That Beer Cap Couple

What are hops? Allgash Brewing , CC Along with water, grain and yeast, hops are one of the four ingredients of all beers. However, only three of these are essential. Without hops, beer would be unbearably sweet and disappointingly flavourless. Thankfully, after thousands of years of experimentation with flavour adding plants and herbs, one stand out addition earned itself the rightful place as the fourth ingredient of beer: hops. The extensive variety of different hops give our favourite beers their distinctive flavours and aromas. Hop History For modern commercial brewing, hops have always been one of the core ingredients of beer. But this hasn't always been the case. Prior to hops being used as a flavouring and preservative agent in beer, gruit (a herb mixture), was used to the same effect. Apart from the fact that hops seem better suited for purpose than gruit. As with many changes in the history of alcohol it was taxes that forced a change. Or more accurately, the id...