WASHINGTON 鈥� A historic style of brewing is making a comeback.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, long before brewers discovered the preservation benefits of hops, beer was made using a bittering blend of herbs, called gruit.
鈥淚t would be a proprietary mixture 鈥� things like bog myrtle, yarrow, wild rosemary,鈥� said Drew McCormick, assistant beverage director for .
鈥淎nd I almost think of it as a tea bag that was added to the overly sweet beer that they were making to make it palatable and give it a little bit more flavor.鈥�
Gruit (also the name given to the style of the beer) had a good run, but it fell out of fashion once brewers realized that beer made with hops outlasted beer made with rosemary, so its availability diminished 鈥� that is, until recently.
McCormick says she has seen a gruit 鈥渃omeback鈥� in the last few years, as more craft breweries experiment with alternative styles in order to gain an edge in a crowded and competitive industry.
鈥淧eople are kind of constantly looking for the next thing or are on to the next trend, and I鈥檓 hoping that this [comeback] could shine some light on gruit and some of the interesting things that breweries are doing,鈥� McCormick said.
Want to give it a try? On Feb. 1, Pizzeria Paradiso鈥檚 Dupont Circle location will pour nine different gruits from its taps for .
McCormick says it isn鈥檛 easy to describe the beer鈥檚 flavor, since the profile is heavily dependent on the blend of herbs used in the brewing process.
鈥淵ou can have things that are a little bit more on the sour side and then it could go all the way to the other end. You could have something similar to a stout brewed with maybe fennel, so it has that nice licorice flavor to it, so it really runs the whole gamut,鈥� she said.
McCormick isn鈥檛 aware of any local breweries that are making gruit, but says the process is pretty similar to that of hop-brewed beer. Marketing is where things become more difficult.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a strange name, and [depending on the herbs used] you never know what you鈥檙e really going to get,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you think about all the herbs and plants and flavor profiles out there, it kind of turns into this amazing culinary experience in beer, which I think is a very interesting thing.”
Pizzeria Paradiso鈥檚 Gruit Day takes place Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. at 2003 P St. NW. More information is available on the restaurant鈥檚 .
