 Herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer |
Gruit (pronounced /ˈɡrut/; alternatively grut or gruyt) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops.1 The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Today, however, gruit is a colloquial term applied to a beer produced with hops that is seasoned with gruit-like herbs.2
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The articles this one links to most, weighted towards the introduction.
The word gruit stems from an area now in the Netherlands, Belgium, and northwestern Germany. The word refers to the herb mixture originally used to enhance the flavour of beers before the general use of hops. The earliest reference to gruit dates from the late 10th century.3 During the 11th century, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV awarded monopoly privileges of the production and sale of gruit (Grutgerechtigkeit 'grut licence') to different local authorities, and as such imposed a de facto tax on beer.a4 The control of gruit restricted entry to local beer markets – brewers in a diocese were not allowed to sell beer brewed without the local gruit, and imports were similarly restricted. The gruit licensing system also exerted control over brewers within a city, as the holder of a Grutgerechtigkeit could calculate how much beer each brewer could make based on how much gruit was sold to them.5 Outside the area where the gruit monopoly applied, other countries and regions produced ales containing spices, but they were not called gruit. For instance, some traditional types of unhopped beer such as sahti in Finland, which is spiced with juniper sprigs, have survived the advent of hops.67
Specific gruit recipes were often guarded secrets. In 1420, the town council of Cologne "directed a knowledgeable woman to teach a certain brewer, and no one else, how to make [gruit]".8 Although largely replaced by hops in the 14th and 15th centuries, gruit-flavoured beer was locally produced in Westphalia until at least the 17th century.9
In both the area where gruit existed and outside it, the traditional spices were progressively substituted by hops, in a slow transition across Europe occurring between the 11th century (in the South and East of the Holy Roman Empire) and late 16th century (Great Britain). In 16th-century Britain, a distinction was made between "ale" (which was unhopped), and the "beer" brought in by Dutch merchants, which was hopped.10 In more recent centuries, however, the words beer and ale have been synonymous, as is still largely the case in British English, although recently there has been an increase in the use (originating in the United States) where ale means beer other than lager 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 more stable. 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.11 Spruce tips as a local food ingredient have a practical aspect as well; it is a plentiful resource in northern latitudes such as Finland and Alaska, while in Alaska hops must be imported from the lower 48 United States.12
Historically, the main gruit additives seemed to be bog myrtle or marsh rosemary, plus laurel berries and laserwort = Siler montanum = Laserpitium siler (not Ferula drudeana or other Ferula species).13
However, today gruit is a combination of herbs, commonly including:
Gruit recipes varied somewhat; each gruit producer included different herbs to produce unique flavours and effects. Other adjunct herbs include marsh rosemary, laurel berries, , , , seed, , , , , , and occasionally hops in variable proportions (although gruit today is often sought out specifically for its lack of hops).
The 1990s microbrewery movement in North America and Europe renewed interest in unhopped beers, and several have tried reviving ales brewed with gruit, or plants that once were used in it. Commercial examples include:
| Beer name | Gruit ingredients | Brewery | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gruut Blond, Gruut Wit, Gruut Amber, Gruut Bruin, Gruut Inferno | Gentse Stadsbrouwerij Gruut16 | Ghent, Belgium | |
| Fraoch | Heather flowers, sweet gale and ginger | Williams Brothers17 | Alloa, Scotland |
