Gruitbeer

It had been a more common drink during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when beer (gruitbeer) was of low quality and wine was still produced on a relatively large scale in Brabant itself, in the region of Louvain, Aarschot, and Diest.

During the Middle Ages the popular beer was called gruitbeer. At that time hops were not used. Instead a mixture of herbs called gruit was used to give aroma and taste to what was basically a sweet product.

They include rosemary, bog myrtle (sweet gale), coriander, caraway, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, juniper, milfoil, mugwort and yarrow. The beers made using these components and which are now very rare are referred to as gruitbeer.