Grut (beer)

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A Grut beer brewed according to a recipe from the 13th century
Blossom Bock.jpg

Grut (also Gruit ) is a herbal mixture of variable composition , which is used to flavor beer . Classically brewed beers with Grut are also known as Grut beers and have been widespread for centuries, especially along the North Sea coast , between the 13th and 16th centuries they were increasingly replaced by hop beer .

Surname

The terms “Grut”, “Gagel” and “Porst” were often used synonymously in Northern Europe , which is why it is difficult to distinguish them in ancient sources. Both the swamp porst ( Rhododendron tomentosum , wild rosemary) and the gelatinous plant were used for brewing beer in Northern Europe from an early age. Such beers have been called Grutbier since the Middle Ages .

Many words in medieval brewing go back to the term "Grut", such as Grutrecht or Gruthaus, and several family names can be derived from it, such as Grüter, Gruiter or de Gruyter.

composition

Grutzutat Gagel ( Myrica gale )

The particular composition of the grut varies. The most common ingredients are Porst (especially Sweden and the Baltic States) and Gagel (especially northern Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, England). But yarrow , heather , mugwort , rosemary , thyme , sage , laurel , meadowsweet , anise , caraway , juniper , coriander , spruce sprouts , wormwood and sometimes hops are used. These ingredients give the beers brewed with Grut a fruity-spicy aroma. The most important brewing grain in the Middle Ages was oats . According to the biochemist Franz Meußdoerffer , oats as brewing grain do not have a taste for hops. It is noticeable that barley developed into the dominant brewing grain when hops became established as wort. Similar to the Berliner Weisse , which is still known today , the grut beers in the Middle Ages were acidic due to lactic acid fermentation . According to Meußdoerffer, this brewing process is also difficult to get along with hops, as hops kill lactic acid bacteria due to their antimicrobial properties. The lactic acid ensured a certain stability and durability of the beers. In some cases, herbs such as ash leaves , which contain bitter substances with an antibacterial effect, were also used in grut beers to improve shelf life.

The marsh porst contains an essential oil (Ledumöl; main active ingredient Ledol ), which has an intoxicating effect and strengthens the effect of alcohol. Occasionally, additives such as black henbane , deadly nightshade and tumbled-wolf , which have hallucinogenic properties, were added. The ethnopharmacologist Christian Rätsch therefore sees the purity law as an early drug law. There is a suspicion that the use of pagan ritual plants should be suppressed.

history

The organic beer Gageleer brewed with Gagel

Based on archaeological finds in the area of ​​the Rhine estuary, it can be assumed that Gagel was used there for beer brewing at the time of Christ's birth. The first mention of Grut as a beer ingredient, at that time still under its Latin name materia cervisiae , goes back to the year 974, when the Roman-German Emperor Otto II issued Grutrechte, i.e. the right to trade in Grut, to the Church transferred from Liège. The name "Grut" was first mentioned in 999 when the Roman-German Emperor Otto III. gave Grutrecht to the Martinus Church in Utrecht .

Although hop beers were already known in Norse mythology , herbal beers remained predominant in northern Germany and the Netherlands as well as in Flanders until the 13th century. Since the 13th century, the hop beer from the German Hanseatic cities, for which it was an important export product, penetrated the Grut beer areas. The owners of the Grutrechte tried to repel the advance of hop beers through regulatory provisions, but were only able to delay its spread. The hop beers prevailed mainly because they were more durable than Grutbier due to the preserving effect of the hops, which spoiled quickly and therefore could not be exported. In addition, the hops were cheaper as wort than the grut, and taste reasons may also have played a role. In 1548, for example, the city chronicler of Dortmund, Dietrich Westhoff, complained that the Grut beer was being displaced by other varieties, so that “the noble gruten beer is of little value”. Since the 16th century, the Grutbier has been associated with poisoning , which has increasingly led to bans. However, chemical tests carried out in the meantime have not been able to identify any harmful ingredients.

Grutbier today

JOPEN KOYT BEER AT THE STAYOK HOSTEL HAARLEM NORTH HOLLAND JUNE 2014.jpg

Even today , Grut beers are still - or again - available in some countries, for example Porse Guld from the Thisted brewery in Denmark, Koyt Gruitbier from the Jopen brewery in the Netherlands, Gruit Kopernikowski from the Kormoran brewery from Poland, Grozet Gooseberry from the Williams brewery in Scotland, Myrica from the O'Hanlons brewery in England or Gageleer from the De Proefbrouwerij brewery and Steenbrugge from the brewery of the same name in Belgium. In Germany there are Porse from the Ricklinger Brewery, the historical specialty beers from the Weißenoher monastery brewery and some beer specialties from the Gruthaus in Münster.

Starting in the USA, a worldwide initiative of microbreweries has been formed since 2013, which has declared February 1st of the year to be International Grut Beer Day and in this way tries to revive this beer style. On GruitDay 2018 to 62 brewers from eleven countries.

literature

  • Peter Lietz : The raw materials and additives in the history of beer production . In: Society for the history of brewing eV [GGB] (Hrsg.): GGB year book . 2004, ISSN  0072-422X , p. 133-195 .
  • Aloys Schulte : About the Grutbier. A study of economic and constitutional history . In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine . tape 85 , 1908, pp. 118-146 .
  • Christian Rätsch : Beer beyond hops and malt - from the magic potions of the gods to the psychedelic beers of the future . Orbis, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-572-01343-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Keyword Porst. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 23, ISBN 3-11-017535-5 , pp. 287 ff.
  2. ↑ Andreas Fasel: When Altbier was still young . In: THE WORLD . June 19, 2013 ( welt.de [accessed August 4, 2020]).
  3. ^ Christian Rätsch : Urbock or real beer.
  4. ↑ Franz Meußdoerffer & Martin Zarnkow: Beer. A story of hops and malt. Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-66667-4
  5. ↑ Moritz Gretzschel: The purity law is dead - long live the purity law. In: Braumagazin. Spring 2015.
  6. ↑ Keyword beer in Christian Rätsch: Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Botany, Ethnopharmacology and Application. AT-Verlag, Aarau 1998, ISBN 3-85502-570-3 , p. 733 f.
  7. ↑ VT van Vilsteren: Beer! Geschiedenis Van Een popular drink . Ed .: R. Kistemaker, VT van Vilsteren, L. Hendrikman. Bataafsche Leeuw, 1994, ISBN 90-6707-342-3 , In de begin… De oorsprong en techniek van het brouwen tot de 14de eeuw.
  8. ^ Cologne Brewery Association: Beer in Cologne before 1800 , accessed on June 13, 2014.
  9. ^ Markus Hellemanns: The brewing industry in medieval Dortmund.
  10. ↑ Ultimo: Prosit Gagelkraut - Philipp Overbeck researches & brews Münster's medieval beer , Roland Tauber, No. 3/18, January 22, 2018 - February 4, 2018, p. 8
  11. ↑ https://www.gruitday.com/