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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Western Norway

Norwegian farmhouse ale with kveik (maltøl, kornøl)maltøl

strong, fast-fermented farm ale; lab ferments with kveik at 30 °C gave 4.01–5.98 % ethanol (PREISS2018). Made in 5 steps over 12 months. The longest step, harvest yeast from foam or bottom; dry, takes up to 12 months (Preiss R 2018). Saccharomyces cerevisiae kveik strains — a genetically distinct domesticated group, POF-negative, highly flocculant, thermotolerant does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 12 monthsReported[PREISS2018]Harvest yeast from foam or bottom; dry
Temperature28–40 °CReported[PREISS2018]Pitch kveik into warm wort
DocumentedAlcoholic drinks12 monthsMore alcoholic drinksMore from Norway

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
malted barley
juniper branches/infusion (optional)
hops (typically)
Starter: backslop (kveik: house yeast culture, dried between brews)

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
StarchSugarAlcoholCO₂shapes, not to countSaccharomyces cerevisiae

What changes: Hot water, often a juniper infusion, turns the malt starch into sugar

Step 1 of 5
Mash malt (often with juniper infusion as brewing water)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Output: wort.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

Variants

  • Raw ale (rå øl, unboiled wort)wort not boiled; common in some farm traditions (Garshol, reported; not fetched)
  • Lithuanian kaimiškas (Joniškelis)Lithuanian farmhouse yeast sampled alongside kveik in PREISS2018
  • Sahti (Finland)see round-1 id sahti; BJCP 27A historical style (BJCP2021)
  • Commercial kveik (2020s)dried/liquid kveik strains sold to homebrewers for hot, fast fermentations (round-1 gap 14)

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Brewers shared yeast with neighbours when theirs failed; serial repitching for generations (PREISS2018).

  1. [PREISS2018] Preiss R., Tyrawa C., Krogerus K., Garshol L.M., van der Merwe G., "Traditional Norwegian Kveik Are a Genetically Distinct Group of Domesticated Saccharomyces cerevisiae Brewing Yeasts", Front. Microbiol. 9:2137, 2018paper
  2. [BJCP2021] BJCP Beer Style Guidelines 2021 (+ Mead 2026, Cider 2025 category lists)web