Historical Beer Styles

Beer Before Hops

Hops have only dominated brewing for about 500 years. Before that, brewers used herbs, spices, and other botanicals to flavor and preserve beer. These historical styles offer a window into beer's deep past and inspire modern experimental brewing.

Gruit

Before hops became universal (mandated by the Reinheitsgebot in 1516), European brewers used a mixture of herbs called gruit. Common gruit herbs included yarrow (bitter, slightly narcotic), sweet gale (resinous, aromatic), marsh rosemary, and heather. Gruit beers are herbal, complex, and lack the clean bitterness of hopped beers.

Modern gruit recreations are brewed by a small number of craft breweries. They offer a genuinely different beer experience — earthy, herbal, and slightly wild.

Sahti

A traditional Finnish farmhouse ale brewed with malted barley and rye, filtered through juniper branches, and fermented with bread yeast (baker's yeast). Sahti is cloudy, banana-scented (from the yeast), mildly sweet, and juniper-flavored. It has been brewed continuously in Finland for at least 500 years and holds EU Traditional Specialty Guaranteed status.

Kvass

A mildly alcoholic (0.5-2% ABV) fermented beverage made from stale rye bread. Traditional in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states. Kvass is tangy, slightly sweet, and breadlike. It is consumed as a daily drink rather than an intoxicant and is sold from street vendors in summer.

Chicha

Pre-Columbian corn beer from South America. Traditional chicha production involves chewing corn to activate salivary amylase (which converts starch to sugar), spitting the chewed corn into a vessel, and fermenting it. Modern versions use malted corn or conventional mashing. Chicha is mildly sour, slightly sweet, and fruity.

Gotlandsdricka

A smoky, juniper-infused farmhouse ale from the Swedish island of Gotland. Grain is smoked over wood, and the wort is strained through a bed of juniper branches. The result is intensely smoky, resinous, and unlike any modern commercial beer.

Kentucky Common

A pre-Prohibition American style from Louisville, Kentucky. A dark, session-strength (4-5.5% ABV) ale made with a high percentage of corn (25-35%), a small amount of dark malt for color, and cluster hops for mild bitterness. Recently revived by craft breweries in Kentucky.

Grodziskie (Gratzer)

A Polish smoked wheat beer — the "Polish champagne." 100% oak-smoked wheat malt, high carbonation, low ABV (2.5-3.5%), and a dry, tangy finish. Extremely refreshing and unique.

Brewing Historical Styles

• Research primary sources and historical brewing texts
• Expect different results than modern styles — embrace the unfamiliar
• Gruit herbs are available from specialty herb suppliers
• Juniper branches can be foraged (use only Juniperus communis)
• Consider these styles as experiments — exact historical accuracy is impossible