Herbal Beer, Wine and Mead

A sip for what ales you

Herbal beer, also known as Gruit, has been brewed for centuries, long before hops became common in beer brewing. Depending on the herbs chosen, these herbal ales were used as just one type of herbal medicine preparation, or for everyday consumption simply because they were delicious.

Learn how to turn any edible or medicinal herb into a tasty herbal beer!

The history of herbal beers, ales, meads, and wines goes back to at least 10,000 BC, and back then, including medicinal or culinary herbs was commonplace in just about every libation. These days, we "drink to our health," but there was a time when that toast had a bit more meaning, as the brew itself was intended to be medicinal (as well as tasty).

I've already written about herbal meads and wine, which are regaining in popularity in the modern era, but we also brew plenty of herbal beers.

These days, hops are the dominant plant botanical in beer, but that's a relatively recent innovation when you look at the long history of brewing. There are a lot of odd political reasons for this shift during in the past few hundred years, which I won't go into, but know that the change had more to do with efficient taxation in medieval Europe than it did with taste or the preferences of the people.

Hopped beer is tasty, to be sure, but it's not the only way to brew.

So, how do you brew beer without hops?

Read More: How to Make Gruit (Herbal Beer and Ale)

A one-gallon batch of our won backyard gruit is made with herbs I can harvest in the yard.

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Herbal Beer Books & Courses

The Herbal Academy of New England has a whole course titled The Art of Herbal Fermentation, which covers beer, wine, mead, lacto-ferments (like herbal sauerkraut), water kefir, ginger bugs, kombucha, and more.

As a home brewer, I particularly loved their section on making herbal beer. They also have a lot of video content that really breaks the process down, which is perfect for visual learners.

Here's where you can find all my favorite herbal brewing books and supplies, and this list below has some of the highlights:

Brew Beer Like a Yeti by Jereme Zimmerman. One of the first DIY homebrew books to take a casual approach to brew, allowing you to just relax and make good beer as humans have done for millennia. This is a great beginner book for anyone hoping to brew herbal beer without stressing out about it.

Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation by Stephen Harrod Buhner. This book contains the lineage, lore, and methodology of making herbal brews as well as information on herbs not easily found in other herbals.

The Complete Joy of Home Brewing: Fully Revised and Updated by Charlie Papazian. This fourth edition of the classic manual is the only home brewing reference you will ever need. It’s focused on making beer in general, not gruit, but it’s great for brewing beginners.

Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Recreated by Patrick McGovern. I'm a huge food anthropology nerd, and this book is one of my favorites. It traces ancient brewing back 10,000 years, and recreates recipes based on historical records and tested samples found in tombs all over the world. This one is a great read, and they even have an audio book version. Plus, so many great recipes!

Early 18th and 19th Century Brewing is a compilation of historical works put together by the Townsends (of the famous YouTube channel). It's actually brewing books from the period, so it's a great primary source.

Viking Age Brew: The Craft of Brewing Sahti Farmhouse Ale by Mika Laitienen covers historical recipes for Scandinavian farmhouse ales with techniques that go back to before the Middle Ages. Many of these are still brewed in remote parts of the Nordics today.

Against All Hops by Butch Heilshorn is a modern book with unique recipes for homebrewers looking to brew gruits to impress their friends. For a while, gruits were all the rage with niche breweries, and while this isn't really a medicinal herbal or historical reference, it does have a lot of interesting Avante-guarde recipes.

Historical Brewing Techniques by Lars Garshol is a fascinating guide for anyone trying to replicate brewing techniques from before the modern era, be it hundreds or thousands of years ago. Many of these techniques are still used in small brewhouses in Germany and Scandinavia to produce some of the world's best craft beers.

The Wildcrafting Brewer by Pascal Baudar has a lot of simple, modern wild foraged recipes for quick beers and ales made with herbs or other wild-harvested ingredients. The recipes are simple to follow, and perfect for beginners who just want something interesting to drink (and aren't looking for a huge dose of herbalism or history).

Looking for more?

The archives have dozens of posts about both herbal medicine and winemaking or brewing!

What are you excited about brewing this year? Leave me a note in the comments!

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Until Next time,

Ashley at Practical Self Reliance