What is "gruit"

n. A herbal mixture used in the flavouring of beer prior to the use of hops.

Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is an old-fashioned herb mixture used for bittering and flavoring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. Gruit or grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit.

Gruit was a combination of herbs, commonly including sweet gale ( Myrica gale), mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), ground ivy ( Glechoma hederacea), horehound ( Marrubium vulgare), and heather (Calluna vulgaris). Gruit varied somewhat, each gruit producer including different herbs to produce unique flavors and effects. Other adjunct herbs included juniper berries, ginger, caraway seed, aniseed, nutmeg, cinnamon, and even hops in variable proportions.

Some traditional types of unhopped beer such as sahti in Finland, which is spiced with juniper berries and twigs, have survived the advent of hops, although gruit itself has not.