Gruit

Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. Gruit or grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit.

Beer brewed after a 13th-century recipe using gruit herbs

Historically, gruit is the term used in an area today covered by the Netherlands, Belgium and westernmost Germany. Today however, gruit is a colloquial term for any beer seasoned with gruit-like herbs.

Gruit is a combination of herbs, commonly including sweet gale (Myrica gale), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), horehound (Marrubium vulgare), and Calluna heather (Calluna vulgaris). Gruit varied somewhat, each gruit producer including different herbs to produce unique flavors and effects. Other adjunct herbs include juniper berries, ginger, caraway seed, aniseed, nutmeg, cinnamon, mint and occasionally hops in variable proportions (although gruit today is often sought out for lacking hops).

Historical context

The word gruit stems from an area now in the Netherlands, Belgium and westernmost Germany. Here, the sale of gruit was a monopoly held by various local authorities, and as such a de facto tax on beer. The word gruit could refer to the herb mixture itself or the monopoly of its sale. The earliest reference to gruit dates from the late 10th century, and although largely replaced by hops in the 14th and 15th century, gruit beer was locally produced in Westphalia up to the 17th century.[1]

Outside the area where the gruit monopoly applied, other countries and regions produced ales containing spices, but they were not named gruit. For instance, some traditional types of unhopped beer such as sahti in Finland, which is spiced with juniper berries and twigs, have survived the advent of hops.

In both the area where gruit existed and outside it, the traditional spices were gradually replaced by hops, in a slow sweep across Europe occurring between the 11th century (in the south and east of the Holy Roman Empire) and the late 16th century (Great Britain). In 16th century Britain, a distinction was made between ale, which was unhopped, and beer, brought by Dutch merchants, which was hopped.[2] Currently, however, ale usually refers to beer produced through a top-fermentation process, not unhopped beer.

The main factor for the replacement of spices by hops is that hops were cheaper (especially in the gruit area, where the price of beer flavouring spices was artificially kept high) and were better at rendering the beer keepable. This preservative effect is thought to have had a large impact on the early movement to switch over, although other plants commonly used in gruit mixes, for example sage, rosemary or bog myrtle, also have antiseptic properties likely to extend the shelf life of beer.

Spruce tips as a local food ingredient has a practical aspect as well; it is a plentiful resource in northern latitudes like Alaska, whereas hops must be imported from the lower 48 United States.[3]

Modern brews

The 1990s microbrewery movement in North America and Europe saw a renewed interest in unhopped beers and several have tried their hand at reviving ales brewed with gruits, or plants that once were used in it. Commercial examples include:

