Sahti

Finlandia Sahti, Finnish sahti label

Sahti is a traditional beer from Finland made from a variety of grains, malted and unmalted, including barley, rye, wheat, and oats; sometimes bread made from these grains is fermented instead of malt itself. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper berries in addition to, or instead of, hops; the mash is filtered through juniper twigs through a trough shaped tun called a kuurna in Finnish. Sahti has a distinct banana flavor due to the yeast. Sahti is a top-fermented brew (ale), and while baking yeast has been used traditionally, ale yeast may also be used in fermenting.

The end product is a cloudy, mildly alcoholic beer with yeasty and phenolic flavors and distinct taste similar to banana. Sahti is traditionally homebrewed but in recent years commercial versions have become available. Some are produced by specialist sahti brewers like Lammin Sahti, Krouvin Sahti, Joutsan Sahti and Finlandia Sahti (no relation to the vodka brand of the same name). Others are made by Finnish microbrewers such as Huvila and Stadin Panimo. The best time to sample all the commercially-produced sahtis is at the annual Sahti Week at St. Urho's Pub in Helsinki. Commercial Sahti usually has around 8 percent ABV. Due to its higher percentage of alcohol Sahti is only sold in pubs or state-owned Alko stores. Sahti can only be stored cold until consumption and is therefore not available in all Alko branches.

The etymology of the word sahti is not certain, however, experts believe that a likely root could be the Germanic word saf, which later on evolved to the Scandinavian word saft, meaning juice.

Within Finland, sahti has differing characteristics depending on which part of the country it is from. It is often known as Tavastian beer (well-known sahti areas, such as Sysmä and Lammi, are in Tavastia) but it's also made in Finland Proper and some parts of Central Finland. There is also related a beer on the Swedish island of Gotland (known as "Gotlandsdricke", "Gotlandsdricku" or "Dricku") and the Estonian island of Saaremaa (known as "Koduõlu" or "Taluõlu"). Every couple of years, there is a Juniper Beer-Brewing Championship for homebrewers of these three countries.

Finnish Sahti has TSG status in Europe.

Brewing process

Sahti gains its sweetness from mashing malts in water for several hours in a temperature between 50 and 80 degrees celcius. This transforms the starch in the malts into sugars. After this has taken place, the mash is cooked and sieved to produce the wort. After the wort has cooled the fresh yeast is added. This leads to the foam fermentation, which lasts for a few days. Foam fermentation is followed by the post fermentation in a cooler temperature for aproximately two weeks which clarifies the sahti to produce a completed bewerage. The post fermentation should also take place under slight pressure to allow for a small amount of carbonation as not to expose the process to oxidation.

Commercial Finnish sahti brands

• Panimoravintola Beer Hunter's: Muffloni Sahti (From Pori)
• Finlandia Sahti and Finlandia Strong Sahti
• Hartolan Sahti, known as Krouvin Sahti and Punakallion Sahti.
• Hollolan Hirvi Kivisahti
• Huvila sahti (From Savonlinna)
• Joutsan Sahti
• Lammin Sahti
• Tiinan Sahti (From Sysmä)
• Stadin Panimo: Stadin Sahti (From Helsinki)