In the modern world of craft beer and homebrew, hops take center stage. Many brewers and drinkers enjoy pushing the limits on just how hoppy a beer can be. But it wasn’t always this way. Before their use became widespread, hops were actually frowned upon in favor of the wide range of herbs and spices that were used to flavor beer. These herbed beers of antiquity are known as gruit.
Gruit is a term that refers to both the mixture of herbs and spices used to flavor beer or mead as well as the alcoholic beverage flavored with such herbs and spices. There’s no one particular mixture of herbs and spices used in gruit – every brewer had their own proprietary combination.
Though the plants used in gruit can vary quite a bit, below are some of the usual suspects you will find in a gruit ale recipe:

• myrica gale
• wild rosemary
• yarrow
• juniper
• spruce tips
• birch tips
• bay
• nettles
• marjoram
• chamomile
• rose hips
• lavender
• elder flowers
• dried licorice root
• fennel seed

Give one of these gruit ale recipes a shot to get a taste of some medieval!
Mumm (adapted from the Homebrewer’s Garden)
(five-gallon batch, partial mash recipe)
Specs 
OG: 1.055 – 1.062
FG: 1.018 – 1.014
ABV: 5.7 – 6.7
Ingredients
3.3 lbs. light LME
3.3 lbs. wheat LME
.75 lb. caramel 60L malt
.33 lb. wheat malt
1.5 lbs. steel cut oats
.25 lb. rye malt
.25 lb. black patent malt
.25 lb. roasted barley
1 oz. Northern Brewer hops at :60 (9 AAUs)
Any six herbs/spices from the list above (use 1/4 to 1/2 oz. of each)
Wyeast 3068: Weihenstephaner Weizen Yeast
Directions
Mash the crushed grains in 1.5 gallons of water at 148˚F for 60 minutes. Sparge with .5 gallons water at 170˚F. Add the LME and bring to a boil. Add hops and herbs/spices and boil for 60 minutes. Chill wort and transfer to a clean, sanitized fermenter. Add enough cool, clean, chlorine-free water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast when wort is 70˚F or below. Ferment at 65-70˚F for 1-2 weeks. Bottle with 2/3 cup priming sugar and condition for 3-6 weeks or longer before drinking.
Gruit Ale Recipe (from Sacred & Herbal Healing Beers)
(one-gallon batch, all-grain recipe)
Ingredients
1.75 lbs. pale malt
1.5 lbs. Carapils malt
1.5 grams myrica gale
1.5 grams marsh rosemary
1.5 grams yarrow
ale yeast
Directions
Heat one gallon of water to 170˚F and mash in the grains. Let mash rest for three hours, stirring occasionally. Sparge with 170˚F water to collect just over 1 gallon of wort. Add herbs and boil for 90 minutes. Chill wort to 70˚F or below, transfer to a clean, sanitized fermenter, and pitch yeast. Prime with 24 grams of corn sugar and bottle. Condition for four months before drinking.
Do It To It Gruit (from Radical Brewing)
(five-gallon batch, partial mash recipe)
Specs
OG: 1.054
ABV: 4.5 – 5.2
IBUs: 10
SRM: ~25
Ingredients
5 lb. amber DME
.5 lb. caramel 60L malt
1 lb. smoked malt
.25 lb. chocolate malt
2 oz. juniper berries
5 g. bog myrtle (myrica gale)
5 g. caraway
5 g. mugwort
5 g. winemaker’s tannin or grape seeds
3 g. rosemary
3 g. ground cloves
3 g. cardamom
3 bay leaves
Belgian or German ale yeast
Directions
Mash crushed grains for one hour at 154˚F. Sparge and collect about 6.5 gallons of wort. Boil for 90 minutes. In the last five minutes, add all of the herbs/spices. Cool wort, transfer to a clean, sanitized fermenter, and pitch yeast. Condition for at least 6-8 weeks before drinking.
Have you ever brewed a gruit ale recipe? What herbs and spices did you use? Here some more information on brewing beer with herbs.
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