| Alba | Pine twigs and spruce buds | Williams Brothers18 | Alloa, Scotland |
| Gageleer | Sweet gale | Proefbrouwerij | Lochristi, Belgium |
| Cervoise | Heather flowers, spices, hops | Lancelot |
| Brittany, France |
| Artemis | Mugwort and wild bergamot (also known as bee balm) | Moonlight Brewing Company | Santa Rosa, California |
| Alaskan Winter Ale | Young Sitka spruce tips | Alaskan Brewing Company | Alaska,20 USA |
| Our Special Ale | Young Sitka spruce tips | Anchor Brewing Company | San Francisco, California |
| Spruce Tip Ale | Young Sitka spruce tips | Haines Brewing Company | Alaska |
| Spruce Tip Gruit | Young Sitka spruce tips | Wolf Tree Brewery | Seal Rock, Oregon |
| Island Trails Spruce Tip Wheat Wine | Young Sitka spruce tips | Kodiak Island Brewing Company | Alaska |
| Sitka Spruce Tip Ale | Young Sitka spruce tips | Baranof Island Brewing Company | Alaska2122 |
| Bog Water | Myrica gale (bog myrtle) | Beau's All Natural Brewing Company | Vanleek Hill, Ontario, Canada |
| Spring Fever Gruit | Organic barley, heather, and spices | Salt Spring Island Brewery | British Columbia, Canada |
| Various Weekly Offerings | Locally foraged herbs, flowers, roots, and berries as well as classic gruit ingredients | Earth Eagle Brewings | Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Posca Rustica | Recipe based on archeological research at The Archeosite D'Aubechies – sweet woodruff (wild baby's breath) and bog myrtle among "a dozen" others | Brasserie Dupont | Wallonia, Belgium |
| Namastale | Juniper and rosemary | Church Key Brewing | Campbellford, Ontario, Canada |
| Dunes | Wormwood, mugwort, turmeric, lemongrass, and sage | Solarc Brewing | Los Angeles, California |
| Session Gruit | Chamomile and elderberries | Solarc Brewing | Los Angeles, California |
| Earl | Earl Grey tea, lemon verbena, and foraged rosemary | Solarc Brewing | Los Angeles, California |
| Wine Trash | Granache grape must and yarrow flower | Solarc Brewing | Los Angeles, California |
| Sun Eater | Rosemary and dried lemon peel | 4th Tap Brewing Co-op | Austin, Texas |
| Jopen Koyt | Sweet gale and other herbs | Jopen | Haarlem, Netherlands |
| A River Runs Gruit | Lavender, chamomile, rose hips, and elderberry | Rock Art Brewery | Morrisville, Vermont |
| Spruce Stout | Spruce tips | Rock Art Brewery | Morrisville, Vermont |
| Zingiberene Ginger Gruit | Ginger | Schmohz Brewing Company | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Ancient Gruit Ale | Wormwood, grains of paradise, wild yarrow | The Beer Diviner | Cherry Plain, New York |
| Stop Trying to Make Gruit Happen | Barrel aged (6.5%) | Denizen's Brewing Company | Silver Spring, Maryland |
| Irish Gruit | Heather tips, rose hips (5.7%) | Dunagan Brewing Company | Gig Harbor, Washington |
| Gruit | Yarrow, sweet gale, and Labrador tea | Proper Brewing Company | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Earthbound Gruit | Missouri cedar branches, heather tips, basswood honey | Dangerous Man Brewing Co. | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Nursia | Star anise, caraway, ginger, and spruce | Avery Brewing Co. | Boulder, Colorado |
| Special Herbs | Lemongrass, hyssop, Sichuan peppercorns, and orange peel | Upright Brewery | Portland, Oregon |
| groot | Clove, juniper berry, rainbow peppercorn, and caraway seed | Oliphant Brewing | Somerset, Wisconsin |
| Witchcraft Gruit Ale | Dandelion, ginger, coriander, lavender, orange peel | LyonSmith Brewing | Keuka Park, New York |
| Acqua Passata | Thyme, rhubarb, mugwort | Retorto | Podenzano, Piacenza, Italy |
| Cafe Amsterdam 10th Anniversary Gruit, 2009 | Sage, thyme, cinnamon, peppercorn. orange peel | Midnight Sun Brewing Company | Anchorage, Alaska |
| Palisade | Oak bark, myrica gale | Jelling Bryghus ApS | Jelling, Denmark |
| The Witch (seasonal) | Rosemary, sage, blackcurrant | Torn Label Brewing Company | Kansas City, Missouri |
Since 2013, craft brewers with an interest in making gruit-flavoured ales have banded together to mark 1 February as International Gruit Day.23 The day is intended to raise awareness of and pay homage to the historical traditions of brewing.
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