Finnish Sahti
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| submitted by sjuva |
| from finland |
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| 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. |
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| i would recommend the following process: |
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| this recipe is for 35-60 liters of sahti, smaller batches can be made |
| by using the ingredients in smaller amounts. |
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| 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) |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| the wort is ready. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| the amount of rye can be varied. e.g. 20 % instead of the above 10 % |
| would give a bit stronger rye taste. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| simo |
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| http://www.simpleinternet.com/recipes/ |
| international recipes online |
| on-line culinary discussion at food.chat: |
| http://www.simpleinternet.com/foodchat/ |
| |
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| (ID: 9157) Mirror: rec.food.recipes: Sun, Jan 11, 2004 |