Ebbing & Vilsteren: Of gruiters, gruitkettles, and gruithouses. From Bier! Geschiedenis van een Volksdrank, 1994.

BEER! History of a Drink for Everyone. [p. 20-27]

R.E. Kistemaker and V.T. van Vilsteren. Amsterdam: De Bataafse Leeuw, 1994.

Of gruiters, gruitkettles, and gruithouses.

About a typical medieval phenomenon.

H. Ebbing and V.T. van Vilsteren.

Translation © Susan Verberg, 2017

Before the 14^th century, when brewers changed over to hopped beer, our area brewed and consumed gruit beer. Little is known of the consistency of gruit beer and how it was made. A right was connected to the making of this beer: the gruitrecht. And several sources mention gruiters, gruit kettles and gruithuizen. This chapter is about the content of gruitrecht and what on average happened in the gruithuis.

The right to gruit.

As we’ve seen [in previous chapters], in the time of Charlemagne at around 800 AD laws were instituted in many parts of the large empire for different craftsmen to be present on the manors. One of these craftsmen had to be the person responsible for the making of fermented drinks, like beer and cider. It is not clear what exactly the tasks were of this man. It is not known whether the local population of the area where the craftsman worked was mandated to use his services. Likely [at that time] everyone was free to choose whether or not to brew beer at home with their own household goods and ingredients.

This seems to have changed during the following centuries. The landowner took the right to produce and supply an ingredient (excipient) needed for the production of beer: the gruit. Of course he did not produce gruit personally and therefore the capacity to hire or fire a person for this task was also part of gruitrecht. The earliest mention of gruitrecht dates from 999. In that year Emperor Otto III, also country governor of the current Netherlands, gifted villa de Bommel with all rights to the church of Saint Maarten in Utrecht. Included in the gifted royal rights were ‘the toll, the coin, and the whole commerce of brewed beer, commonly called gruit’. Practically, gruitrecht was a forced sales tax. The production of your own gruit to make your own beer was forbidden. Gruit had to be bought and the income went to the king. In this way, a tax was levied on the brewing of beer through the sales of gruit.

Central law in the Carolingian empire collapsed in the centuries following the death of Charlemagne. This opened up opportunities for local government officials. Most often the counts functioned as the royal lawkeepers and had the right to implement royal (public) authority. But the counts and later the bishops misused the weak position of the king. He thus felt necessary to lease or gift away many of his royal rights. In later times the counts and bishops managed to elevate gruitrecht, and later also coin- and export tax, to a hereditary monopoly and to spread this throughout their territory.

In the 13^th century many city accounts mention gruitrecht. On average these mentions indicate the first time the local noble as owner of the right, leased this right including its income, often to a city. It happened on a regular base a noble suddenly needed a large amount of cash for his expenses. Then, for instance, he would borrow this amount for a certain period from a city. During this period he paid off the loan in terms. In exchange for the borrowed amount, the city received gruitrecht and all its related income as collateral. When the landowner paid off the loan the city had to return the gruitrecht. Therefore city-leased gruitrecht was not the start of local gruitrecht. That already existed long before. But from the moment gruitrecht became available to local governments, sources regarding gruit become readily available to us.

Financial problems often resulted in not being able to pay off the loan, and several nobles had to extend the lease. This is probably what happened in Zwolle. An ordinance known from 1341 had the city officials of Zwolle pay their governor, the bishop of Utrecht, for gruit, among other things. In 1404 the bishop at that time, Frederik van Blankenheim, gave the gruitrecht to the city in leasehold. This ordinance mentions several interesting unusual things. The bishop complains about the ‘hoppenbyer, dat men gemeenlike dryncket in onsen lande, daer onse gruyten (…) seer mede afgegaen, en de vernyelt syn’ [hopped beer, which is so commonly drunk in our area, that our gruit (…) so much went down, and has been broken]. The income from gruit had gone down significantly because of the more and more popular hopped beer. The city of Zwolle complained that the income from the sale of gruit did not cover the lease of 100 pounds per year on which the city had agreed with the bishop anymore. Previously, from a predecessor of Frederik van Blankenheim, the city received the right to not only tax brewing with gruit but also tax hopped beer.

Flavoring beer with hops instead of gruit started in the northern provinces of the Netherlands around 1320, probably in imitation of the tasteful, but by heavy taxation expensive Hamburg beer which by then was already prepared with hops. Soon gruit as a raw material was displaced, even though up until the beginning of the 15^th century gruitbeer was still produced. The excise duty on the brewing of hopped beer compensated the owner of gruitrecht for the loss of income from declining gruit sales. Because of the gradual transfer of a monopoly on the sale of a raw material to an excise duty on brewing, the meaning of gruit faded. In mostly 15^th century sources the excise duty on the brewing of hopped beer is often noted under ‘gruyt’. One even finds the term ‘hoppengruyt’, which shows people did not quite remember the origin of gruit anymore.