If you attended the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, you may have heard that the Beer Judge Certification Program has been hard at work updating the BJCP Style Guidelines. Gordon Strong, President of the Beer Judge Certification Program, gave a presentation about the proposed changes to the BJCP Style Guidelines at the conference. Chip Walton of the video blog Chop & Brew recorded Gordon’s talk. I’ve transcribed some of the main changes below.
Want to learn more about the BJCP? Read Become a Beer Judge! by Jason McLaughlin.
First, why change the style guidelines?

• The last update to the guidelines was in 2008, with the last styles added way back in 2004. Brewing has changed a lot in the past 10 years – it’s time for an update!
• To embrace the growing number of international homebrewers – the current guidelines are focused on styles brewed in the US.
• To represent some historical beer styles (like Kentucky Common) that have become popular in recent years.
• To include new ingredients, especially hop varieties, which are being used. For example, recent American hop varieties may go beyond citrus and pine to include grapefruit, tropical, strawberry, “skunk”, and a number of other flavor/aroma descriptors.
• To improve the use of the guidelines in competition.

Is anything staying the same?
The four ways beers are described will remain the same: appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel – but more focus will be placed on perception as opposed to statements about ingredients and process:

• Expanded overall impression descriptions, more “consumer-level”
• Comments section: Will focus on interesting facts, not perception
• History section: A brief synopsis of the history of the style
• New section: Characteristic Ingredients will list the important ingredients needed to brew that style of beer
• New section: Style Comparison: Will suggest how it’s similar or different to related styles
• New section: Entry instructions added
• Revised and updated some commercial examples of various style
• New glossary
• New section: Using the Style Guidelines – Emphasizes that these are guidelines, not end-all-be-all specification

New Styles
Several styles and style categories will be added to the BJCP Guidelines to represent some of the popular new styles and those traditional styles experiences a resurgence.
New styles, Historical category:

• Gose – a sour beer with coriander and salt
• Grodziskie – a Polish smoked wheat beer
• Lichtenhainer – a Berliner-style sour beer with smoked malt
• Sahti – a traditional Finnish beer made with juniper
• Kentucky Common – similar to a dark cream ale
• Pre-Prohibition Porter – a Yuengling-style or “Pennsylvania” porter
• Pre-Prohibition Lager – formerly classic American pilsner
• Roggenbier – German rye beer, moved from category 15
• London Brown Ale – formerly Southern English brown ale

New styles, American wild ale category (brewers must declare a base style!):

• Brett beer – beer fermented with brettanomyces (not necessarily all brett, and not necessarily sour)
• Mixed fermentation sour beer – a sour beer fermented with a mix of yeasts and/or bacteria
• Soured fruit beer – sour beer with fruit

New styles, Czech lager category (similar to German lagers, but generally hoppier):

• Czech light lager
• Czech amber lager
• Czech dark lager
• Czech pilsner (formerly Bohemian pilsner)

New styles, going into existing categories:

• German leichtbier – like a german light lager
• Trappist single – not known as such in Belgium, but often referred to that way, low alcohol table beer
• English golden ale – golden bitter or summer ale
• Australian Sparkling Ale – a smooth and balanced ale showcasing Australian ingredients
• American Strong Ale – a catch-all for strong beers, not quite barley wine but not an IPA, Arrogant Bastard is an example
• Wheatwine – a barleywine made with wheat
• International Pale Lager – these are the green bottle imports & mass market Euro beers (formerly premium American lager)
• International Amber lager – similar to above but amber in color
• Kellerbier (Munich and Franconian variants) – fresh lager, German in origin

New Specialty IPA Subcategory
Exciting to many, there will be a new category for Specialty IPA, with descriptions for:

• Black IPA
• Brown IPA
• Red IPA
• White IPA
• Belgian IPA
• Rye IPA

Brewers will be able to specify strength (Session, Standard, Double) and also combine different styles.
Modified Styles
These styles will be modified or changed as follows:

