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.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
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.
Common allergens: Gluten
Tip from the editors. Sweet gale is the key herb: without it the gruit character is incomplete. Find it from specialist homebrew shops or online dried herb suppliers.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Gruut is Ghent's own city brewery, producing five herb beers from a medieval recipe that has never used a single hop. Instead, a blend of herbs including.
Tip: Saturday brewery tours include all five house beers; book ahead in summer. The taproom serves all five on draught daily.
Waterhuis aan de Bierkant is a canal-side brown pub with 170 Belgian beers and 14 on draught, open until midnight, with a Graslei waterside terrace.
Order: Gruut Amber on draught at the waterside terrace: the most Ghentian beer in the most Ghentian spot.
Tip: The terrace lights up after dark and is one of the best spots in Ghent for a late canal-side beer in warm weather.
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