Raw Ale

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.

From remote Setesdal, Norway, this recipe comes from a special series of beers dedicated to honoring different kveik cultures and the farms and traditions from whence they come.

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.

The signature farmhouse style of Estonia is a quirky product of preserved tradition, local ingredients, and practicality. It’s also a perfect reminder that farmhouse brewing is, after all, homebrewing.

This recipe is for a raw ale—no boiling—fermented with a distinctive kveik and later steeped with lots of sour cherries. Eik & Tid cofounder and brewer Amund Polden Arnesen calls it “a beer to capture the experience of eating fresh berries off the vine.”

In various places around the world, brewers are choosing to limit their choices and root their beer in its place. In the first part of a triptych, here’s a look at Norway’s Eik & Tid and its kveik-fermented, oak-aged, mixed-culture raw ales.

The Oslo-based author and researcher of heirloom yeasts and traditional brewing techniques talks about game-changing kveik, lost farmhouse beer styles, and more.