Puncturing the Gruit Myth

larsga@garshol.priv.no (Lars Marius Garshol)
2026-05-18 20:01:00 CET

It's commonly said that "gruit is the beer that was brewed before people started using hops," and it's fascinating how many errors there are in that short, simple sentence. Gruit is one of the most misunderstood areas of beer history, one that even professional historians have messed up, so here is an attempt to clear up the worst confusions.