Juniper

The wider world has known about sahti for a few decades now, but many attempts to brew it have little to do with the real thing. For those who want to make something much closer to the Finnish farmhouse tradition, Mika Laitinen explains the basics.

Unlike many other farmhouse brewing traditions, sahti is relatively well known and widely produced in its homeland. In the wider beer world, however, it’s frequently misunderstood.

The owners and brewers of a small craft brewery in Visby, on the Swedish island home of gotlandsdricke, share their view on brewing their local farmhouse style—and why they do it the way they do.

Real gotlandsdricke is little-known for the same reason it has survived: It’s from an isolated and pastoral island in the Baltic. Lars Marius Garshol sheds some light on this smoky, juniper-infused, hard-to-get farmhouse ale.

The first and most established traditional Norwegian-style heimabrygg in the Western Hemisphere is a beer called L’Oeil du Mouton, brewed since 2016 in Saint-André-de-Kamouraska, Quebec, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. At the Microbrasserie Tête d’Allumette, owner-brewer Martin Desautels explains their methods and inspiration.

Long to mash and boil yet quick to ferment, these robust, juniper-tinged, barleywine-strength ales represent a farmhouse tradition worth celebrating—and you can raise a glass just a few days after brewing.

From remote Setesdal, Norway, Torkjel Austad launched his Bygland Bryggeri so that more drinkers could experience those hard-to-find traditional farmhouse ales. Here, he explains how it happened—and shares practical tips for brewing your own.

From the stark, isolated valleys of western Norway, this traditional farmhouse beer brings together juniper and kveik while skipping the boil. (The yeast scream is purely optional.)