Gruits of their labor

Don’t feel bad if you missed International Gruit Day yesterday, or if you don’t know what a gruit is in the first place.

Bellwether is celebrating the occasion today (since they’re closed on Mondays), and they’ll be happy to fill you in on what you’ve been missing.

A gruit (rhymes with fruit) is a beer flavored with herbs instead of hops, which was common across Europe before hopped beers gained favor around the 15th century.

Bellwether brewer Thomas Croskrey, a history buff and fan of Old World styles, typically uses mugwort in his gruits to mimic the bittering effect of hops, plus a whole host of other herbs. For today’s festivities, he’s created a stout with horehound and aniseed for a licorice character.

In a more modern twist, if you order one and either check in at Bellwether on social media and/or post a picture of your pour, with the hashtags #GruitDay and #BellwetherBrewing, you get a discount on your first pint and growler fill. (That also applies to the brewery’s hopless Heather Ale, though it’s not technically a gruit since it uses a single herb.)

Bellwether’s gruits so far have been small 5-gallon batches (and only available to go in 16- or 32-ounce growlers). But by next week, Croskrey plans to tap a bigger-batch brown gruit off the 1.5-barrel system made with coriander, rose hips and grains of paradise; you’ll be able to get full 64-ounce growlers of that one.

And later in the month, look for another small-batch offering with roasted dandelion root, orange peel and sage.