Before beer, it was gruit

Link: Before beer, it was gruit

Beer has not always been beer. That is to say, what “us moderns” call beer is but one of many combinations of barley and herbs that were brewed for milleniums. This stuff is called gruit, which essentially covers beer before hops became the sole preservative agent.

 The choice of hops as the only acceptable preservative agent in beer may seem obvious, but in fact is the product of specific political economic developments.

I brewed a mugwort gruit last weekend. The wort (before fermentation) tasted good, its an interesting experiment.