Ancient brewing traditions and techniques have been passed generation to generation on farms throughout remote areas of northern Europe. With these traditions facing near extinction, author Lars Marius Garshol set out to explore and document the lost art of brewing using traditional local methods. Equal parts history, cultural anthropology, social science, and travelogue, this book describes brewing and fermentation techniques that are vastly different from modern craft brewing and preserves them for posterity and exploration.

Learn about uncovering an unusual strain of yeast, called kveik, which can ferment a batch to completion in just 36 hours. Discover how to make keptinis by baking the mash in the oven. Explore using juniper boughs for various stages of the brewing process. Test your own hand by brewing recipes gleaned from years of travel and research in the farmlands of northern Europe. Meet the brewers and delve into the ingredients that have kept these traditional methods alive. Discover the regional and stylistic differences between farmhouse brewers today and throughout history.

Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Understanding Farmhouse Ale

The World of Yesterday
Kaupanger: First Meeting with the Tradition

2. History
3. Malt

Stjørdal: Malt-Making Hotspot
Grain Types in Farmhouse Brewing
Barley Varieties
How the Grain Was Grown
Steeping and Sprouting
Malt Drying Methods
     Low Heat, Not Smoked
     Lightly Smoked, High Heat
     Heavily Smoked
     Caramel
     Strong, Uneven Heat
Undried Malt

4. Yeast

Voss: Discovering Kveik
First Laboratory Analysis
Yeast, Wild and Domesticated
The Yeast Revolution
Yeast on the Farm
Origins of the Yeast
Yeast Species
The Yeast Family Tree
European Farmhouse Yeast: What We Know
     Kveik
     Non-Kveik Farmhouse Yeasts
     Bread Yeast
Dying Out
Kveik Renaissance
The Word “Kveik”

5. Farmhouse Brewing Processes

Hornindal, Norway
Stone Beer
Raw Ale
Boiled Ale
The Mash Boiled
Complex Mashes
Keptinis
The Great Stove
     Vsekhsvyatskoye, Russia
     Understanding Oven Beers
The Mash Fermented
The Evolution of Brewing Processes

6. Beer as Part of Farm Life

Harvest Ale
Ritual Beer
Superstition
Brewers or Brewsters?
Equipment
Preparations
Milling
Water
Carbonation
Oppskåke
Cellaring
Drinking Vessels
Serving Beer
Beer Flaws

7. Herbs, Spices, and Adjuncts

Herbs, Spices, and Other Flavorings
     Hops
     Juniper
     Sweet Gale
     Wormwood
     Caraway
     St. John’s Wort
     Bitter Orange Peel
     Yarrow
     Tansy
     Bay Laurel
     Marsh Tea
     Heather
     Other Flavorings
Adjuncts
     Potatoes
     Bran
     Carrots
     Peas
     Honey
     Other Adjuncts
Filter Materials
     Straw
     Alder Sticks
     Other Materials

8. The Drink Problem: Making It Safe

Flour-Based Beverages
Blande
Small Beer
Rostdrikke
Kvass
Birch Sap Beer
Juniper Berry Beer
Mead
Sugar Beer

9. Styles and How to Brew Them

Brewing Like a Farmer
Carbonation
Working with Kveik
Working with Non-Kveik Farmhouse Yeast
Brewing with Juniper
Making Your Own Malt
What is Farmhouse Ale?
     Styles in Farmhouse Brewing
     Defining Farmhouse Ale
A Note About the Recipes
Raw Ales
     Brewing Raw Ales
     Kornøl
          Terje Raftevold’s Kornøl
          Reidar Hovelsen’s Kornøl
     Sahti
          Olavi Viehroja’s Sahti
          Eila Tuominen’s Sahti
     Island Koduõlu
          Paavo Pruul’s Koduõlu
     Kaimiškas
          Julius Simonaitis’s Kaimiškas
          Šimonys-Style Kaimiškas
     Danish Landøl
     Gammeltøl
          Jensgård i Tiufkjær
          Landøl from North Jutland
Dark, Smoky Ales
     Stjørdalsøl
          Jørund Geving’s Stjørdalsøl
          Roar Sandodden’s Christmas Beer
     Gotlandsdricke
          Anders Mattson’s Gotlandsdricke
          Gotlandsdricke from Fide
          Landøl from South Funen
Brown Boiled Beers
     Heimabrygg: Western Norwegian Beers
         Hardangerøl
          Sigmund Gjernes’s Vossaøl
          Vossaøl à la Vossestrand
          Dyrvedal-Style Vossaøl
          Sogneøl
     Eastern Norway
          Telemark
          Hallingdal
     Swedish Farmhouse Ale: Öxabäck
          Öxabäck Ale
Oven Beers
     Seto Koduõlu
          Seto Koduõlu “Bread”
     Oven-Mashed Russian Farmhouse Ale
          Dmitriy Zhezlov’s Farmhouse Ale
     Chuvashian Farmhouse Ale
          Marina Fyodorovna’s Farmhouse Ale
     Sur
          Marina Ivanovna’s Sur
     Keptinis
          Vytautas Jancys’s Keptinis
          Žiobiškis-Style Keptinis
          Mainland Estonian Oven-Based Beer
Fermented Mash
          Luumäki-Style
          Vanylven-Style
Stone Beer
          Nössemark Stone Beer
          Rågö Stone Beer
          Solvychegodsk Stone Beer
Farmhouse Beer from Other Regions
     Corn Ale
     English Farmhouse Ale
          Suffolk Farmhouse Ale
     Welsh Farmhouse Ale
          Welsh Farmhouse Ale
     Westphalian Farmhouse Ale
     Aludi
     Oat Beer
          Oat Beer

10. Today and Tomorrow

Baltic Time Capsule
The Baltic States Today
Status in the West
Farmhouse Ale in the Twenty-First Century
Into the Future

Notes

Bibliography

Index