Willie3

Recipes 

Up until around the 11th century (1000 ad) Hops were not used commonly as bittering agents. Gruit, commonly a mix of elderberries, juniper berries and rosemary, was used for the flavoring and bittering of the malt beverage. In fact Hops were strictly not used due to laws that prohibited their inclusion to beer. The reason for this is because gruit was taxable by law and hops were not and mostly those educated in botony and supported by the high priests grew such plants as elderberry, juniper plants, and rosemary. The reason I mention only these spices is because these were the most common. There were of course others that were used to in many different cultures.

The first recording of the use of hops was somewhere around 987 ad, during the reign of Charles the Great (Charlemagne). It was actually the Finns who are credited to use hops first in brewing, at least that is the only civilation that actually had the earliest written record for the use of hops.

Has anyone brewed using Gruit instead of Hops? My next brew is going to be such a brew.

- WW

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Willie3

NJ HOPZ - North Jersey Homebrewers Organization of Praciticing Zymurgisits

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