much of Europe. Monasteries brewed it for
themselves and for nearby settlements. By the
9th century, alehouses had become common
in England, with individual keepers brewing
their own. Until 1200, the English government
considered ale to be a food, and did not tax it.
It was in medieval Germany that two great
innovations made beer largely what it is
today: brewers preserved and flavored it with
hops, and began to ferment it slowly in the
cold to make mild-flavored lager.
Hops The earliest brewers probably added
herbs and spices to beer, both to give it flavor
and to delay the development of off-flavors
from oxidation and the growth of spoilage
microbes. In early Europe this mixture, called
gruit in German, included bog-myrtle,
rosemary, yarrow, and other herbs. Coriander
was also sometimes used, juniper in Norway,
and sweet gale (Myrica gale) especially in
Denmark and Scandinavia. It was around 900