Sweetgale, Myrica gale, also known as bog myrtle, is a small shrub with aromatic, resinous leaves that is common in muskeg bogs on the Kenai Peninsula. Its distribution is circumpolar, and in northern Europe it was traditionally used as a flavoring element for beer until the 1500’s when, for a variety of political, economic and religious reasons, it (along with many other local herbs used in beer-making) was replaced by hops.
The Vikings, for whom mead played a vital social and religious role, used sweetgale to spice their meads.
Some believe that sweetgale has psychoactive properties, and that teas made from it promote lucid dreaming.
<[ ]