Sahti yeast suggestions.

[Gadjobrinus]

My wife's family on her mom's side are all Estonians and Sahti (it's nominally Finnish, but not surprisingly common in traditional Estonian village and rural traditions as well. In Estonian, known as Koduõlu) is extremely close to their heart, my wife especially. Interestingly, my son had a course in college where he took on the project of parsing out a Sumerian beer. We dug to the extent we could and made it, interesting process, nasty beer.

So, I intend to try and replicate traditional practice here as much as possible. The one sticking point is yeast. I know we can't even get close commercially, and that traditional Sahti brewers of Finland and Estonia are almost more shamans than brewers, with their acquired wisdom and practices. Absent getting ahold of true Sahti with vital yeast, I'll have to turn to a commercial yeast. Phenolics/cloves, esters. High OG, going to shoot all the way to 30 P. Suggestions?

 

[Witherby]

According to: Sahti Recipe and Farmhouse Brewing Tips - Brewing Nordic

• For authentic sahti you need baker’s yeast, or a traditionally maintained house yeast culture. Brewer’s yeast would produce good ale, but that would not be sahti. In my opinion, a traditional home-cultured kveik can be considered sahti house yeast, as explained in Is Kveik Authentic Yeast for Sahti?
• Suomen Hiiva’s fresh compressed baker’s yeast is by far the most popular sahti yeast, but it is difficult to obtain outside of Finland. On the other hand, Finnish and Estonian farmhouse brewers have tried many European baker’s yeast brands and they generally seem to be suitable for fermenting farmhouse ales. I advise to try your local brand of baker’s yeast.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

According to: Sahti Recipe and Farmhouse Brewing Tips - Brewing Nordic

• For authentic sahti you need baker’s yeast, or a traditionally maintained house yeast culture. Brewer’s yeast would produce good ale, but that would not be sahti. In my opinion, a traditional home-cultured kveik can be considered sahti house yeast, as explained in Is Kveik Authentic Yeast for Sahti?
• Suomen Hiiva’s fresh compressed baker’s yeast is by far the most popular sahti yeast, but it is difficult to obtain outside of Finland. On the other hand, Finnish and Estonian farmhouse brewers have tried many European baker’s yeast brands and they generally seem to be suitable for fermenting farmhouse ales. I advise to try your local brand of baker’s yeast.

Thanks Witherby. I'll have to give it a go. Part of my wariness is the experience with the "Sumerian beer," in which we used baker's yeast - just nasty. And partly, the read from this article, which reminded me too well:

Today, genuine Finnish sahti is fermented with commercially manufactured bakers yeast. Brewers have two distinct yeast strains from which to choose, though they are said to be manufactured under the same brand as a result of company mergers. Both strains (if there really are two coexisting strains under the same brand) are highly valued for the hefty clovelike phenolic and estery accents they produce, the hallmark of Finnish sahti. I have experimented with some foreign bakers yeast strains and they did not produce the desired flavor profile. This may be the trickiest obstacle for non-Finn brewers interested in making their own sahti. My only advice is to begin cultivating Finnish connections, then perhaps begin cultivating your own supply of sahti yeast.

-but there's no reason not to try. I've had some interest in kviek, having come across it recently when looking over Omega's offerings (totally new to me, since I've been away so long), too, so thank you for that as well.

I bake extensively, with a lot of experience in German and French traditions, about 80% and 15% respectively. The small amount of other baking I do comes from the Baltics and E. Europe, i.e., Lithuanian (Riga) rye or Borodinsky (Russia). Forays there have also led me to explore kvass some, which reminds me in some ways of this yeast "house." I don't enjoy kvass at all, at least not the examples I've had (we have a Russian store locally - it's where I get my solod, or the fermented red-rye malt critical to that special E. Euro bread character), but that's likely not a good representation, I know.

So, very interesting and thanks again. Looking forward to this.

Edit: Quick glance at your links leaves me floored. Just bought Mika Laitenen's book, and looking forward to diving down the rabbit hole of his blog. A huge thank you!

 

[Witherby]

Edit: Quick glance at your links leaves me floored. Just bought Mika Laitenen's book, and looking forward to diving down the rabbit hole of his blog. A huge thank you!

Then you must also look at the blog of Lars Marius Garshol and buy his amazing book on European farmhouse brewing.

Farmhouse yeast: what do we know? | Larsblog

Historical Brewing Techniques - The Forgotten Art of Farmhouse Brewing

There is also this database of kveik and other farmhouse yeasts and where they are available:
Kveik

That should keep you busy for a while!

I am still in the research and planning stage myself, but I'm growing juniper, I have a giant copper kettle, and I am about to start smoking some malt. Or maybe a small test batch of a Christmas ale: "My" farmhouse ale comes home | Larsblog

Let us know how it goes! Kveik is very popular, but it seems that very few people are actually using it for brewing traditional farmhouse beers.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Hi Witherby - my son and I were in our northwoods wilderness until yesterday, so apologies for the late reply but thank you. His book arrives today and I can't wait. I'm also looking forward to reading more from you. I respect the copper kettle - I have a lot of experience in French alpine cheesemaking, and also used a copper vat for that (I made 10 kg Abondance, reblochon, and tommes, raw milk from Ayrshire cows raised on rotational pasture, by two close friends).

 

[BrewMan13]

So, I may be able to help. A little while back my buddy went on vacation to that part of the world and stopped in Finland. I had him grab me some of the bakers yeast noted for use in sahti (Suomen Hiiva). I have saved a bit each time I've used it (top-cropping or building a starter). If you pay for shipping, I can build it up and send you a sample if you would like.
If you want to just use a commercial yeast, most people recommend using a hefeweizen strain for sahti.