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Recipe: Spydeberg Farmhouse Oat Ale 1779
Based on a description from Norway in the late 18th century, this recipe represents the practicality of local farmers at the time—and the grist is 100 percent oats, which would’ve been malted in a smoky kiln.
Based on a description from Norway in the late 18th century, this recipe represents the practicality of local farmers at the time—and the grist is 100 percent oats, which would’ve been malted in a smoky kiln. <a href="https://beerandbrewing.com/recipe-spydeberg-farmhouse-oat-ale-1779/">Continue reading.</a>
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Heritage oats growing on a farm in Norway. Photo: Lars Marius Garshol.
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This recipe is based on a late-18th-century account from Spydeberg, Norway, about 30 miles southeast of Oslo. The author was Jacob Nicolai Wilse, a priest and notable chronicler of Norwegian village life. These farmer-brewers used 100 percent oat malt that they kilned in a kjone—a two-story kiln used for drying grains and other crops, with a wood-fired oven below a drying surface riddled with holes. Heat rose through the holes, and so did smoke—so that malt and this beer would’ve been quite smoky.
Oat malt is widely available, but smoked oats are not—though Indiana’s Sugar Creek Malt occasionally offers them. (Also see Smoke on the Horizon for some tips on cold-smoking your own malt.) We’ve adapted this recipe somewhat for modern processes, but if you’re a masochist who wants to try the farmers’ methods, see the Brewer’s Notes below.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.047 (11.7°P)
FG: 1.006 (1.5°P)
IBUs: 36
ABV: 5.4%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
11.3 lb (5.1 kg) smoked oat malt
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
3.3 oz (94 g) Saaz at 60 minutes [36 IBUs]
1.5 oz (43 g) bog myrtle at flameout (optional)
YEAST
Your favorite kveik
DIRECTIONS
The night before brewing, mill the grains, mix with about 11 quarts (10.4 liters) of unheated water, and rest it overnight. In the morning, add 7 quarts (6.6 liters) of boiling water, rest 60 minutes, then repeat that step with the same volume two more times. (That should get you steps around 116°F/47°C, 140°F/60°C, and 154°F/68°C—or don’t worry about it because the farmers weren’t recording temperatures.) Recirculate until the runnings are free of particles, then run off into the kettle. That should get you about 7 gallons (26.5 liters) of wort, or sparge/top up as needed. Boil for 120 minutes—or longer, if you like—adding hops and bog myrtle (if using) according to the schedule. (Optionally, brew a hop tea instead—see Brewer’s Notes.) Cool to about 99°F (37°) and pitch the kveik; ferment warm or at ambient temperatures. Primary fermentation should take only a few days, then chill, package, and carbonate as desired.
BREWER’S NOTES
Mashing: While the cold overnight mash and boiling-water additions are in the original account, the quantities are mostly guesswork. You could also do a standard single-infusion or step mash, if you prefer. The farmers lautered through rye straw and branches—possibly juniper—so there’s another option for authenticity.
Boiling: The 1779 account describes running off the wort, bringing it to boil, then pouring it back into the mash—six to 11 times We include a long boil instead, but if you want to be super-authentic and have that kind of time on your hands, knock yourselves out.
Hops: Hops would’ve been homegrown; a lower-alpha Noble variety should get you close. The quantity is only a guess based on similar accounts. To make a hop tea, simply boil the hops in some water then, before boiling the wort, blend to taste.
Bog myrtle: Wilse writes in 1779 that they once used Myrica gale in the beer, historically; that probably would have been the 17th or early 18th century. (For more about brewing with this plant, see Special Ingredient: Bog Myrtle.)
Small beer: The farmers made a lighter beer afterward—only about 2 gallons/8 liters at this scale—by simply adding more water and running off once more.
Warm pitch: There’s another account from roughly the same period—also from a priest, but in Telemark, west of Oslo—and it describes the pitching temperature as “cooled until you can keep your finger in it.” That would be higher than 99°F (37°), but 97–99°F (36–37°C) is most common for kveik pitches.
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This recipe is based on a late-18th-century account from Spydeberg, Norway, about 30 miles southeast of Oslo. The author was Jacob Nicolai Wilse, a priest and notable chronicler of Norwegian village life. These farmer-brewers used 100 percent oat malt that they kilned in a kjone—a two-story kiln used for drying grains and other crops, with a wood-fired oven below a drying surface riddled with holes. Heat rose through the holes, and so did smoke—so that malt and this beer would’ve been quite smoky.
Oat malt is widely available, but smoked oats are not—though Indiana’s Sugar Creek Malt occasionally offers them. (Also see Smoke on the Horizon for some tips on cold-smoking your own malt.) We’ve adapted this recipe somewhat for modern processes, but if you’re a masochist who wants to try the farmers’ methods, see the Brewer’s Notes below.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.047 (11.7°P)
FG: 1.006 (1.5°P)
IBUs: 36
ABV: 5.4%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
11.3 lb (5.1 kg) smoked oat malt
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
3.3 oz (94 g) Saaz at 60 minutes [36 IBUs]
1.5 oz (43 g) bog myrtle at flameout (optional)
YEAST
Your favorite kveik
DIRECTIONS
The night before brewing, mill the grains, mix with about 11 quarts (10.4 liters) of unheated water, and rest it overnight. In the morning, add 7 quarts (6.6 liters) of boiling water, rest 60 minutes, then repeat that step with the same volume two more times. (That should get you steps around 116°F/47°C, 140°F/60°C, and 154°F/68°C—or don’t worry about it because the farmers weren’t recording temperatures.) Recirculate until the runnings are free of particles, then run off into the kettle. That should get you about 7 gallons (26.5 liters) of wort, or sparge/top up as needed. Boil for 120 minutes—or longer, if you like—adding hops and bog myrtle (if using) according to the schedule. (Optionally, brew a hop tea instead—see Brewer’s Notes.) Cool to about 99°F (37°) and pitch the kveik; ferment warm or at ambient temperatures. Primary fermentation should take only a few days, then chill, package, and carbonate as desired.
BREWER’S NOTES
Mashing: While the cold overnight mash and boiling-water additions are in the original account, the quantities are mostly guesswork. You could also do a standard single-infusion or step mash, if you prefer. The farmers lautered through rye straw and branches—possibly juniper—so there’s another option for authenticity.
Boiling: The 1779 account describes running off the wort, bringing it to boil, then pouring it back into the mash—six to 11 times We include a long boil instead, but if you want to be super-authentic and have that kind of time on your hands, knock yourselves out.
Hops: Hops would’ve been homegrown; a lower-alpha Noble variety should get you close. The quantity is only a guess based on similar accounts. To make a hop tea, simply boil the hops in some water then, before boiling the wort, blend to taste.
Bog myrtle: Wilse writes in 1779 that they once used Myrica gale in the beer, historically; that probably would have been the 17th or early 18th century. (For more about brewing with this plant, see Special Ingredient: Bog Myrtle.)
Small beer: The farmers made a lighter beer afterward—only about 2 gallons/8 liters at this scale—by simply adding more water and running off once more.
Warm pitch: There’s another account from roughly the same period—also from a priest, but in Telemark, west of Oslo—and it describes the pitching temperature as “cooled until you can keep your finger in it.” That would be higher than 99°F (37°), but 97–99°F (36–37°C) is most common for kveik pitches.
