Beer Styles

What's the difference between Gårdsøl, Kornøl, and Stjørdalsøl? Gårdsøl simply means "farmhouse beer" and serves as the umbrella term. It's made from barley malt, juniper infusion, hops, and yeast. Maltøl, "malt beer," refers to the same farmhouse beer in Norwegian dialect and has nothing to do with the sweet malt drink sold in supermarkets.

Kornøl is the version made with unboiled wort. It's traditionally fermented with Kveik and tastes soft, slightly bready, with a juniper note. It's cloudy, since the yeast isn't allowed to settle out, and is drunk fresh, often at Christmas.

Vossaøl is the Christmas beer of the Voss area. It's fermented with local Kveik yeast and is known for being fruity and spicy. Recipes vary from farm to farm, and there's no fixed standard.

Stjørdalsøl, the beer from the valley near Trondheim, is dark red and slightly hazy. The heavily alder-smoked malt from the Såinnhus gives it notes of smoke, ham, and campfire. It's often fermented with baker's yeast and has little in common with a Franconian smoked beer, which is made using beechwood instead.

Gårdsøl shares its juniper character and farmhouse origins with Finnish Sahti. Sahti, however, tends to be stronger and is traditionally brewed with bread yeast. The Norwegian farmhouse beer is usually lighter in comparison.

The profile below shows Kveik beer in its modern craft version. Since there are no standard specs for Kveik itself, the figures given are for its closest competition-style relative, American Pale Ale. Farmhouse beers can deviate significantly from these numbers.