Excerpt from Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers by Buhner P170
[...] Hops, when they began to be suggested for use as a primary additive, in both Germany and England, were bitterly resisted. Those whoheld a monopoly on gruit production in Germany and on pure ale in England fought hop introduction through the legislatures, proclamations of the royalty, writings of the day's medical practitioners, and through Church edict. The struggle over what ingredients could be allowed in ale lasted, in its most furious forms, for about 200 years. This fight occurred, interestingly, simultaneously with the Protestant Reformation. The accusations of the powerful interests opposing hops can still be found in governmental records in both England and Germany. Brewers in England complained to the mayor of London about hops and noted that there was
a deceivable and unholesome fete in bruying of ale within the said citee nowe of late [that] is founde inputtyng of hoppes and other things in the said ale, contrary to the good and holesome manner of bruynge of Ale of old tyme used. . . . Pleas it therfore your saidegood lordshyppe to forbid the putting into ale of any hops, herbs, or other like thing, but only licour, malte, and yeste.
In Germany, as John Arnold reveals:
Hopped beers, not alone their manufacture but also their importation into the domains of the Archbishop of Cologne, were strictly prohibited in various edicts, and infractions threatened with severe penalties. The reason for this was two-fold. First, the manufacture of gruit was a privilege, exploited orgranted by the archbishop and bishops, hence a source of large revenue for them, a veritable ecclesiastical monopoly. Second, 'gruit' contained herbs and spices, meeting the taste of that time (and of succeeding centuries), its composition being a mystery for the common people, and in any event a trade secret for the privileged manufacturer. This privilege was now threatened in the highest degree by the hops and hopped beers which began to appear from different localities.
. . . How determinedly the archbishops for the reasons mentioned opposed the introduction of hopped beers [can be seen] from a decree issued, April 17, 1381, by Archbishop Frederick of Cologne, in behalf of the maintenance of the gruit monopoly, according to which not only the brewers, but also the clergy, the military and the civilians, in fact, anybody who wanted to brew beer were commanded to buy their gruit in the episcopal gruit-houses; furthermore, the importation of 'hopped beer' from Westphalia was prohibited, and so was the brewing of such beers in Cologne itself, under pain of the severest penalties which the Church could inflict.
Hops, until this time, were merely one of the plants used all along inthe production of beer. The earliest mention of their use was probably in Hildegard of Bingen's (1098-1179) Physica Sacra. However, hops were inno way accepted as a superior herb for use in beer production. In spite of such decrees as that issued in Cologne and complaints like that from the brewers of London, the assault on gruit and pure ale continued, and hopped ale slowly began to supplant gruit ale (or pure malt ale in England). Hops finally gained ascendancy in Germany at nearly the same time Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Catholic Church (1520). It is doubtful this is mere coincidence. One of the arguments of the Protestants against the Catholic clergy (and indeed, against Catholicism) was their self-indulgence in food, drink, and lavish lifestyle. This behavior was felt to be very un-Christlike indeed. And it was this Protestant religious intolerance of Catholic indulgence that was the genesis of the temperance movement. (It would not stop, of course, with the assault on gruit production or gruit ales, but would continue on to include, by the twentieth century, ale itself and any kind of psychotropic or inebriating plants and drinks.) The Protestant reformists were joined by merchants and competing royals to break the financial monopoly of the Church. The result was, ultimately, the end ofa many-thousand-years' tradition of herbal beer making in Europe and the narrowing of beer and ale into one limited expression of beer production- that of hopped ales or what we today call beer. The majority of historical beer writers insist that this was only because (after some 10,000 years) our ancestors accidentally discovered that hops were antiseptic enough to really preserve beer. But our ancestors were neither that blind nor that narrow in their empiricism. Hops kept the beer from spoiling, yes; however, a number of other herbs possess strong antibacterial properties and can help beer 'keep.' Many of those herbs were commonly used in ale; for instance, wormwood and juniper. But hops possess two characteristics notably different from the herbs they replaced. They cause the drinker to become drowsy and they diminish sexual desire- quite the opposite of the otherherbs used in beer and especially those used in gruit production. Yarrow, sweet gale, and marsh rosemary are highly inebriating and stimulating when used in ale, far out of proportion to their individual effects outside of fermentation. The literature of the time, denoting the 'problems' associated with the gruit herbs, contradict contemporary beer historians and are in actuality some of the first drug control manifestos on record. The laws that eventually passed in the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries are the first drug control laws on record. For instance, Odd Nordland, the Norwegian brewing historian, comments:
At the time the decree of 1667 ordered an increase of cultivation of hops in Norway, the authorities in continental Europe were generally trying to abolish the use of grut and bog myrtle in brewing. The provincial laws of Bavaria, of 1533 and 1616, imposed severe penalties onanyone brewing ale with herbs and seeds not normally used for ale. Similar laws were passed in, for instance, Holstein in 1623, and here [Norway] the Post (bog myrtle) was expressly forbidden together with other 'unhealthy material'. As late as 1723, the laws of Brunswick-Luneburg made it a punishable offence for a brewer to have the dangerous Post, or other herbs imparting a dangerous potency to the ale, in his house. It is stated that, in spite of earlier warnings, this practicehad continued to the peril of the lives and health of His Majesty's subjects.
