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What Is Unhopped Beer? A Complete Guide to Beer Without Hops

Published April 2026 · 7-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped

Unhopped beer is beer brewed without hops, using traditional herbs and spices instead. For thousands of years, this was simply called beer. Only in the last 500 years — a relative blink in beer's 9,000-year history — did hops become the default bittering agent. This guide covers what unhopped beer is, why it existed for millennia before hops took over, and how the concept inspired the name of our platform.

The short answer: beer before hops existed

To most modern drinkers, beer and hops are inseparable. You can't imagine an IPA without the citrus punch of Citra or the pine of Simcoe. You can't picture a lager without the crisp Hallertau bitterness. Hops are the green cone-shaped plant that defines beer's bitter profile, preserves it on the shelf, and gives brewers their palette of aromas.

But hops are a relative newcomer in the history of brewing. Archaeological evidence shows humans have been fermenting grain-based beverages for at least 9,000 years. Hops only became the dominant flavouring agent in European beer between roughly 1100 and 1600 AD. Before that — and in some regions long after — beer was flavoured and preserved with a mixture of herbs and spices called gruit.

Unhopped beer, at its simplest, is beer made without hops. Most of the time what we mean by that is gruit — beer flavoured with botanicals instead.

What is gruit? The original unhopped beer

Gruit (pronounced 'groit') is the herb mixture that flavoured European beer for centuries before hops took over. The word originates from a region covering parts of the modern Netherlands, Belgium, and northwestern Germany, where gruit production and sale were tightly controlled by local authorities under what was known as Grutgerechtigkeit — a gruit licence — from the 11th century onwards.

While recipes varied widely by region and brewer, traditional gruit typically contained three primary herbs:

Beyond these three staples, medieval brewers included whatever botanicals grew locally or were deemed to improve their specific batch: heather, juniper berries, ginger, caraway, aniseed, nutmeg, cinnamon, mugwort, ground ivy, even spruce tips in northern regions. Each brewery had its own recipe, and specific gruit recipes were often closely guarded commercial secrets. In 1420, the town council of Cologne famously directed one knowledgeable woman to teach a single named brewer — and no one else — how to make the local gruit.

Think of gruit as beer's original spice cabinet. Before hops became the monoculture, every brewery had its own botanical fingerprint.

Why did hops replace gruit?

The shift from gruit to hops took around 400 years across Europe — from approximately the 11th century in southern and eastern parts of the Holy Roman Empire to the late 16th century in Britain. The reasons were part practical, part political.

The practical reason: preservation

Hops are exceptional natural preservatives. The alpha acids in hops inhibit bacterial growth, meaning hopped beer lasts dramatically longer than gruit-flavoured beer. In an era before refrigeration, this was transformative. A brewery that made hopped beer could ship its product further, store it longer, and lose fewer batches to spoilage. That commercial advantage was enormous.

Hops also produce a more consistent bittering profile. Gruit recipes varied brewer to brewer and batch to batch; a given hop variety delivered reliable bitterness every time. For emerging commercial breweries scaling up, consistency mattered.

The political reason: breaking the gruit monopoly

The Catholic Church and local rulers held valuable monopolies on gruit production across much of medieval Europe. Brewers had to buy gruit from licensed producers at prices the licence-holders set. Hopped beer, brewed outside the gruit system, bypassed this control entirely.

During the Protestant Reformation, Protestant reformers and merchants actively pushed hopped beer as a way of breaking Catholic economic power. The shift wasn't just a brewing preference — it was a political and religious statement. In 1516, Bavaria's Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law) codified the change, limiting beer to water, barley, and hops (yeast was added later, once its role was understood). Gruit was effectively legislated out of mainstream European brewing.

Does unhopped beer still exist today?

Yes — the modern craft beer revival has brought gruit back from near-extinction. Starting in the 1990s, a small but dedicated group of craft brewers in North America and Europe began reviving traditional gruit recipes. The movement has grown steadily, and since 2013, craft brewers have marked 1 February as International Gruit Day to celebrate the tradition.

Notable modern unhopped and gruit-style beers include:

In the UK, occasional limited releases of gruit-style beers appear from craft breweries experimenting with botanicals, typically marketed as farmhouse ales, herbal beers, or historical revival ales. They're rare, they're usually small-batch, and they're absolutely worth seeking out if you come across one.

What does unhopped beer actually taste like?

This is the question most drinkers have, and the honest answer is: it depends heavily on the herbs used.

Without hops' characteristic clean bitterness, unhopped beers lean much more on malt sweetness and whatever botanicals the brewer has chosen. The overall effect tends to be softer, rounder, and more complex than hopped beer — but also less familiar to modern palates. Expect:

Craft beer writer Jessica Rosslee once described gruit as 'beer's lost flavour wardrobe' — a library of tastes that modern drinkers simply haven't been exposed to. Trying unhopped beer for the first time is less a question of 'is this good' and more 'is this what beer used to be?'

