Male Wistar rats were administered a modified, but nutritionally adequate, ethanol liquid diet with a low content of carbohydrate (5.5% of energy). The high daily intake of ethanol (mean 12.9 g/kg body wt) resulted in consistently sustained elevation of diurnal blood ethanol levels (mean 40.3 ± 14.9 mmol/l, corresponding to 180 mg/dl). Marked micro- and macrovesicular panlobular steatosis, occasional inflammatory foci and a threefold elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase activity developed in 6 weeks. In livers from rats on regular 11% carbohydrate diet, lesions beyond periportally located steatosis were race. These observations suggest that oral administration of a low-carbohydrate liquid ethanol diet may provide an affordable alternative to the technically demanding intragastric feeding model for experimental studies of alcoholic liver disease.