Most of the income and expenses of cities were booked into accounts. This was also the case with the income and expenses in regards to gruit. Especially in those areas where gruit fell into disuse relatively late, much information can be sourced from these accounts. This is especially the case in certain cities in the current provinces of Overijssel and Gelderland, like Zwolle, Deventer and Zutphen. The inhabitants of cities in North and South Holland switched over to brewing with hops fairly early (and in large numbers). Thus gruit disappeared much quicker over there. Another practical reason why we should turn to the Overijsselse and Gelderse cities is that in most cases the Hollands [the provinces, not country] city accounts have only been passed down since the 15^th century; in other words, only after the time business in gruit had long since disappeared in Holland.

20. A medieval brewery actively brewing. Illustration of a manuscript from 1462. On the left ‘beslag’ [mash] is made in the ‘beslagkuip’ [malting tub], at the right cooking in the brewing kettle is shown. City archive Kampen.

Of cruyt and zwaercruyt

What was actually in this gruit and what really happened in the gruithuis? An account from Zwolle of 1398 informs us about the composition of the substance of gruit. It mentions 32 mud herbs, 100 pounds of resin and 100 pairs of ‘heavy herbs’.  The day to day handling of gruit was in hands of the gruiters. Their accounts are included in the monthly accounts of Zwolle which saved from 1399 onwards. Apart from transfers of current inventory, we also find purchase accounts of the raw materials needed for the production of gruit. And each time these three ingredients are mentioned: ‘cruyt’, ‘zwaer cruyt’ and ‘hers’. ‘Cruyt’, as shown in the monthly accounts of 1407 and 1411 means ‘gaghelkruyt’. For the meaning of ‘zwaer cruyt’ we have to look at the administrative chambers' accounts of Deventer. A similar purchase is noted there, but in Latin: ‘duris specibus dictis serpentien et bekeler’ (thus: ‘zwaerkruyt’ called ‘serpentien’ and ‘bekeler’). Serpentien probably means ‘slangekruid’ [snakeherb], with which several plant species could be meant. Bekeler, in other sources also indicated as ‘bekelteer’, is linguistically derived from ‘bacae lauri’, or the fruits of the laurel. The third ingredient is ‘hers’, with which plain resin is meant. This unvarying combination of raw materials also formed the recipe of gruit in Deventer. In older accounts the ingredients are listed in Latin: ‘mirtus’, ‘durae species’ respectively ‘resina’, more recently it was in the vernacular, as in Zwolle.

In Zwolle, the herb gagel [bog myrtle] was purchased each time in mudden (circa 120 liters). With each transfer the resin was listed in pounds. Strangely there is no mention of a note for the purchase of resin. Still there was no shortage; the account from Zwolle of 1403 mentions with the transfer ‘die herse die gij ons overleverden ende dier is noch ghenoech’ [the resin which you transferred and which is still enough]. And lastly ‘zwaer cruyt’ is delivered in pairs. This likely has to do with the proportional distribution [50/50] of the two ingredients ‘serpentien’ and ‘bekeler’.

21. The leaves of the bog myrtle shrub were the most important ingredient of gruit. The leaves include essential oils with an intoxicating effect. Bog myrtle grows mostly in acidic, wet heather fields and bogs, and sometimes in the valleys of [coastal] dunes.

The gruiter.

Several people were employed in the combined process of the production and sales of gruit. First the gruiter. This person, whom in essence had leadership of the gruithuis, was likely at first employed by the owners of the gruit through wage labor. When in the 14^th century several governors began to lease their gruit, especially to cities, quite often the new tenant instated a new gruiter. Sometimes a lease agreement was agreed on; sometimes the gruiter was in plain wage labor. Like in 1339 when the city of Deventer leased the gruitrecht from the bishop of Utrecht and the city paid Rudolf the gruiter 24 pound as wages, ‘Rodolpho fermentario pro pretio suo’. The following year a certain Johannus was instated.

In the sources between 1382 and 1385 a certain Alfer the gruiter exists as schepen [city official] of Zwolle. It is also clear from other sources that the ‘office’ as gruiter is profitable, both financially as socially. This is also the case with Boldewin Scelewerd from Kampen who leased the gruit beween 1318 and 1324, and is mentioned in other sources as a ‘schout’ [lawman]. The gruiter likely had fluctuating work hours. The monthly accounts from Zwolle indicate that especially between February and April, and in December, extra gruit was sold. It looks like especially in those months more beer was produced. It is very probable this had to do with the fermentation process of beer. In the middle ages it was usual to use top fermenting yeast. Bottom fermentation was only possible at lower temperatures (between 5 and 10 C), thus needed winter temperatures.

