Before Hops Dominated Beer, Brewers Relied On This Common Backyard Weed - Tasting Table

"Malted barley, water, hops, and yeast are the four central ingredients that most beers rely on. While some beers are brewed with adjuncts - additional grains like rice and oats, spices, or fruits, for example - but those are the exception rather than the norm. There was a time, however, before brewing was quite so standardized, when the brews on offer might not be easily recognizable to modern drinkers."

"Hops, for instance, weren't used in beer at all until the 9th century and didn't really catch on until centuries later. English brewers began using it regularly in the 15th century. Prior to that, the bittering agent in the beer might have been a weed that you'll likely recognize from your yard, even if you don't know the name: ground ivy."

"Ground ivy - Glechoma hederacea - is not a real ivy, but rather a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is a low-growing, creeping plant native to Europe and Asia, though it was introduced to the Americas long ago. From a distance, it is recognizable by its bluntly toothed heart or kidney-shaped leaves and small purplish-blue tubular flowers. Upon closer inspection, you might notice that ground ivy has square stems and hairy leaves that produce a somewhat minty aroma when crushed."

"In addition to its Latin name and "ground ivy," this plant is also known by a whole host of other common names such as "Creeping Charlie," field balm, cat's foot, runaway robin, gill-over-the-hill, and alehoffs. While there are a few lookalikes out there - henbit and purple dead nettle - but neither of these are poisonous, so if you want to try to for forage a bit of ground ivy, it's fairly low risk."

Malted barley, water, hops, and yeast form the core ingredients of most beers. Some brews add adjuncts such as extra grains, spices, or fruits, but these are less common. Hops were not used in beer until the 9th century and became widely adopted much later, with English brewers using them regularly in the 15th century. Before hops, brewers used ground ivy as a bittering agent. Ground ivy is a low-growing creeping plant in the mint family, native to Europe and Asia and introduced to the Americas. It has kidney-shaped leaves, small purplish-blue tubular flowers, square stems, and hairy leaves that release a minty aroma when crushed. It is also known by many common names and has non-poisonous lookalikes.

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