Finnish Sahti

submitted by sjuva
from Finland

Since sahti is traditionally brewed by each household themselves,
there is no a single accurate recipe for sahti. Each brewer has
his/hers own version, and since the recipe isn't in a written form
but as a "awareness of the process", the recipe usually varies more
or less between the brews.

I would recommend the following process:

This recipe is for 35-60 liters of sahti, smaller batches can be made
by using the ingredients in smaller amounts.

20 kg sahti malt mix, a mixture of pale barley malt and pilsner malt
and possibly some dark caramel will do well
2 kg dark rye malt
juniper twigs
yeast (traditionally baking yeast)

Mashing
Put the malts to one or several big enough but not too deep containers,
two 40 liters containers will do well. Add ~5 litres of boiling water,
stir well. During next ~6 hours: twice an hour add ~2.5 liters of
boiling water and stir. The amount of water and time are approximate.
This method will not keep the temperature near the optimal 65-68,
but I believe that the time will do the thing. A hot place to mash
would probably raise extract rates, though I don't know if it is worth
it. Insulating the containers would also help.

Filtering
The junipers are used for filtering the mash. The filtering device
should be big enough to fit all of the mash. Traditional Finnish
filtering device, "kuurna" is a U-shaped longish device.

Boil the junipers for a while before laying them to the filter. Put
the mash to the juniper filter. Allow to filter, rinse with boiling
water to add to the required volume of the wort. 40-50 liters of wort
gives fairly good sahti. Allow to filter. Boil the wort for a while.
Filter the wort again through the juniper-mash filter, rinse with
boiling water.

The wort is ready.

Fermenting
Allow the wort to cool to the room temperature. Start the yeast
in a smaller container (e.g. a couple of liters). Pour the starter
to the wort. Allow to stay at room temperature overnight to start
the fermentation properly. Transfer the container to a cold place
(~ 8-12 C) for main fermentation. Allow to ferment for 2 weeks.
After that it is about ready to taste. It can be further cooled
to lengthen the storing time. Sahti will not preserve for a long
time. A month is about the maximum. This is perhaps the main reason
why sahti is usually brewed for some parties. Notice that sahti is
kept all the time in a non-sealed container, hence it will not get
carbonated at all.

Variations
The juniper taste can be strengthened by using juniper's boiling
water to the mashing. This is quite a usual routine, but it gives
quite a strong juniper taste and most people will dislike it
until they get used to it. To remove the juniper taste one can
use something else as a filter. Straws are the traditional
alternative to juniper twigs.

The less water in the wort, the stronger sahti. Also, the first
wort to come out of the filter can be used to produce stronger
sahti, the rest to produce thinner sahti. The more important party
the stronger sahti, the more important drinkers the stronger sahti.
A not-so-strong sahti is usually called "naistensahti", women's sahti.

The amount of rye can be varied. E.g. 20 % instead of the above 10 %
would give a bit stronger rye taste.

The yeast used can affect on the taste. The Finnish baking yeast
is quite effective and it will give quite a sour taste. I don't
know how beer yeasts will do. I believe that those would do well.
Anyway the sourness is quite characteristic for sahti.

All instructions given above are approximate. I myself would
consider it dull to make beer or sahti using same recipe (or any
accurate recipe) every time. Perhaps other Finnish readers of
this news-group (or HBD) could give some other sahti recipes.


I was also asked about suggestions how to use sauna in brewing.
A warm sauna (60-70 C) is an excellent place to mash since it is
easy to keep the mash at desired temperature however long you
want to. Besides, sauna has been traditionally considered as the
cleanest place of a Finnish household.

Simo

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