1337 Bière St. Bertin
Before hops conquered Europe, beer belonged to gruit.
Gruit was not a single recipe, but a system. A mixture of herbs and botanicals used to flavour and preserve ale before hops became dominant. Bog myrtle, yarrow, rosemary, spruce, sage, and dozens of other plants found their way into medieval beer depending on local custom and availability.
But gruit was also political…
980 Raøl
No hops. No boil. Juniper branches. Farmhouse yeast.
Raøl is one of the oldest surviving forms of beer in Europe.
For centuries, people believed beers like this had vanished. Then, hidden in isolated farmhouses in western Norway, brewers were discovered still making raw ale much as their ancestors had generations before. Some families had preserved their own yeast cultures for hundreds of years. These yeasts, now called kveik, turned out to be genetically distinct from modern industrial brewing strains and uniquely suited to hot, rapid fermentation.
The discovery stunned the brewing world.
Because this was not archaeology. It was a living tradition…