On our trip to visit family in France a sister in law gave me a 12 pack of assorted beers from a brewery in Sancerre: Brasserie Sancerroise. One of the beers in there was a gruet, Sanceerroise au Gruyt. The back label says it’s made with 15 aromatic herbs. It’s not bad, but the sweetness would keep me from drinking a lot of them. It is better slightly warm, once it’s room temp it’s a little cloying but not undrinkable at all.
This brewery’s wheat is really very good, much more like a German hefeweizen than a Belgian wit.
Just had Professor Fritz Briem’s 13th century Grut Bier last week. Thankfully it wasn’t too sweet!
Very intriguing these types of beers. I can see drinking more of them if properly made.
If you ever come to Belgium and visit Gent (Ghent), you should visit Stadsbrouwerij Gruut ( http://www.gruut.be). All her (yes, the brewmaster is a woman) beers are made with gruit instead of hops.
The brewery is more like a brewpub as the brewing equipment is located inside the café.
I really like the Gruut Wit.
- Niels
I’ll make a point of visiting. We haven’t made it to Ghent yet but we will. Does she only sell at the brewpub or can you find bottles somewhere? I have inlaws who travel to Belgium for business who could bring some back to France for me.
Her beer is also available at different drink stores around Belgium. There is a store behind my house that sells them. I also do live/work close to Brussels Airport, so if your inlaws can’t make it to a shop we can arrange a beer deal 
- Niels
I had New Belgium’s Gruet this weekend and it was excellent, that’s a beer I could drink a few of. Not sweet at all, but also not bitter it’s very nicely balanced.
When I brewed a gruit ale a couple of years ago, it was extremely tart, and tasted like a lambic. However, the tartness was not from Lactobacillus but rather from the choice of herbs used. It seems that one or more of the traditional gruit herbs (yarrow, I think) adds a great amount of tartness, moreso than bitterness and in addition to the obvious floral herbal flavors. I believe this is appropriate to the style, as the tartness offset any sweetness from the malt, to where it tasted far more tart than sweet. A sweet gruit is certainly possible, but I feel it is not necessarily the norm. The norm might be more on the tart side. But I haven’t tasted any historically brewed versions to know for certain. I would question New Belgium as I’d guess they are far more interested in selling an easily quaffable beer than brewing with historical accuracy. And… Fraoch is not a true gruit in my book either. Close, but… it’s only heather, and not even strong heather. Plenty of room for exploration, though. Gruit is always an exciting thing. Like the “Mystery Flavor” in Dum-Dums suckers or “a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get!”
If you live in or plan a visit to eastern New England (e.g. the Boston area or Southern NH), Earth Eagle Brewings, a small, very cool nano in Portsmouth. NH, does some very interesting beers with gruit for bittering instead of hops. They’re a little hidden away on a side street, but worth finding if you’re in town. Here’s their website: http://eartheaglebrewings.com/