Witte Klavervier is Dutch beerhistory

I researched the mysterious and evasive gruit, grutt or grout. Apart from an old tax on beer it was a substance that was actually used for brewing. An article about this research was published by the Brewery History Society which you can find here together with an extended source page chronological ordered. Since then I wrote a more recent article with new insights on the subject that can be found on this website.
Another topic is the history of Porter. The name Porter was inspired by the idea London porters were big fans of this beer-style. This can very well be true, but at that time, early 18th century, there had been Poorter beer on the continent for many centuries. Poorter is pronounced Porter in English but has a very different meaning. Intriguing is the fact we know continental Poorter had come at the forefront of the transition from old-fashioned medieval beer-styles to styles that were no longer bound to the old rules that were holding back new developments.
Both above topics are passionately disputed and we should be alert to new clues, information and insights on them.
My friend Leen Alberts found an amazing series of Liege beer recipes in a 17th century notebook. To supplement that we collected sources on Liege beer covering three centuries. Out of this combined effort a completely new insight is dawning about this distinctive beer-style that was made predominantly with spelt. Please read about it in the history of Liege beer.

Frederik Ruis