![]() In these styles,traditionally the beer is transferred into an oak barrel on top of a specific fruit, then left open in a cellar. But the most common historical use of fruit in beers that are still made today are the fruit lambic styles like Kriek, Framboise and Peche. Randy Mosher states in his book Radical Brewing that fruit beers go back to Egyptian times, as they mentioned the use of dates and pomegranates, and even the Scottish tended to use gooseberries and elderberries in their beers. Nowadays with the craft beer movement, those additions have become more commonplace as the population now goes crazy for pumpkin spice everything and lemongrass beers are getting notice, but psychedelic additions are still outlawed.įruit and vegetable beers, however, have met with much less resistance and continue to gain in popularity, much to the chagrin of those who are anti-pumpkin. It wasn’t until hops started to gain use starting in the 14th century that saw their switch from gruit begin as well as the founding of drug control efforts by Protestant church groups and other trade organizations against merchants and the Catholic Church, effectively, but temporarily, eliminating the usage of herbal and spice additions to beer. Some used juniper (Urban Chestnut’s Old Tjikko is one modern beer that uses it, unfortunately not well if you’re not a fan of pine/resin flavor in your beer), while ginger and nutmeg are other examples still used today, but a majority of the herbs added had psychotropic properties supposed to stimulate the mind among other things. ![]() Basic gruit was made up of three mildly narcotic herbs: sweet gale aka bog myrtle, yarrow and wild rosemary, with each producer adding different herbs to their mix to produce distinct flavors and effects. Before the discovery and usage of hops, the main bittering additive to beer was a spice combination known as gruit. This was mainly in areas such as the Middle East, but more recently discovered in South America and our own Native American culture.įast forward to medieval Europe. They believed fermentation and alcohol was a gift from the gods, and would use it either to try and communicate with them or heal themselves with their power. Holiday and seasonal beers use spices and herbs such as coriander, lemongrass, orange peel, chamomile, cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise for creating different flavors and aromas however it’s a far cry from how the ancients used spices and herbs, mainly for hallucinogenic and healing use in their alcohol. Beer and alcohol, although not quite the way we know it today, has been brewed since the dawn of early civilization all over the world in a variety of ways. Now, the concept of adding these ingredients to beer isn’t anything new. History Lesson on Herbs and Spices in Beer My Mint Pale Ale is an example of taking a chance on an idea that a commercial brewer may not be willing to do, and watching that chance pay off. ![]() ![]() While a majority of the BJCP categories have restrictions and direction as to how a style such as a pilsner or Baltic porter should be brewed and what it may include, the fruit, spice, herb and vegetable categories allow us a blank slate for our imaginations and ideas others believe to be pure insanity to truly run wild. Posted by kurtzhaus on 9:04 pm in Kurtzhaus Brewing Blog | Comments Off on Spice, Herb and Veggie BeersĪs homebrewers, we all know that one limit we have to what we can brew is going to be our imagination.
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