Beer used to be a LOT stranger than it is today.In this episode of The Growers Show, we continue our journey through the history of medieval brewing with one of the most influential beer regulations ever written: Bavaria's famous beer law of 1516, later known as the Reinheitsgebot or German Beer Purity Law.The law restricted Bavarian beer to just three ingredients: barley, hops, and water.But what was in beer BEFORE the law?For centuries, brewers had flavored their beer with mixtures of herbs often referred to as gruit. Depending on the time and place, medieval brews could contain plants such as mugwort, yarrow, sweet gale, heather and other herbs—and historical sources even describe dangerous or intoxicating additives finding their way into some beers.The official explanations for brewing regulations included maintaining beer quality, protecting consumers, controlling prices, and reserving valuable grains such as wheat for bread.But we wanted to dig deeper.Who benefited when the ingredients in one of Europe's most important drinks became legally restricted? How did the rise of hops change medieval brewing? What happened to the enormous diversity of herbal beers that existed beforehand? And how were beer, taxation, political power, monasteries, brewers, and the ruling classes intertwined?We also explore some of the more controversial theories surrounding the law—including the idea that eliminating certain herbal brews may have changed not only who controlled beer production, but the kinds of experiences people could have from drinking it.Was the Beer Purity Law simply an early form of consumer protection?Was it economic regulation?Was it about political and religious power?Or was it some combination of all three?Grab a beer and join us as we explore medieval brewing, gruit, monks, hops, strange herbs, Bavarian politics, and the surprisingly complicated story behind the law that changed beer forever.As always, expect history, plants, speculation, questionable jokes, and plenty of Growers Show chaos along the way.