Nowadays beer is traditionally made using hops. However, originally beer was brewed using vegetable or herbal additives when it is known as "gruit ale". Yarrow or bog myrtle are often used in the brewing process for gruit ale.

Beer of the middle ages was rather different than it is today. Most medieval beer was brewed with seasonings called gruit, instead of hops, and nearly all of it was brewed as ale, rather than lager.

The standards for brewing were applied to a minor degree by the Church, which taxed all the seasonings in gruit. To a much greater degree, however, the standards were applied by the brewers' guilds, which varied from one place to another.

The first really widespread laws on brewing standards were the Bavarian purity laws, which were perhaps intended primarily to protect the system of taxation in Bavaria, rather than the quality of the beer. These appeared in 1516, after the Middle Ages ended.

The Renaissance began during the 13th century in Italy, and the Middle Ages ended in the 14th century. They overlapped, and the transitional period was in both. Much of the Hundred Years' War happened during this time. Also, the middle class continued to rise in power, banking families were extending their wealth, the Hanseatic League was gaining power, and an ever increasing number of brewers were switching from gruit to hops to flavor their beer.

Well, that is a good question because some people say they are vegetables. Ya they are a "bean" but they grow on trees and most veggies grow from the ground... Plus, fruits are sweet and sometimes a bit bitter and so is chocolate. So, I'm going to agree with you that it is a gruit.

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A cocoa bean is the seed from within a fruit.