Fermentation Support Forum

Has anyone had any experience with making a gruit beer?

For those that haven't heard of it, gruit (pronounced like 'grout') is related to the German word (kraut) and Dutch word (kruid) that mean herb. It was an herb mix used in beer before the widespread use of hops.

I've made a strong (9%) Belgian-style gruit beer that I'll be bottling next week and tasting in 6 weeks. I'd like to hear about what herbs others have used in gruit.

For my 23 litre batch, I used 1 oz of gruit herbs, in the following proportions:
25% each lavender, juniper, wormwood: 7.1 gm each
15% marjoram: 4.2 gm
5% each bay leaf and rosemary: 1.5 gm each

I also used a small quantity of hops.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences. Thanks.

I just started drinking it, and is unusual, but good. The initial aroma is all lavender. It tastes of all the herbs. It's definitely beer, but an herbal beer.

If I make it again, I'll use even less and fewer herbs. Probably 7 gm each of lavender, juniper, and wormwood.

Neat!

Gruits are fascinating, thanks for sharing this Laripu. I am a newbie and as there are no hops here I hope also to brew my first beer with herbs. Not sure which yet. Would like maybe to try yarrow.

Your herb blend sounds good. I really like lavender and juniper in a brew; lavender bitters are amazing.
I've done a gruit with wormwood, juniper, yarrow, & mugwort. In this blend, the bitterness of the yarrow takes over, and the wormwood and mugwort are powerful, even a little too much. I've made a vermouth with wormwood, juniper, yarrow, black pepper, orange peel, bitter root, & tarragon, and if I put too much in a martini, I can feel the wormwood for a couple of days afterword. In the book, Sacred and Healing brews, if I remember correctly, the gruit recipe called for wormwood, marsh rosemary, and sweet gale. I have never been able to find marsh rosemary (not the same thing as culinary rosemary), and sweet gale is a bit more tricky to find. At one time, I bought sweet gale from a tea company (http://algonquintea.com/product/lucid-dream/) and drank it as tea. That company may also have marsh rosemary, except they call it by the name: Labrador. I have a lush wormwood plant growing in my herb garden. It is a beautiful plant that many grow as an ornamental.