What makes medieval ale remarkable?

Most beers today have four ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast. A few have a fifth ingredient, such as wheat or oats. Medieval ale might have twenty, or more, ingredients. Honey was common, as were fresh herbs like heather, mint and rosemary, alongside herbs, largely forgotten today, such as yarrow, broom and bog myrtle. And that’s just from what was locally available. Medieval brewers also loved the subtle flavour of precious, exotic, (and then) fantastically expensive spices, used in tiny amounts, such as star aniseed, liquorice, cinnamon and cubebs. 

If you think that sounds remarkable, wait until you try it…