Gruut Inferno is Ghent's herbal amber ale brewed without hops using a medieval gruit recipe of bay laurel, sweet gale and juniper at the Gruut Stadsbrouwerij on Rembert Dodoensdreef.

Before hops became universal in northern European brewing around the 12th century, ale was bittered and flavoured with a mixture of herbs called gruit. The Ghent city authority held the exclusive right (gruitage) to supply gruit to local brewers, making it a significant civic monopoly. The modern Gruut Stadsbrouwerij, founded in 2009, revives this pre-hop tradition using historical herb combinations. Gruut Inferno is the brewery's strongest and most aromatic beer, with a bitter-herbal character unlike any hop-bittered ale.

Where to eat Gruut Inferno (Herbal Beer) in Ghent

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Make it at home

Serves 5P21DAdvanced

Ingredients

  • 4kg pale malt (Maris Otter or similar)
  • 500g Munich malt
  • 5g dried sweet gale (bog myrtle)
  • 5g dried juniper berries, crushed
  • 3g dried yarrow
  • 2g dried bay laurel leaves
  • Ale yeast (Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale or similar)
  • 5.5L water for mash, 10L for sparge
  • Camden tablet for water treatment

Method

  1. Mash grains at 67C for 60 minutes in 5.5L water. The mash temperature creates a medium-bodied ale base.
  2. Sparge with 10L water at 75C to collect around 12L wort. Discard spent grain.
  3. Bring wort to a rolling boil. Add sweet gale, yarrow and crushed juniper at the start of the 90-minute boil.
  4. Add bay laurel in the last 5 minutes. Boil for the full 90 minutes.
  5. Cool to 20C. Transfer to a sanitised fermenter and pitch ale yeast.
  6. Ferment at 18-20C for 7 days. Bottle with 7g sugar per litre. Condition 14 days before drinking.

Editor tip. Sweet gale is the key herb: without it the gruit character is incomplete. Find it from specialist homebrew shops or online dried herb suppliers.

Common allergens: Gluten.