Gruit

An herb mixture used to flavor and preserve beer before hops became commonly used in the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe.

Gruit (roughly pronounced groo-it) was mostly composed of bog myrtle (also known as sweet gale), yarrow, and marsh rosemary, but could also include botanicals such as heather, juniper, ginger, caraway, and cinnamon.

The Catholic Church had a monopoly on the sale and taxation of gruit, which resulted in the use of hops being more of a revolutionary act rather than a flavor preference.