ORIGINAL GRUIT ~ BEAU'S

This beer is part of Beau’s Gruit series, began in 2015. Gruits date back many years, long before the Bavarian Purity Act that declared that beer can only be brewed with four ingredients (water, yeast, malt and hops) and were popular when hops were unavailable or taxed too heavily. Gruits are brewed using a variety of herbs and plants to replace the dominant hop flavours of the beer. This gruit contains three popular historical ingredients: bog myrtle, yarrow and Labrador tea. Labrador tea is the common name for three plants in the Heath family that are used to make herbal tea. This tea is well known to the Inuit and Athabascan Peoples. Sampled from a bottle, this brew poured a clear intense gold with an apricot hue, with a small foamy off white head. The aroma had fruity and herbal notes, along with malts, herbs and spice. The flavours were a nice balance of citrus and fruit, herbal and floral notes and grainy malts. This is a much subtler gruit than their Bog water, which features myrtle much more predominantly. The finish features tannins from the teas and a slight bitterness. The mouthfeel was medium bodied and carbonation was moderate. I look forward to other herbal experiments and new versions in this series.
6.3 % From VanKleek Hills, Ontario

INGREDIENTS: Local Spring Water, Organic Malts, Wild-harvested Labrador Tea, Organic Bog Myrtle, Organic Hops, Organic Yarrow, Brewer’s Yeast.
MALTS: Pilsner, Vienna, Carahell, Carafoam, Acidulated (All organic)
HOPS: Perle (Organic)
YEAST: German Ale Yeast

BOG FATHER ~ BEAU’S

’This Imperial Gruit is the Big Brother of the “Bog Water”, reviewed August 2015. (Bog water review here).  I was under the impression that gruit’s were bittered by botanicals other than hops, but this one contains hops as well as an array of other botanicals. That being the case, I am not sure why they can call this a gruit. Gruit can take on many flavours of the local flora and fauna, and taste varies widely. Sampled on draught, during Gruit week, this beer poured a dark brown with a honey amber hue much like a porter or a stout. A generous cap of white head sat atop the beer, and lasted for quite a while. The nose reminded me of a Belgian triple. Raisins and dates, Belgian yeasts, cola, dark toast, liquorice, fruity esters, Demerara sugar and herbs and spice make up the nose. The taste was very similar to the nose with fruits, spice, toast and Belgian yeasts. The double mash of dark malts, Belgian Trappist ale yeasts and bog myrtle, used in the brewing all lend a character to the brew. Bog father had a medium body with a creamy warming feel. I very much enjoyed this!
This beer was originally brewed in very limited release in 2008. This is its second appearance since then and a big fan favourite.
8% from Vankleek Hills, Ontario 43 IBU

Malts: Munich, pilsner, caramunich, carafoam, acidulated, carafa (all organic)
Hops: Organic simcoe
Yeast: Monastery ale

Other: Organic sweet Gale, Organic Yarrow, local spring water.