22. To make beer, the grain first has to be sprouted.

 The sprouts produce enzymes which can transform starch into sugar.

Gruuthuus and the Grutere.

Gruitrecht was also royal privilege in Flanders, and reserved for the counts of Flanders. They had the right to sell gruit or gruut for the making of beer. In the 12^th century at least this right was given to important families, whom often were allowed use the title ‘gruutheer’ [gruitlord] or ‘gruter’ [gruiter]. They managed the gruithuis where the gruit was stored and ready to be collected by the consumers. When in the course of the 14^th century gruit was replaced by hops, gruitrecht developed into an excise tax. The gruithuizen were replaced by small offices and mostly disappeared during the 15^th century.

The best known example in Flanders is Brugge, where gruitrecht was leased to the family Van Brugghe, which transferred in the 14^th century by marriage to the family Van der Aa, whom also used the title ‘lord of the Gruuthuse’. The gruithuis was likely situated along the Reie, in the same place as where in the 15^th century a wing of a burgundies city palace was built. [Called] the Gruuthuse, of which today only the name remembers the previous royal right, it still forms an important historic centerpiece in downtown Brugge.

In Ghent, by way of the counts of Flanders, gruitrecht was in the hands of the family De Grutere, part of the elite city government; a group of wealthy urban residents of which the oldest mentions hail from the 13^th century. It is they who built the oldest stone city houses, knicknamed ‘stones’.

23. Remains of walls of the medieval gruithouse in Ghent are now incorporated in the new hotel complex.

Archaeological research at the Goudenleeuwplein in Ghent in 1980 and 1985 brought to light the remains of such a ‘stone’. This mostly square construction is with its measurements of 17 x 14 meters rather unusually large. Historic research points this was the gruithuis, where the family De Grutere managed the gruitrecht. In the time when gruitrecht was still a true taxation, most of the work would have been done on the first floor. In the 15^th century the upper floors were made ready for a new function, to say, the Inn ‘de Guldinen Leeu’ and her successors. A couple of walls escaped the 1980 and 1995 demolition and were integrated into a new hotel complex. – M.C. Laleman

24. During a demolition in Ghent the remains of a medieval gruithouse appeared.

In the gruithuis.

The city accounts of Deventer give much information about what actually happened in the gruit house. By 1340 there was mention of a domus fermenti (gruithuis), and a certain Swolleman was paid for work he had done on the structure called stamphuis. This seems to indicate the stamphuis is a separate unit of the gruithuis, named after the machinery present. Probably the gruiter did not do the dirty work himself. At least, in that same year there is mention of a servant who works in the stamphuis to crush the myrtle. Thereby made fine, together with other ingredients the myrtle was made into gruit. The gruit was, according to accounts from 1347 and 1348, delivered in units called ‘stampen’ [literally stomps; compacts]. By the 1405 transfer of ‘zwaer cruyt’ in Zwolle it was noted that only two more ‘stampen’ were in inventory. This indicates not only myrtle was crushed, but also ‘zwaer cruyt’. This becomes more and more likely when we read how in 1411 with the transfer the old aldermen of Zwolle note: ‘Item so levere wij u over zwar cruyt, ghestoten ende onghestoten als ‘t up den boene licht’ [Item so we deliver you heavy herbs crushed and not uncrushed as it is stored in the attic].

            Additional proof crushing was situated in the gruithuis is found in the city accounts of Zutphen. Under-rentmaster Johan Huerninx, whom during the year 1401 was accountable to the aldermen of the city, accounted that eight pounds had been paid that year for the rent of a gruetpeert [gruit horse]. The connection with gruet indicates the horse was needed for a task in combination with gruit. This is confirmed by the under-rentmaster accounts during the year 1411. Again a horse is mentioned, but this time in a more clear context. In this expense account the function of the horse is explained: ‘Vor haver ten peerde als men ‘t kruet stiet 14 schelling’ [For oats for the horse to crush the herbs]. This nota indicates that in Zuthpen a gruit horse was used for the crushing of herbs. Apparently, the gruithouse was large enough to house a rosmolen [horse powered mill]. Without question, the horse had to power the crushing mechanism in the gruithouse. We can rest assured that a similar rosmolen would also have functioned in the Deventer gruithouse.

