7. The Cloisters Encompasses a ‘Beer Garden’

Hops (Humulus lupulus) became a key ingredient to brew beer beginning in the fourteenth century in Europe. Prior to that time, brewers utilized a variety of different herbs, including alecost (Tanacetum balsamita), which was known to give off a minty aroma.The Trappist monasteries of Europe, for example, brew their own beer and export the product around the world. Today in the Cloisters, “medieval herbs” can be found in the Bonnefont garden in the Cloisters, though there isn’t a beer brewing operation.