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I must admit that in all my drinking career, which has been quite extensive, I have never encountered a beer called 'Gruit'. However this week Brass Castle brewery from Malton have corrected that when I came across their 'I Am Gruit' .

That set me looking at Wikipedia, which explained that Gruit is effectively a beer brewed without hops, instead using herbs. There were four in this version but I never jotted them down from the pump clip. One was thyme however, as the beer had a strong flavour and nose of that. I was a little unsure what to expect but once I got used to the unfamiliar taste I was quite drawn to it. It was 4.3%, which gave it enough body to support the variety of flavours within.

I experienced it in The Head of Steam in Leeds but I hope to try it again closer to home soon. I assume it to be a fairly new beer as it does not yet appear on 'Untapped' (my usual crib source!), nor does it appear on the brewery web site.



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