Gruit Ales {unhopped beer}

Some herbalists I know got me thinking about brewing a hop-less beer. At last nights club meeting, I learned these are called Gruit Ales.

From www.gruitale.com:

Most beer historians seem satisfied with the general idea that at one point in history, brewers finally discovered once in for all that Hops was the perfect, unchallengeable beer herb. And all the others herbs and spices that went into Gruit simply faded into oblivion, unable to compete with the multifunctional and delicious Hops. Simple and partly true, this explanation unfortunately doesn’t answer the full question, and fortunately for us, answering the full question opens a whole new world of creative brewing possibilities. And that is what this site is all about.

I'm going to try some of their recipes.

I came up with the following recipes before doing any research. My thought is juniper would give the piney bitter quality of hops and orange peel would lend the citrus sweet aroma. I've been adding tea to the mix, not sure that's needed. Anyhow, here's the recipes I've tried.

TRIAL #1
California Steampunk Lager
6 gallons

Specialty Grain Pre-boil:
1 lb Caramel Malt
.5 lb Victory Pre

Boil:
6 lbs amber extract
2 oz Juniper Berries
1 oz Sweet Orange Peel

Steeped in a second pot:
2 oz Earl Grey
1.5 oz Yerbe Mate

WYEAST California Lager

Secondary additions:
2 lbs Maple Sugar
1 oz Juniper Berries
1 oz Sweet Orange Peel

NOTES: Interesting, but not satisfying. I think the maple sugar was a bad addition, but it was tasting so much like iced tea, I wanted to make it boozier, and maple seemed like it might fit with the piney thing. Aging well, the orange peel and juniper combo is worth pursuing.