Jenever: Belgium’s Keto-Friendly Spirit

Most people who come to Belgium think of beer first, and fair enough. But Belgium has another drinking tradition that predates most of its famous abbeys and that is, for keto purposes, considerably more useful: jenever.

Jenever (also spelled genever, and the etymological root of the English word “gin”) is a malt wine spirit flavoured with juniper and other botanicals. It originated in the Low Countries in the sixteenth century and has been made continuously ever since. It’s the national spirit of Belgium and the Netherlands, it’s protected by a geographical indication under EU law, and it’s essentially zero carbs. A small glass of straight jenever at a Brussels café is one of the most authentically Belgian things you can do that doesn’t involve frites or waffles.

Jonge and oude

The main distinction you’ll encounter is between jonge and oude jenever, which translate as young and old but refer to style rather than age.

Jonge jenever is lighter and more neutral, closer in character to a modern gin, with the grain malt wine making up a smaller proportion of the blend. It’s the more commonly produced style today and what you’ll find at most supermarkets. Easy to drink, relatively mild, good chilled.

Oude jenever has a higher proportion of malt wine, the pot-still distillate that gives it a rounder, slightly sweet, maltier character. Think somewhere between a light whisky and a botanical gin. It’s more complex and more interesting, and it’s what the traditional jenever cafés serve. Worth trying if you haven’t.

Grain jenever, or graanjenever, is made entirely from grain spirits without the malt wine component and is lighter still. Sometimes served ice-cold.

Where to drink it in Brussels

The traditional place to drink jenever is a bruine kroeg, a brown café named for the dark wood interiors and the patina of decades of smoke and use. These are a Flemish and Dutch institution but they exist in Brussels, particularly in the older parts of the city around the Grand-Place and in Molenbeek and Anderlecht.

Jenever is served in a small tulip-shaped glass, often filled to the absolute brim. The correct approach is to lean down to the glass without picking it up and take the first sip from the top. This is not a joke, it is how you do it, and any Flemish person at the bar will appreciate that you know. After that, pick it up normally.

Some cafés also do flavoured jenevers, fruit-infused varieties with blackcurrant, apple, or lemon. These are often slightly sweet and worth checking before assuming they’re carb-free. Plain jenever is the safe option.

Belgian gin

While we’re on the subject: Belgium has developed a genuine gin industry over the last decade. Copperhead from Antwerp is probably the best known internationally, a smooth botanical gin that’s widely exported. Filliers 28 is made in the Ghent region and uses 28 botanicals including locally grown botanicals. Waterloo Gin comes from the distillery near the famous battlefield. Nginious from the Brussels area does several styles including a Swiss Blended version that’s interesting.

All of these are zero carbs and all of them are worth knowing if you’re done with beer and looking for something local to drink. A Belgian gin and tonic is a perfectly legitimate thing to order in Brussels and doesn’t require any explanation.

The practical point

Belgian beer culture is real and pervasive and you will miss it on keto if you care about drinking. Jenever and Belgian gin are the answer to that: they’re local, they’re good, they’re zero carbs, and they give you something to talk about at a café instead of ordering a sparkling water and looking tragic.

The Filliers Oude Graanjenever in a small café in the lower town on a cold evening is a genuinely good experience. It’s not a Trappist. It’s a different thing, and on keto it’s the thing you can actually have.