• Premium American Lager – split into Standard American Lager and International Pale Lager
• Oktoberfest – traditional (amber) renamed to Marzen, modern (gold) called a festbier
• Rye beer removed from the American wheat category, moved to a Alternative Grains specialty category
• Scottish 60 & 70 combined into Scottish light
• Scottish 80 & 90 combined in to Scottish heavy
• English Brown Ale – formerly northern brown ale, but expanded
• Dry stout split into Irish stout and Irish extra stout
• Tropical stout split from foreign extra stout
• Weizenbock – gold versions allowed
• Fruit lambic – sweetness and carbonation specified, sweet allowed
• Old ale – overlay on new a English strong ale category

Renamed Styles
To reduce confusion, the following style will be renamed:

• Lite American lager > American Light Lager
• Standard American Lager > American Lager
• Dortmunder Export > German Exportbier
• German Pilsner/Pils > German Pils
• Dark American Lager > International Dark Lager
• Schwarzbier (Black Beer) > Schwarzbier
• Maibock/Helles Bock > Helles Bock
• traditional Bock > Dunkles Bock
• Northern German Altbier > rolled into International Amber Lager
• California Common Beer > California Common
• Dusseldorfer Altbier > Altbier
• Standard/Ordinary Bitter > Ordinary bitter
• Special/Best/Premium Bitter > Best Bitter
• Extra Special/Strong Bitter > Strong Bitter
• Strong Scotch Ale > Scottish Wee Heavy
• Mild > Dark Mild
• Brown Porter > English porter
• Robust Porter > American porter
• Imperial IPA > Double IPA
• Weizen/Weissbier > Weissbier
• Dunkelweizen > Dunkels weissbier
• Belgian Specialty Ale > deleted
• Flanders Brown Ale (Oud Bruin) > Oud Bruin
• Straight (unblended) Lambic > Lambic
• Christmas/Winter Specialty > Winter Seasonal Beer
• Classic Rauchbier > Rauchbier

Specialty-Type Beers
The specialty beers will have more specific entry categories, rather than just referencing classic styles. These will have more detailed explanations for what’s allowed.

• Fruit Beer – fruit beer, fruit and spice beer (fruit dominant), specialty fruit beer – with other fermentables
• Spiced Beer – spice/herb/vegetable beers, winter seasonal beer, autumn seasonal beer
• Alternative Fermentables – alternative grain beers, honey beers
• Smoked Beer – Classic style smoked beer, specialty smoked beer
• Wood-Aged Beer – wood-aged beer, specialty wood-aged beer (might include a wine barrel or bourbon barrel)
• Specialty Beer – clone beer, mixed style beer, experimental beer
• Belgian Specialty will get wrapped into Specialty Beer

Updates to Meads and Ciders

• Gave spiced mead its own category
• Added berry mead and stone fruit mead category
• Added fruit and spice mead to spiced mead
• Added historical mead to specialty mead

Cider

• common cider now called new world cider
• added ice cider and cider with Herbs/Spices to Specialty Cider and Perry (to include hopped ciders)

Other Changes
Electronic version of the guidelines will include categorization, as well as a sorting feature of the guidelines so you can re-group styles by similarities.
As you can see, the changes to the BJCP Guidelines are quite extensive! Review Gordon’s slides here and the video presentation here. See the draft guidelines here.
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

Just like apple pie, baseball and Cracker Jacks, and mac & cheese, beer and football is a classic combination. For football season you need something you can drink over the course of a three-hour game, a tasty session beer that’s just as good for tailgating as it is for sharing with friends around the tube. Granted, just about any beer goes well with football, but some seem to fit the season better than others.
Consider brewing one or more of these homebrew recipe kits to enjoy throughout the football season.

