Recipe for a Gotlandsdricka Style Ale brewed by Cody Myers-Miller as discussed and sampled in Chop & Brew – Episode 55. This is a indigenous Scandinavian ale similar to what most folks know as a sahti, but brewed with smoked malts. For some more history on the style, see this article by the Beer Hunter Michael Jackson. For this version of the beer, Cody decided to make a Hopped Juniper Tea to add at primary fermentation, opposed to the more traditional method of mashing and sparging through juniper branches and beers — which can be pretty tough and sticky on the mash tun. See episode for more discussion on that point. Shout-out to Cody for letting us share this recipe with the Krewe of Chop & Brew.

Cody’s Gotlandsdricka Style Ale

All-grain, for 6 gallons
OG: 1.067
FG: 1.017
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 18
SRM: 6

Ingredients

Malts

• 10 lbs Pilsner
• 2.5 lbs Rye Malt
• 2.0 lbs Smoke Malt

Hops

• 1 oz Perle (German) [7.2%AA] for Hopped Juniper Tea (see below)

Other Additions

• 2 oz juniper berries, freshly crushed (for mash)
• 1 oz juniper berries, freshly crushed (for Hopped Juniper Tea – see below)
• 1.0 lb honey (clover)

Yeast

• Bakers Yeast (2 packets)

Process

Before beginning the mash, prepare yeast. Add 1 cup warm water to two packets of baker’s yeast, rest and stir until the krausen settles out. Let yeast mixture rest to rise.

In mash tun, mash grains with strike water to achieve mash temperature of 160°F. Add 2 oz Juniper Berries to mash and stir until well blended. Cover mash and rest for 60 minutes. See “Crushed Juniper Berries in Mash” image below.

While mashing grains, prepare Hopped Juniper Tea. In medium saucepan, add hops to 2-3 cups water and bring to a boil. Add 1 oz juniper berries and clover honey to mixture, being careful not to burn honey on bottom of pan, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. See “Hopped Juniper Tea” image below. Note: Once cooled, this mixture will be added to the fermenter with wort in effort mimic the more traditional method of mashing grains in mash tun with a bundle of juniper branches and berries, through which the wort would be run-off.

Once mash is complete, drain and sparge to collect 6 gallons of wort directly into sanitized carboy. Do not boil! Add Hopped Juniper Tea mixture to fermenter and allow to cool to temperature in lower 60s°F before pitching baker’s yeast.

Ferment at mid-to-upper 60s°F until final gravity achieved.

Keg and carbonate to around 15 psi. Cody does not suggest bottling this beer. In all likelihood, any yeast left is dead due to alcohol, but since this is not regular brewer’s yeast, it’s difficult to be certain that there isn’t residual yeast in suspension that would lead to over-carbonated bottles aka potentially dangerous bottle grenades.

Crushed Juniper Berries in Mash

 

Hopped Juniper Tea