Beer nameGruitBreweryLocation
Beann GulbanHeatherWhite Hag[4]Sligo, Ireland
Golden State of MindChamomile, Coriander and Orange PeelAle IndustriesOakland, CA, USA
FraochHeather flowers, sweet gale and gingerWilliams BrothersScotland, UK
AlbaPine twigs and spruce budsWilliams BrothersScotland, UK
MyricaSweet galeHanlons[5]England, UK
GageleerSweet galeProefbrouwerijBelgium
CervoiseHeather flowers, spices, hopsLancelotBrittany, France
ArtemisMugwort and wild bergamot (Also known as bee balm or horsemint)Moonlight Brewing CompanySanta Rosa, California, USA
Alaskan Winter AleYoung Sitka spruce tipsAlaskan Brewing CompanyAK[6]
Our Special AleYoung Sitka spruce tipsAnchor Brewing CompanySan Francisco, CA, USA
Spruce Tip AleYoung Sitka spruce tipsHaines Brewing CompanyAK, USA
Spruce Tip GruitYoung Sitka spruce tipsWolf Tree BrewerySeal Rock, OR, USA
Island Trails Spruce Tip Wheat WineYoung Sitka spruce tipsKodiak Island Brewing CompanyAK, USA
Sitka Spruce Tip AleYoung Sitka spruce tipsBaranof Island Brewing CompanyAK[7][8]
Bog Water[9]Myrica gale (bog myrtle)Beau's All Natural Brewing CompanyVanleek Hill, Ontario, Canada
Spring Fever GruitOrganic barley, heather, and spicesSalt Spring Island BreweryBritish Columbia, Canada
Various Weekly OfferingsLocally foraged herbs, flowers, roots and berries as well as classic gruit ingredientsEarth Eagle Brewings[10]Portsmouth, NH, USA
Posca RusticaRecipe based on archeological research at The Archeosite D'AubechiesBrasserie DupontWallonia, Belgium
NamastaleJuniper and RosemaryChurch Key BrewingCampbellford, Ontario, Canada
DunesWormwood, mugwort, turmeric, lemongrass, and sageSolarc BrewingLos Angeles, CA, USA
Session GruitChamomile and elderberriesSolarc BrewingLos Angeles, CA, USA
EarlEarl Grey Tea, lemon verbena, and foraged rosemarySolarc BrewingLos Angeles, CA, USA
Wine TrashGranache grape must and Yarrow FlowerSolarc BrewingLos Angeles, CA, USA
Sun EaterRosemary and dried lemon peel4th Tap Brewing Co-op[11]Austin, TX, USA
Jopen KoytSweet gale and other herbsJopenHaarlem, Netherlands
A River Runs Gruit Lavender, Chamomile, Rose hips, and Elderberry Rock Art Brewery Morrisville, VT, USA
Spruce Stout Spruce Tips Rock Art Brewery Morrisville, VT, USA
Zingiberene Ginger Gruit Ginger Schmohz Brewing Company Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Ancient Gruit Ale Wormwood, Grains of Paradise, Hand-picked Wild Yarrow The Beer Diviner Cherry Plain, NY, USA
Stop Trying to Make Gruit Happen {Barrel aged (6.5%)} Denizen's Brewing Company Silver Spring, MD, USA
Gruit Yarrow, sweet gale and Labrador tea Proper Brewing Company Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Earthbound Gruit Missouri Cedar branches, heather tips, basswood honey Dangerous Man Brewing Co. Minneapolis, MN, USA
Nursia Star Anise, caraway, ginger, and spruce Avery Brewing Co. Boulder, CO, USA
Special Herbs Lemongrass, hyssop, Sichuan peppercorns, and orange peel Upright Brewery Portland, Oregon, USA

Since 2013, craft brewers with an interest in making gruit ales have banded together to mark February 1 as International Gruit Day.[12] The day is intended to raise awareness of and pay homage to the historical traditions of brewing with botanicals.

See also

References
  1. Aloys Schulte, 'Vom Grutbiere. Eine Studie zur Wirtschafts- und Verfassungsgeschichte', in: Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein insbesondere die alte Erzdiözese Köln, nr. 85 (1908), p. 118-146.
  2. Ian S. Hornsey, A history of beer and brewing, Cambridge 2003, p. 323.
  3. James Roberts (March 2, 2012), "Spruce tips to birch syrup, beers with the Alaska touch", Anchorage Press
  4. "The White Hag Brewery - An Irish Brewing Company". thewhitehag.com.
  5. "Award Winning Devon Brewery - Hanlons Brewery - Exeter Devon". Hanlons Brewery - Award Winning Craft Beers Devon.
  6. Beer Blotter editors (November 12, 2010), "Alaskan Winter Ale is released", Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  7. James Roberts (June 4, 2014), "Spruced Up", Anchorage Press
  8. Oliver & Colicchio 2011, p. 655.
  9. "Bog Water - Beaus". Beaus.ca. 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  10. "Home - Earth Eagle Brewings". eartheaglebrewings.com.
  11. "Earth 4th Tap Co-op homepage". 4thap.coop.
  12. "International Gruit Day - February 1st". www.gruitday.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.

Books
  • Buhner, Stephen Harrod (1998), Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, Siris Books, ISBN 0-937381-66-7
  • Oliver, Garrett; Colicchio, Tom (2011), "Pine, fir and spruce tips", The Oxford Companion to Beer, Oxford University Press, p. 655, ISBN 9780199912100
  • Heilshorn, Butch (2017), Against All Hops: Techniques And Philosophy For Creating Extraordinary Botanical Beers, Page Street Publishing, ISBN 978-1-62414-379-3

Further reading
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