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February 1st
I knew (and tolerated) IPA Day. I like Stout Day a lot. Orval Day is a keeper too. But I did not know that the first day of my birthday month was Gruit Day.
Not that there are many out there on tap in this hop filled world but if you are in L.A. and near Sunset Beer Co., our local purveyors of Gruit , SoLArc Brewing will headline a night of bog myrtle and other alchemic ingredients.
Check it out and then check out the Gruit Day website.
Any brewer, and I am not talking just about L.A., that calls a beer Mask of Agamenmon, earns some points in my book. That is just Theatre History nerd fact.
I missed trying their Gruit at Sunset Beer because, silly me, I thought a hop-less beer would last a weekend on tap. I was wrong. Happily.
That means I am still on the hunt for my first beer from SoLArc.
P.S.
I had the Dunes Gruit at the Oinkster and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t over-the-top with spice and had a certain hefe character to it. Quite enjoyable.
Looks like the Lips of Faith series is going strong in 2014 with a hop-LESS ale. Gruit is a seldom seen style but one that beer lovers should seek out to enjoy and round out their beer knowledge. Kudos to New Belgium for bringing this historical beer to a wider audience.
And for a quick history less the German Beer Institute website defines Gruit as, “Gruitbier was in its time, some 500 to 1,000 years ago, clearly the most common beer style in the world. Gruit is old German for herbs. Gruitbier was brewed both on the Continent and on the British Isles. Gruit (or herbs) is what most medieval brewers used to flavor their beers with before hops became a universal beer flavoring agent starting around the 15th century.“
For the month of June, I will be reviewing beers not from a specific brewery or state or style but from the Vanberg & DeWulf line of beers. And I start with this gruit, Posca Rustica.
Here’s more from the V&D website about this beer…..“Since 1983, Dupont has produced a beer especially for a Gallo-Roman site near the brewery where Stone Age life is interpreted, the Archeosite d’Aubechies.
Known as Cervesia in Belgium this beer is a throwback inspired by research into the drinks of the Gallo-Roman era. It is surely one of the brewery’s most exotic beers. It is a “Cervoise” beer spiced with a gruit (an old-fashioned herb mixture used to bitter and flavor beer, that was popular before hops came to predominate). Posca Rustica beer is highly, if delicately, spiced. Sweet woodruff (known as Galium odoratum or wild baby’s breath) and bog myrtle are but two of about a dozen spices used. Posca Rustica has a unique, odiferous and spicy character. Bottle conditioned. Beguiling and unusual. Discover what beer tasted like when Belgium was ruled by the Roman Empire.”
…”The brewers got a little extra creative for this month’s firkin, hope you all will get a chance to try it! Take unhopped Saison Rue wort, add wormwood, sage, rosemary, and yarrow and voila! Do It To It Gruit. Each of these unique ingredients was at one time thought to have its own use in traditional medicine to help one reach a higher plane. We don’t know if they were wrong or right, but it sure is fun to experiment!”
The mad scientists in Placentia seem to be going all out. Gruit is a great and seldom seen style (though us crazy Americans are re-claiming it). I have a German version as well as Upright Brewing’s take and both were delicious and refreshing. Who knows how the Bruery version will compare? They are in a place all of their own.