are psychotropic; they all change consciousness, awareness, understanding, and sense of self. Hops do. But so does Yarrow, Rosemary, Sweet gale, Juniper, Licorice, Wormwood, Chamomile, Mugwort, Cardamom seeds, and countless others.
Above all else, Gruit Ale is about thinking beer outside the cone… the monolithic Hops cone. Why should we limit ourselves to one single brewing herb? Gruit is an open window on a forgotten brewing tradition which inspires renewed brewing possibilities.
And isn’t that what craft brewing is all about?