Why we called our platform "Unhopped"

Here's where we pivot to the brand angle, because if you've searched for 'unhopped' and found this page, there's a reasonable chance you've stumbled on our platform and wondered what the name means. So: a quick explanation.

Unhopped is a UK-built discovery platform for alcohol-free beer. We catalogue 245+ alcohol-free beers, profile 114 breweries, and publish tasting notes, community scores, and comparisons across every mainstream and indie NA brand available in the UK. We also run a free calorie calculator tool for alcohol-free beer.

The name 'Unhopped' came from two connected ideas.

First, the literal meaning you've just read about — historical beer brewed without hops, a category of brewing that existed for thousands of years. We liked the linguistic connection to a long brewing tradition that predates the modern obsession with hop varieties.

Second, the metaphor. Modern alcohol-free beer has spent decades being perceived as 'flat' — in the same way that unhopped beer sounds flat and boring to modern drinkers raised on double-dry-hopped IPAs. Alcohol-free beer isn't flat. It's a category that's been quietly producing some of the most interesting beer of the last decade. We wanted a name that subverted the assumption.

So 'Unhopped' works on two levels: it nods to brewing history, and it reclaims the idea that beer without the traditional signal of 'strength' can still be rich, complex, and worth drinking.

If you searched for 'unhopped beer' looking for…

A few directions you might be coming from, and where to go next:

…historical gruit beer to try

You're in the right territory but the wrong platform. Unhopped is an alcohol-free beer discovery site, not a gruit directory. Your best options are specialist craft bottle shops in the UK (Clapton Craft, Hop Burns & Black, BeerMerchants) or breweries with occasional gruit-style releases. Look out for Finnish sahti imports, Belgian gruut-style ales, and limited releases from experimental craft breweries.

…information about brewing beer without hops at home

Several excellent resources exist. Stephen Harrod Buhner's book Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers is the definitive guide to historical gruit recipes and herbal brewing. Many home-brewing forums and clubs publish gruit recipes and discuss herb selection. The Maltose Falcons (a home-brewing club) have particularly strong resources on historical gruit techniques.

…alcohol-free beer

You've found the right place. Unhopped is the UK's most comprehensive alcohol-free beer discovery platform. Some places to start:

…the actual meaning of 'unhopped' as a beer term

You've got your answer at the top of this page. For deeper history, the Wikipedia entry on gruit is comprehensive, and the Oxford Companion to Beer has an authoritative article on the history of pre-hops brewing if you want academic depth.

Frequently asked questions

What is unhopped beer?

Unhopped beer is beer brewed without hops. Before hops became the dominant bittering and preserving agent in beer between the 11th and 16th centuries, brewers used a herb mixture called gruit — typically including bog myrtle, yarrow, and wild rosemary. Unhopped beer still exists today as a niche revival style.

Can you make beer without hops?

Yes — beer was brewed without hops for thousands of years before hops became standard. Traditional brewers used herbs like yarrow, bog myrtle, heather, juniper, ginger, and rosemary to add bitterness and preserve the beer. Modern craft brewers still produce unhopped beers using these same traditional botanicals.

What does beer without hops taste like?

Beer without hops tastes softer, sweeter, and more herbal than modern hopped beer. Without the characteristic bitterness hops provide, unhopped beers lean on malt sweetness and whatever herbs or botanicals the brewer chose. Expect softer body, rounder flavour, and complex herbal notes that can range from floral to earthy to spicy.

Why did brewers switch from gruit to hops?

Hops replaced gruit primarily because they preserved beer for longer — critical in an era before refrigeration. Political factors also played a role: the Catholic Church held monopolies on gruit in much of Europe, and Protestant reformers pushed hopped beer to break that economic control. By the 16th century, Germany's Reinheitsgebot purity law effectively legislated hops as the standard bittering agent.

Is unhopped beer the same as alcohol-free beer?

No — they're completely different concepts. Unhopped beer is beer made without hops (regardless of alcohol content). Alcohol-free beer is beer with most or all of its alcohol removed (regardless of whether it contains hops). Most alcohol-free beer today is hopped in the normal way. The name Unhopped, our platform, is a play on both concepts — we specialise in alcohol-free beer.

Where can I buy unhopped beer?

Traditional unhopped gruit beers are rare but available from specialist craft breweries and bottle shops. Look for styles called gruit, grut, or gruyt; Finnish sahti; or historical revival ales from breweries like Scratch Brewing (US) or specialist Belgian producers. In the UK, occasional limited releases appear from craft breweries experimenting with botanicals.

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About the author: Rich is the founder of Unhopped, a UK-built discovery platform for alcohol-free beer. He lives in Manchester, drinks way too much NA stout for a man of his age, and has strong opinions about beer history.