• Steam Freak Buddy Light – This homebrew recipe kit delivers the ideal tailgating beer, a light American lager that’s easy to drink. A clone of Peyton Manning’s favorite beer, the Buddy Light kit will be perfect for playing cornhole, throwing the pigskin around the parking lot, and washing down a portion of burgers and brats.
• Steam Freak Fat Liar – Balance is the main feature of this American amber ale. Floral hops and biscuity malts combine to deliver a pleasant, drinkable, moderately hopped beer with some roasted notes to keep things interesting.
• Brewer’s Best German Oktoberfest – Although football is an American sport, sometimes it’s nice to enjoy some beer styles from across the pond. This malt-forward German lager fits the bill perfectly. Coming out at about 5.5% ABV with some malty sweetness and just a hint of hops, this amber beer is made for a long fall day of drinking.
• Steam Freak Blue Noon – This Blue Moon clone kit satisfies all the requirements of a good football beer: light, flavorful, and easy-drinking. Orange peel and coriander bring an interesting combination to the beer, while wheat gives it some body. Feel free to serve with a wedge of orange or lemon.
• Steam Freak Steam Stoker Stout – If you find yourself tailgating in the snow, you might be ready for a dark, roasty, higher gravity thirst quencher with a little extra alcohol to keep the cold at bay. This homebrew recipe kit delivers about 7% ABV and roughly 50 IBUs, packing plenty of punch to keep you warm well into the fourth quarter.
• Brewcraft Pacific Northwest Pale Ale – For the West Coast hop heads out there, this homebrew recipe kit features the classic, citrus/pine combination of Cascade and Centennial hops, supported by some toasty and malty specialty grains for a tasty malt flavor. It’s a well-balanced beer at 5.3% ABV, 54 IBUs.

What do you think – what’s the perfect homebrew recipe kit to make for football season? Tell us below!
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

At long last, the Steam Freak Special Bitter has been brewed, fermented, kegged, and is now ready to drink. Now it’s time to taste the beer and figure out if it can be improved in any way.
Here are the notes from my taste test of the Steam Freak Special Bitter beer recipe kit.
Tasting Notes: Steam Freak Special Bitter Recipe Kit
Final Stats:
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.017
ABV: 4.1%
IBUs: ~25
SRM: ~15

• Aroma – Primarily caramel and toffee, with just a touch of spicy hop aroma from the last minute decision to add some Cascade dry hops.
• Appearance – Very dense, foamy, off-white head that sticks around for at least a couple minutes. Head retention probably due in part to the Carapils malt. Medium-dark amber color, a little darker than expected, but still appropriate for the style. Somewhat hazy. I didn’t use any finings, so they will probably help next time around.
• Flavor – First thing I get from this beer recipe kit is the caramel/toffee malt sweetness, followed by some spicy and floral hops flavor. The beer finishes dry with a slightly mineral aftertaste.
• Mouthfeel – Neither too heavy nor too light – just right. Slightly dry finish.

• Overall – Overall I’m pleased with how the beer turned out. It’s well-balanced, moderate gravity, and with plenty of flavor to keep things interesting.

If I were to brew this beer recipe kit again I might consider making a few changes:

1. Move some of the liquid malt extract to a late addition and add some aroma hops during the boil. This should bring a little hop bitterness and aroma to the forefront. Any low alpha acid hop variety will do, but Kent Goldings and/or Fuggles would be two of the most authentic options.
2. Also, looking back over my homebrewing notes, I recall that I ran out of Irish moss. A teaspoon or two added during the last ten minutes of the boil would likely help with the haze.
3. I will probably not prime the keg next time. I’m glad I tried it, but I ended up pulling a good bit of yeast out of the keg for the first few pints. Good old force carbonation will work just fine.

All in all, the opportunity to brew the Steam Freak Special Bitter was a good one. I got to review some extract brewing techniques and try my hand at a style I’d never brewed before.
Which Steam Freak beer recipe kit would you like to try?
Read the other posts of this review! Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.