Beerwright
Open the studio

Styles · Sahti

Beer style · BJCP 2021 27H

Sahti

Historical Beer

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.076–1.120
Final gravity
1.016–1.020
Bitterness
7–15 IBU
Color
4–22 SRM (8–43 EBC)
Alcohol
7.0–11.0 % ABV

What it is

A strong Finnish farmhouse beer lautered through juniper branches and fermented with baking yeast, which throws enormous banana esters. It is unhopped or nearly so, uncarbonated, sweet and hazy, with resinous juniper running through a thick, bready malt base.

Flavor

What a Sahti should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Hops stay in the background: none of their character belongs.

Malt

Grainy, bready/biscuit and sweet/honey, with room for toasty or caramel.

Fermentation

Fruity esters and banana, with room for clean or clove.

Hops that suit it

None on character. The hops in this style are there for bitterness and balance, and any variety whose aroma you would notice is out of place.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.