Finland

"The legendary rye beer of southern and central Finland is by tradition a home-brew like no other. Impossible to export for its absence of hops, specifically excluded from Finnish Prohibition in the early 20th century,…"

The legendary rye beer of southern and central Finland is by tradition a home-brew like no other. Impossible to export for its absence of hops, specifically excluded from Finnish Prohibition in the early 20th century, avoiding extinction as often and deftly as the Giant Panda, no beer is more regional and more special than this one.

Sahti

This ancient Finnish style of home-brewed beer (6.0-8.5% ABV), usually made from a mash with a high proportion of rye, was saved from obscurity when first brewed on a small scale commercially, by Pekka Kääriäinen of Lammin brewery in 1985. Typically it has little or no carbonation, is somewhat turbid and contains few if any hops. It varies in colour between yellow and dark brown and includes banana, juniper and clove flavours, due to a combination of yeast effects and being filtered through juniper branches. Light tartness is acceptable, sourness not. It is distantly related to the other folk beers of the Baltic rim, but lacks their indisciplined yeast notes. The most obvious link is to Estonian Koduõlu, made on the island of Saaremaa.
EBCU workshop “All About… Sahti” on Youtube

← Prev Post Next Post →

About the Author

Tim Webb

The lead author and curator of The Beer Styles of Europe and beyond is Tim Webb, co-author of The World Atlas of Beer.

Belgium is the mothership of craft brewing, a part of the world that has exerted more influence over the development of modern brewing than anywhere else in Europe. The extent of this is so great that to read about the best known Belgian styles, see : Blond, Dubbel, Flemish Red, Grisette, the Lambics, Belgian saison, Saison Légère, Spéciale, Strong dark, Strong golden, Tripel, Witbier

Germany

When Bavaria joined greater Germany in 1871 one of the conditions of the deal was the adoption across the whole country of the Bavarian Beer Purity Order – known popularly but incorrectly as the Reinheitsgebot. This brought largely unintended homogeneity to German brewing, which had previously being quite regional in its approach.

Italy

Italian craft brewing is a hotbed of creativity and has advanced massively this century. Despite, or perhaps because of, not having any historic beer styles to revive, and despite, or perhaps because of Italy having an advanced wine culture, the expectation has always been that the country’s brewers would eventually invent their own classic styles.

« Older Entries