Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will

My interest in beer history goes back a long way. Oh yes, back even further than the time of Peckham Williams, to when unhopped ales were the norm.

I've had a few goes at making them and will no doubt try again, but the results have been mixed. Fresh ale tends to be mawkishly sweet, though the pine ale worked OK. The lemon balm ale proved popular with people that don't normally drink beer, but only when it had begun to sour.

I still get curious about unhopped ales though, so when I saw what looks suspiciously like gruit flavoured ale from Belgium I got all excited.  



It was pleasant enough to drink but still had that a touch of mawkishness about it and to be honest I couldn't help but think that it could really do with some hops.