Sahti Viking Beer

This beer should be made in early spring when fresh spruce and juniper tips are fresh. The spruce tips should be foraged in early spring as soon as the bright lime-green buds emerge from their papery casings. This is when they are most tender and their slight resinous flavor is minimal. For safety, juniper tips have been replaced by dry juniper berries purchased from a reputable dealer as some juniper plants are poisonous.

Of the roughly 40 species of juniper, a small number are poisonous and a majority have bitter fruits. Only a few yield edible berries (actually modified cones) and only one is routinely used for flavoring. The flavoring juniper, best known for its contribution to gin, pickling, and Sahti beer, is common juniper, Juniperus communis.

Mash lasts 5+ hours, and there is no boil. Therefore, this is a raw beer.

Hops are added 40 minutes into the 176f mash.

Beer is racked post fermentation and turbinado is added and stirred into the beer. The beer is then bottled and corked quickly as fermentation can be vigorous after just 20 minutes.