Lars Marius Garshol

Lars Marius Garshol


Kvass: The True Liquid Bread

Technically, kvass isn’t beer—but it’s delicious, fermented, easy to make, and a long-standing tradition in Eastern Europe.

For the Love of Smoke

The idea that “all beer used to be smoky” doesn’t quite hold up, even if smoky malt must have been common in many places. Smokeheads, meanwhile, can tell you another possibility: The beer was smoky because people liked it that way.

Hundraårig Öl: A Hundred Years (or More) in the Making

How much time you got? Time enough, maybe, to consider Sweden’s exceedingly rare, little-known hundred-year beer—a solera-method manorial ale that can keep going for as long as you’re dedicated to the care and feeding of the family barrel.

Brewing Gammeltøl, Denmark’s Strong and Smoky Harvest-Time Farmhouse Ale

Typically, gammeltøl was brewed in March for drinking in the autumn, but the Danish tradition of brewing this strong, smoky raw ale has virtually died out. You can help revive it.

Sahti: Finland’s Famous Farmhouse Ale

Unlike many other farmhouse brewing traditions, sahti is relatively well known and widely produced in its homeland. In the wider beer world, however, it’s frequently misunderstood.

Skibsøl: The Smoky Ale of the Seas

Dark, smoky, and well-hopped, yet low in strength, “ship’s beer” was the daily ration of Danish sailors in the 18th and 19th centuries—and it hasn’t completely disappeared. From written sources of that time, here’s what we know.

Gotlandsdricke: Sweden’s Elusive Smoked Ale

Real gotlandsdricke is little-known for the same reason it has survived: It’s from an isolated and pastoral island in the Baltic. Lars Marius Garshol sheds some light on this smoky, juniper-infused, hard-to-get farmhouse ale.

Heimabrygg: Homebrew from the Fjords and Valleys

Long to mash and boil yet quick to ferment, these robust, juniper-tinged, barleywine-strength ales represent a farmhouse tradition worth celebrating—and you can raise a glass just a few days after brewing.

The Cult of the Kiln: Brewing Super-Smoky Stjørdalsøl

Lars Marius Garshol transports us to rural central Norway, where cooperatives of devoted brewers make an intense type of local ale from their own home-smoked malts.

Kornøl: The Tale of the Ale of the Grain

From the stark, isolated valleys of western Norway, this traditional farmhouse beer brings together juniper and kveik while skipping the boil. (The yeast scream is purely optional.)