25. Reconstruction drawing of a small Zutphen’s brewery which probably was destroyed during the city fire of May 13, 1284. After the fire and the process of carbonation, the area was raised and newly built upon. The remains remained untouched making it possible for archaeologists to precisely determine how the little building would have looked like 700 years later. The brewery measured about 3.5 by 4.5 meters and was dug down about a half meter. It had ninety degree angled corners of boards, and the sidewalls were made of posts and woven wicker. On the first floor lay pitchers, pots and in the fireplace a brewing kettle. On the collapsed attic floor were also pitchers and a large amount of oats was stored. Drawing: M. Groothedde, Zutphen.

Kettles and barrels.

The above has shown that the gruithuis and the gruiters derived their name from the work they did: the crushing of herbs used during the production of beer. Though several sources seem to indicate this might not have been the only task of the gruiters. These sources, city accounts and certificates, keep mentioning kettles and tubs as part of the inventory of the gruithuis. For instance in 1324 the Count of Holland leased his gruit (right), his gruithuis and all barrels included to the city of Dordrecht for three years, and we see he booked a post in 1344 for expenses for the benefit of the ‘gruuthuus tot Outdorp’, including a ‘gruutketel’ [gruit kettle]. Also in Zwolle the gruiter had a tub and a kettle available, that is, gruitmasters in 1401 spend an amount of 16 plak for ‘voir een vat daer men die grute inne sett’ [for een tub to place the gruit in] and an amount of 12 plak ‘voir oeren ketel daer men die grute mede sett’ [for a kettle which one uses with gruit]. The administrative chambers' accounts of Deventer note similar posts, in which a kettle and a press are mentioned. A separate account of the gruiters over the year 1340 mention a hanging apparatus for a kettle and the copper kettle to go with it, plus eight mud grain, a boat load peat and a ‘scepel’ (measuring coop). In Zutphen the gruitmasters of 1395 received for ‘enen olden ketel die vercoft werd 9 pond en 19 schelling’ [for an old kettle which was sold]. The gruit accounts of 1411/1412 mention eight barrels which made 316 pounds when sold. The barrels likely contained gruit, as the total income for gruit of that year was 335 pounds. The 19 pound difference was for malt brought to the gruithouse.

           

26. The monthly accounts of Zwolle indicate the gruitmasters sold a large amount of gruit between 1399 and 1407 especially in February, March and April. December also shows a spike. Beer one wanted to keep was brewed in fall and in early spring. Beer brewed in the months May until October kept significantly less long.

27. Just outside of Venlo is situated the so named Groethof, also called the Spyker [the Nail]. In the 13^th century and the first half of the 14^th century the gruit of Venlo was in hands of first Margaretha van Vlaanderen and later the duke of Gelre. Not until 1379 did the city of Venlo receive the gruit. The city had no use for a gruithouse outside of the city walls. After the Groethof lost its function as a gruithouse, it functioned as a domicile. It was demolished just after 1950. Cityarchive, Venlo.

In older accounts from Zutphen we read about malt which was brought to the gruithuis. In 1395 the 88.5 mulder malt brought to the gruithuis made 120 pounds. This practice is also found outside of Zutphen. In 1324, for instance, the count of Holland ordered each brewer of the city of Dordrecht to give, for each ‘hoed’ malt (1 hoed is circa 1000 liter) he wanted to brew, 16 Hollandse pennings to the gruiter ‘en syn mout dat dairtoe behoort ende dair binnen zal him die gruter sine grute gheven’ [and his malt which belongs to it, and inside [the building?] he shall be given the gruit by the gruiter]. Not only was malt (occasionally?) brought to the gruithuis, the gruiters also purchased, on their own account, grain which they then made into malt. In Zutphen the gruiters spent 32 pounds for oats to make into malt, and for the horse. The same happened in the years 1406/1407, 1407/1408 and 1411/1412. We should remember here that in the Middle Ages oats were the grain beer was brewed with. The gruiter in Deventer purchased his grain already malted. A post is noted for malt (bracium) in the account of 1340 and also the account of 1344.

            What was the purchased malt or the making of malt by gruiters for and why did brewers bring their malt to the gruithuis? It seems likely the malt underwent another procedure. The malted grain kernels first have to be coarsely ground, called ‘schroten’. Only this way can the starch in the kernels combined with water be made into a mash. Because the gruithuis had a grinder, powered by a horse mill, it should not be surprising that this apparatus was also used for other grinding jobs. Therefore it should not be excluded that in the course of time the word gruit not only meant the grinding / pounding of herbs, but also the coarsely ground malt. After the Middle Ages the grinding of grain became almost synonymous with the ‘grutten’ business, although at that time the grain used most often was buckwheat. The ‘grutterij’, which by then always used a horse powered mill, is by all accounts a direct descendant of the medieval gruit business.

