Gruit

Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Historically, gruit is the term used in the historic Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire (westernmost Germany). Today, however, gruit is a colloquial term misapplied to a beer seasoned with gruit-like herbs.