Eka Sahti / Brewing Ancient Sahti Beer First Time

Sahti on kiinnostanut jo pitkään, ja vihdoin sain sitä pantua kokeellisesti noin 4 litraa. Sahtimestari en siis ole, mutta videosta käy ilmi valmistusvaiheet. Mikä tästä sahdista tekee muinaisolutta, on perinteinen tekotapa, keittomäskäys, humalattomuus, kataja, hiilihapottomuus, keittämättömyys, sameus ja runko. Raaka-aineina oli pilsner-mallasta, ruismallasta, kuivaa leivinhiivaa ja katajaa. Lopputulos olisi voinut olla parempikin, mutta ei se silti huonolta maistu. Käymislämpötila oli turhan korkea (24 C), ja menin lisäämään aivan turhaan vähän vettä vierteeseen, niin tavara laimeni hiukan. Sahti on hyvää sellaisenaan ja vaikkapa kastikkeessa. Tein sahtia oman olutosaamiseni lisäksi mainion kirjan "Sahti - elävä muinaisolut" ja loistavan "Reittausblogin" perusteella.

Sahti on todella vaihteleva olut. Siinä voi olla vain yhtä tai usempaa mallasta tai raakaviljaa, yleensä ruista tai ohraa. Sahti on yleensä ruskeaa tai joskus keltaista. Sahti on yleensä vahvaa ja paksua ja siihen käytetään paljon mallasta. Vierrettä tai mäskiä ei usein keitetä, mutta jotkut kiehauttaa. Tunteja kestävässä mäskäyksessä vettä lisätään askelittain. Sahtia käytetään yleensä ensin 1-3 päivää huoneenlämmössä, jonka jälkeen se siirretään käymään kylmään pariksi viikoksi. Virallisessa sahdissa ei ole oluthiivaa, vaan se käytetään leivinhiivalla, kaupan tai talon omalla hiivajuurella.

Vedenlisäyksiä tein mäskäyksessä muuten 5, vaikka vain kolme niistä kuvasinkin. Lisäsin kiehuvaa vettä kolme kertaa sen jälkeen, kun lisäsin ensin lämmintä ja sitten kuumaa vettä. Joka lisäyksen jälkeen annoin ämpärin olla viltin alla puoli tuntia.

I've been interested in sahti for some time, and I finally made about 4 litres experimentally. I definitely am not a pro, but the essential steps are in the video. Sahti is one of the few ancient European beer styles that haven't disappeared. Beers like sahti existed already in the iron age. What makes my brew ancient-like is the traditional technique, it was mashed with adding warm and hot water to malts in steps, I didn't use hops, the mash was lautered with juniper, there is not carbonic acid in the beer, I didnt boil the wort or mash and the beer is quite murky and full-bodied. Grain malted in a sauna, adding hot stones to warm the mash and non-commercial original bread yeast would have made my beer more ancient, but almost nobody makes even sahti like that. I used pilsner-malt, rye malt, some unmalted oat and dry baking yeast and the beer fulfils the official criteria of sahti. The sahti was OK, but it could have been better, since I added some water to the wort and the fermentation temperature was too big (24 C). Sahti and other beers are great also in sauces. I wrote my recipe based on an excellent Finnish book "Sahti - Elävä muinaisolut" (Sahti - the Living Ancient Beer) and a great Finnish beer blog "Reittausblogi" besides my own brewing experience.

Sahti as a beer style is very variable. Sahti can be brewed with wide variety of mixed or one single malt and there can be lots of unmalted grain too, usually rye or barley. Sahti is at least almost never black but brown and even sometimes yellow. The beer is typically quite strong, and therefore it has lots of malt and the body is very thick. Typically mash or wort is not boiled or it is boiled only a short time. In mashing water is added to the malt in steps and it takes hours. Fermenting happens usually first 1-3 days in room temperature and then in cold about two weeks. Officially sahti is fermented with baking yeast, commercial or rural, and there can't be beer yeast.

By the way, I added water in mashing 5 times, though I filmed only three addings. I added boiling water three times after adding warm and hot water. After each adding I insulated the bucket for half an hour.

[SashiDegodeshi]

What species of juniper do you use? And is there a specific yeast to use? I heard just bread yeast is used, didn't know if a specific strain of yeast provides a more authentic flavor.

[andreabiramia]

Hi, Jamppaesa! Thanks for the video! I've been in Finland last year, tasted Sahti and loved it. Since it is an impossible beer to find in Brazil I decided to try to make it on my own. Searching for recipes on the internet I saw that Finnish baking yeast is a "must have" if you want to make it right. I have some Finnish friends that can send me the yeast. The problem is that most of the recipes that I found don't make clear if the yeast to be used is the dry or the fresh one. One recipe said that the fresh one is the one to be used and this ones my friends can't mail me once they must stay in the refrigerator. What's your opinion? Another question... what are the quantities of malts to water that you used? Thank you so very much!!!