The historical record is clear that hops supplantation of other herbs was primarily a reflection of Protestant irritation about 'drugs' and the Catholic Church, in concert with competing merchants trying to break a monopoly and so increase their profits. The motivations were religious and mercantile, reasons not so different from the ones used to illegalize marijuana in the United States in the twentieth century. Psychotropic and Highly Inebriating Beers The strong incentive for merchants to break the gruit monopoly can be seen from the legal structure affecting the brewing of ales at the time. There was a tax on gruit in addition to taxes on the ale subsequently brewed from them. The gruit tax was independent of the beer tax. Everybody who brewed on his own account, was bound to pay the gruit tax upon the gruit bought at the gruit-house, while the brewers had, besides to pay the lawful beer tax, the excise tax. And gruit producers had a monopoly. In many regions of Europe during the Middle Ages, those who made ale commercially had to use gruit in their ale and they had to buy it from licensed gruit producers. The fight against hops, however, was a long one. It began about A.D. 1250 and continued well into the seventeenth century, about 400 years in all. Interdicts were placed on the use of hops in many parts of Germany until the sixteenth century, and it was not legal to even grow hops in England until an act of Parliament made it so in 1554. But in spite of the eventual ascendancy of hops, gruit did not entirely disappear. The brewers in Bremen continued to employ gruit as well as hops until early in the eighteenth century, when a police mandate (1718) ordered that "No brewer shall undertake to buy such herbs [marsh rosemary, etc.], no matter on what pretense." Slowly the herbs used in gruit ale passed out of commercial use and into the hands of home and small village brewers. It held on longest in places far out of the mainstream, such as Iceland and rural Norway. But that wasn't destined to last; a number of researchers have noted that the strong Protestant temperance movements of the middle twentieth century were nearly the end of village and home brewing in rural Norway. [...]
P368
ABOUT HOPS Humulus lupulus
Now as to the Nature of Hops; there is in them a most excellent glance or friendly opening quality, more especially if they were dried in the Sun, which is to be preferred before the Host or Kill; for the spirituous part of this Plant is so nice, that it cannot endure any violent heat without prejudice to its fine Virtues. . . . Hops naturally purge powerfully by Urine, if prepared and used with understanding, so that they are unjustly charged to breed the Stone; for on the contrary, they are a special Remedy against it, if ordered with judgement, and as they ought to be; but as every thing consists of Contraries, they may, and do occasion the Stone, and other Diseases by accident, but it is only when they are abused, and after their good Virtues are drawn off, or evaporated by the force of Fire, as boyling, and the like, which is done in a trice, for no Herbs thathave been dried as they ought, will endure the Fire, or Boyling without manifest prejudice to the best Virtues; but it is a gentle Infusion that will naturally, and without violence to Nature, extract or draw forth all that is desired in Hops, or any other dried or prepared Herbs; but 'tis true, it will not rouze nor infect your Liquor with their original harsh, bitter, fulsome, keen, hot Properties, which too many, for want of distinguishing the Principles of Nature, call Virtue and Strength; indeed Strength and Fierceness it is, but far from Virtue in respect of Humane Bodies, nothing fearce being more inimical and injurious there unto, which evil Properties in every thing are the more drawn forth and increased by over much boyling, especially in Herbs and Vegitations which have been already firmented and digested by the Influences of the Sun and Elements, whereby the gross phlemy parts are opened, and the Spirits set upon the wing ready to come forth upon any gentle summons. -Thomas Tryon,
The hop plant is a meandering, clinging vine, and with sufficient water will cover anything that will support its weight. It was introduced into the United States from Europe for use in beer making and now grows wild throughout the country. The part used in both brewing and herbalism are the hop cones or strobules. They look somewhat like small green pinecones. They are about an inch long and three quarters of an inch in diameter. Unlike pinecones, they are a light green, and the petals that make up the cones delicate. Conventional brewers make a great deal of the kind of hops they use, the amount of bitterness they possess, and where they come from. Not being a fanatic, I find the wild ones sufficient for home use. Hops are used in standard practice herbal medicine in three ways: as a soporific (sleep inducer), as a diuretic (promoting urine flow), and for menopause- they contain a high level of phytoestrogens and are a reliable alternative for pharmaceutical estrogen. Their strong antibacterial action makes them useful in wound powders and salves, but they are not often used for such conditions. Hops do possess tannins, from which beer benefits in flavor, and this lends hops a natural astringency, another positive factor for their use in treating wounds. The estrogenic activity of hops makes any use of the herb ananaphrodisiac for men who use them- that is, hops decrease sexual drive, erection, and desire. There is a well-known condition in England called Brewer's Droop. Both brewers and bartenders, from long-term exposure to the estrogenic properties ofhops, eventually have difficulty sustaining erection. The relaxant qualities of hops seem to negatively enhance depressive states and should only be used for sleep and nervous tension treatment in the absence of depression. The strong bitter action of hops stimulates gastric secretions and helps in feeble stomach conditions. Hops have been traditionally used to stuff pillows, hop pillows, to promote sleep. Hops are quite effective for this, but using a hop pillow can lead to a drugged feeling when you do finally wake up. I have used hops both in the treatment of menopause and endometriosis and found it remarkably effective for these conditions.