Sahti
A farmhouse raw ale whose wort is never boiled — it goes straight from the lauter tun to the fermenter. Filtered through a kuurna, a wooden trough lined with juniper twigs and straw, which strains the wort and resins it at the same time. Rye alongside the barley, and traditionally fermented with baker's yeast rather than a brewer's strain, which throws enormous banana and clove.
It survived because it never went commercial. The style that stayed intact is the one nobody tried to industrialise — a thing farms made for midsummer and weddings, which is how a method outlives the industry that would otherwise have replaced it.
Legally protected. Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (EU) — a beer must follow close to the traditional process and ingredients to use the name.
Covered in Era 6 — The Styles That Nearly Died.
No beer in the archive is currently classified as Sahti. The style is defined here regardless — a category that exists before it is populated is a test something has to meet, rather than one written around whatever turned up.
Other ale styles