Gruit (grut or gruyt) is an old-style beer brewed using a variety of botanicals. Before hops were readily available, brewers looked to what they could source locally. We like to think about gruit as beer brewed using one's back yard as a plentiful pantry--varying through the seasons--providing a diverse set of ingredients. We commonly use herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, vegetables and leaves that we forage, source locally, or grow in our garden. Like most brewers, we boil, steep, juice, condition, and infuse plants to capture flavor, aroma, bitterness, sweetness, and medicinal and preservative properties. We use plants in different ways depending on their seasonality or highlighted properties. Our offerings will include beers and gruits brewed with anywhere from considerable to zero amounts of hops depending on the desired properties. You will find four dedicated taps of beer (both gruits and non-gruits) in the tasting room located at 200 Anderson Street, Portland, ME 04101.

A list of local plants used in our beers:

Leaves and Stems: Rhubarb, Mugwort, Yarrow, Bay Berry, Sweetfern, Spruce, Sage, Basil, Thyme

Flowers: Dandelion, Sumac, Chamomile, Rose Petals, Lavender, Hops, Echinacea, Bee Balm, Calendula

Fruit: Juniper, Cranberries, Strawberries, Blueberries, Hot peppers, Squash, Coriander Seeds

Fungi: Chaga, Reishi, Lion's Mane

Roots: Beet Root, Dandelion