The accounts of Zutphen show no hard evidence for the statement that the gruetpeert [gruit horse] was also used for the grinding of grain, even though it seems plausible. Unambiguous evidence that at least the gruithuis of Deventer ground their malt is found in the accounts of 1345. In the expenses of the gruiters is an expense post ‘for the miller for the milling of grain in the gruithouse during one year’. Therefore we can expect in the gruithuizen of other cities a similar course of action, indicated by the similarities of the according to the sources present utensils & utilities.

            What was the function of the kettles and the tubs in the gruithuis? It is possible the kettles were used for the measurement of the amounts of gruit per ‘stampe’ [a unit] and that the tubs were used for the storage of the ‘stampen’. As mentioned before, the gruitmasters of Zwolle spent an amount of 16 plak ‘voir een cat daer men die grute inne sett’ [for a tub to place the gruit in] and an amount of 12 plak ‘voir oeren ketel dar men die grute mede sett’ [for a kettle with which the gruit is set with]. One needed tub and kettle to be able to determine (sett) at delivery the right amounts of gruit. On the other hand one could interpret ‘sett’ also as to make, in the current meaning of ‘zetten’ (as in making coffee ‘koffie zetten’). When this interpretation is used the procedures in the gruithuis  show an extra dimension [become even more interesting / intricate].

28. [L] That the gruitright was an important right is shown in part by the handsome city domicile of Lodewijk van Gruuthuse in Brugge, of which this is the monumental entrance. His predecessors received the gruit right around the year 1200 and named themselves after the right. Lodewijk van Gruuthuse became a powerful and rich man in part because of this right, and was employed for diplomatic service by the Duke of Burgundy.

29. [R] May 2^nd, 1461 Lodewijk van Gruuthuse was elected into the Order of the Gulden Vlies [Order of the Golden Membrane] as a reward for his diplomatic services. This is a very special reward when one realizes that for instance the king of France and the duke of Burgundy were also members of this knightly order. Above the meeting room seats hung each member’s heraldic device. This is the device of Lodwijk van Gruuthuse. Saint Salvatorschurch, Brugge.

The administrative chambers' accounts of Deventer offer even more information on gruit. At the end of April, 1339, the city received the lease on gruitrecht from the Bishop of Utrecht. In 1340 for the facilities of a gruithuis, raw materials, tools and work clothes were bought on a large scale. The previously mentioned copper kettle and hanging apparatus were bought, and malt, peat and firewood. At the same time two new posts appeared at the income side of the accounts: those for ‘medulla brasii’ and ‘soppa fermenti’. ‘Medulla brasii’ means as much as the ‘core of the malt’ and ‘soppa fermenti’ is also mentioned in the accounts as ‘gruetsoppe’. This information points to something being brewed in Deventer. The ‘gruetketel’ points to this, as does the purchase of peat and firewood as fuel. The strongest clue actually is ‘gruetsoppe’. From this word can be derived a liquid was made, because in medieval Dutch the word ‘soppe’ has the meaning of ‘liquid food’.

30. A house from the 12^th century was found in Delft at the Heilige Geest Kerkhof [Holy Ghost Cemetery]. The side walls were made of woven wicker and clay [daub], the front façade consisted of wooden boards. Several hearths were found in the [collapsed] house right above each other including many charcoaled grain kernels. The composition (mostly oats and no rye) indicates the brewing of beer.

The Deventer accounts show during each of the nine years (1340-1348) malt was produced and delivered. Malt is made by soaking coarsely ground grain in warm water. The inside of the grain kernel dissolves into the warm water, after which the mush was filtered. This filtered ‘mash’ is called ‘wort’. In the Deventer accounts this liquid was indicated with the Latin term ‘medulla brasii’. The separated wet mush was called ‘gruetsoppe’. Probably this is synonymous with what modern brewers call 'spent grains'. That no beer was brewed can be inferred from the fact that the word ‘cervisia’ (the Latin word for beer) does not show up anywhere in the accounts. The indicated ‘medulla’ therefore could be nothing else than a half product of beer. It is tempting to assign the making (setten) of wort to all the gruithouses in possession of a kettle and tubs. But without more indications one should not do so. In Deventer the accounts only show detailed posts during a nine year period. In later years the gruit accounts are not specified anymore and only the income of gruit is accounted for. While the making of wort is not clearly a part of the production in the gruithouse, it probably is more likely in the case of grinding the malt. The accounts do indicate that apart from herbs the gruithouse (stamphus) also ground malt for the production of beer.