Not like the rest: peculiarities of hop-free beer production

• How the gruyte came to be

It is believed that beer must necessarily include two main ingredients — hops and malt. But this is rather a misconception: beer does not cease to be itself even if the list of ingredients varies. Recently, brews that use special blends of herbs instead of hops have become increasingly fashionable. But despite its growing popularity, hop-free beer was not invented today. So when did this drink come into being and what are its special features?

How the gruyte came to be

We say hop-free beer — we mean gruyte style, because everything else is rather derivative. Gruyte appeared in France many centuries ago thanks to the strict laws of the country — in those days the breweries, which were located on the left bank of the river Lys, were not allowed to use hops to make spirits. Producers had to come up with an alternative — instead of hop products they decided to add meadow herbs to the recipe. Blends were chosen carefully — so as to recreate the taste and aroma of the hop drink as much as possible. It is known that the traditional recipe of gruyte included wild rosemary, marsh myrtle and yarrow, the rest of the ingredients each brewer selected to his own taste.

There was also a side effect of gruyte — the herbal mixture had an almost narcotic effect on the body. It is not surprising that for a long time this beer was considered medicinal.

Nowadays the traditional drink has been resurrected: today in Belgium Gruut brewery exists and it brews only hop-free beer. The brewers do not reveal the recipes of the drink because they were perfected for too long. But they do reveal some secrets: it is known that the modern Gruut from the brewery with the same name includes sage, wormwood, rosemary, juniper and myrtle. And no side effects!

The producer offers dozens of varieties: there are beers with a slight bitterness, bright fruit tones, notes of orange in the aftertaste, a soft sweet flavor — and this is not the full range. The average strength of drinks is from 5 to 8 degrees.

You can try Gruyte at a traditional festival that takes place on February 1. It brings together producers from around the world to find out whose beer is the best. And if you're not planning to go abroad, visit a beer restaurant Lambic — we offer a few varieties of first-class Gruyte from the same producer. And we guarantee that in our lineup you will definitely find a drink that will suit your taste!

Date : 23 March

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