Tradition

As a way to illustrate the methods that go into one of the world’s oldest surviving brewing traditions—including wind-dried malt, foraged hops, and a boiled mash—here’s a recipe for aludi, the farmhouse ale from Georgia’s highlands.

In the mountains of eastern Georgia, a rare type of farmhouse beer represents a centuries-old tradition that survives.

With conjecture based on archaeological findings, here’s a recipe for a mixed grog—in this case, an ale that includes herbs, honey, and fruit—of the sort that well-to-do, Bronze Age Danes might have enjoyed on special occasions and then (literally) taken to their graves.

From Dundulis in Panevežys, Lithuania, this recipe is based on their interpretation of traditional keptinis beer brewed from an oven-­baked mash.

John Laffler, cofounder of Chicago’s Off Color Brewing, shares this recipe for their chicha-inspired ale brewed with purple corn and Schinus molle berries, aka pink peppercorns.

In centuries past, much of European brewing happened on the farm—and the choice of what to brew was as pragmatic as what to grow. With insights that could inform your next farmhouse ale, Lars Marius Garshol shares some truths about what those farmer-brewers planted, malted, and put into their beers.

Farmhouse brewing was once common across much of Europe, though documentation can be scarce. Here’s what we know about a surprising and little-known rural brewing tradition in northwest Germany.

Based on input from Nattachai “Ob” Ungsriwong of the Devanom Brewing Company in Nonthaburi, Thailand, here’s a recipe for making your own sato—inspired by traditional methods, but with a few optional twists.

Featuring hot stones in the mash, juniper, bog myrtle, and some smoke, this strong farmhouse ale may resemble what the commoners of eastern Norway brewed to celebrate Yule during the Viking Age.

Adapted from a book of Ukrainian folk recipes, here’s one for a traditional homemade kvass made from rye bread, sugar, some raisins, and a slice of lemon.

Perhaps the oldest way of preparing grain for brewing, drying malt in the open air was traditional for lambics, white beers, and various rustic ales scattered around Europe, Africa, and beyond. Today, brewers and maltsters interested in history, terroir, and old-fashioned methods are taking their malt back out into the sun.

Easier to brew than it is for many people to say—it takes a click of the tongue—this ancient sorghum beer is unlike any modern style we know. Thick, tart, and creamy, it’s deeply traditional—yet it’s also open to a brewer’s own creative twists.

This traditional, spontaneously fermented sorghum beer is like nothing else you’ve ever tasted—thick, tangy, rustic, and meant for drinking within a few days.

From sourcing old-fashioned ingredients to aiming for authentic flavor, Our Mutual Friend head brewer Jan Chodkowski outlines an approach to brewing historically inspired beers in a modern craft brewery.

Jan Chodkowski, head brewer and co-owner of Denver’s Our Mutual Friend, outlines his approach to brewing historically inspired, highly drinkable, smoke-forward beers.

Somewhere between hefty doppelbock and pale heller bock, the traditional dunkles bock is like the family’s middle child—it doesn’t get as much attention, but you’ll want it in your fridge year-round.

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.

In collaboration with the Colorado Farm Brewery, Denver’s Our Mutual Friend produces this strong, dark, heavily smoky Stjørdal-inspired ale once each winter.

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.