Flavouring beer is the sole major commercial use of hops.[53] The flower of the hop bine is used as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. The flowers themselves are often called "hops".
The first historical mention of the use of hops in beer was from 822 AD in monastery rules written by Adalhard the Elder, also known as Adalard of Corbie,[31][54] though the date normally given for widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer is the thirteenth century.[31][54] Before the thirteenth century, and until the sixteenth century, during which hops took over as the dominant flavouring, beer was flavoured with other plants; for instance, Glechoma hederacea. Combinations of various aromatic herbs, berries, and even ingredients like wormwood would be combined into a mixture known as gruit and used as hops are now used.[55] Some beers today, such as Fraoch' by the Scottish Heather Ales company[56] and Cervoise Lancelot by the French Brasserie-Lancelot company,[57] use plants other than hops for flavouring.