The Kveik Experience: The Dale Smokehouse

You are invited to a unique experience; learning about the creation of kveik beer in its natural habitat, the Eldhus at Dale farm, where we brew our traditional kveik beer with juniper.

The tradition of brewing farmhouse ale with kveik yeast goes back many centuries in Scandinavia, but in modern times the tradition have been kept alive only in a few rural communities in Western Norway. In recent years the world has "discovered" kveik, and breweries around the globe use our local kveik yeast with great enthusiasm. We would like to share the history of kveik and the culture of farmhouse brewing, and offer you a unique opportunity to visit its origin in Kveik Country.

Now you have a chance to visit the origin of Western Norway Farmhouse Ale, in a real smokehouse that is part of the living tradition of farmhouse brewing in Voss.

A full brew day in the Eldhus lasts up to 10 - 12 hours, so we have designed a course over 3 days for those who wish to learn the practical details of farmhouse brewing with kveik and juniper.

But a quicker alternative is available; you may join us for some of the central steps in the process, the making of juniper infusion, and the boiling of the wort. Our "kveik beer tasting room" is a humble one, it's a traditional timber log house with an open fire on the central hearth. You may want to dress in outdoorsy clothes and shoes that can take a bit of smoke and soot.

And of course you may sample some kveik beer and a taste of the traditional ham of smoked lamb.

The kveik beer goes well with a slice of cured and smoked lamb. Photo: Claire Bullen

We give lessons in brewing Western Norway Farmhouse Ale, complete with juniper and our local kveik. Our mission is to ensure the survival of the traditional way of brewing, along with the ancient kveik strains, unchanged by laboratories. So we offer training to aspiring brewers with a taste for the authentic.

The brewhouse at Dale is located in Voss, the centre of Kveik Country.

A full brew day in the Eldhus lasts up to 10 - 12 hours, so we have designed a course over 3 days for those who wish to learn the practical details of farmhouse brewing.

Each course may have from 5 to 8 participants. It will give you an experience in the unique atmosphere of an Eldhus, and you will get to sample beers from the local variants of kveik strains with their different flavours. We'll cook a traditional stew, and serve some cured lamb - the local favourite snack for kveik beer.

You will learn about the history and traditions of the brewing culture of Western Norway, and when the work in the Eldhus is done we may sample some more brews.

We welcome you to stay at our guest house, or you may prefer a local hotel. If you stay with us you get the chance to enjoy the friendly atmosphere after a brew day, and you don't have to think about transportation.

You may also stay in our Glamping tipi near the farm. Just a quick walk across the fields and over a small stream, you'll find one of the most magical sites for glamping in the Vestlandet.

Course plan:

Kveik brewing in the eldhus. Capacity: max. 8. Fridays to sunday or mondays to wednesday.

Arrival day 1:
• Check in at 15.00 or later
• Finding your room in the Old House; "Gamlahuset".
• Serving of local dishes. Stew or soup + bread, serve yourself when you have unpacked.
• Briefing for the following brew day. Hanging out, getting acquainted.
• Learning local brewing traditions and history, and sampling some brew.

Brew day:
• Brewing starts at 08.00.
• Brewing a full farmhouse ale. Making the "einerlåg" juniper infusion, mashing-in and -out , learning about the process, running the mash, cooking the wort, adding hops, making a "yeast starter", cooling, adding kveik (Kveik-Shout!).
• Summary/briefing, what was in todays lesson?
• Dinner and telling stories, and naturally; tasting brew samples.

Departure day 3:
• Breakfast
• Summary/ debriefing.
• Departure

Usually, when the wort has been boiled and cooled to 40 C we add the kveik. Remember to Kveik and shout!

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“Kveik and Shout! "The Kveik-shout is a custom of shouting loudly into the fermenter when the kveik yeast is added, to scare away bad influence from the elves"”

Rituals and beliefs in farmhouse brewing

Harvesting juniper for making kveik beer.

The Juniper infusion, aka. Einerlåg or Sprakalóg in our dialect, is a traditional ingredient in farmhouse ale and Voss-beer.

We invite you to Kveikbeer tasting in our smokehouse, while we make Sprakalóg over the open fire.

You'll get to know the history of kveik and our local brewing traditions. The existence of the kveik yeast today is only possible thanks to the continuous brewing of Western Norway Farmhouse Ale at farms like ours.

The tastings may be arranged for groups of 5 to 10 people. It gives you the feel and atmosphere of the smokehouse, and you get to taste and learn about the different flavors of juniper infusion and kveik beer. We serve smoked ham of lamb and the traditional "flat bread" that goes well with the beer tasting.

Kveikbeer tasting in the smokehouse:
• No. of persons: min. 5, max. 10.
• Duration: 2-3 hours
• Making sprakjelåg (meaning: kindling the fire, filling the cauldron, boil, add juniper and make the infusion).
• Kjetil tells about Western Norway Farmhouse Ale and the history of smokehouses, and about the next steps in the brewing process when making a traditional juniper beer with kveik.
• Tasting samples of beer made with different local kveiks, along with the "spekemat" ham. We'll check the taste and aroma of the juniper infusion when it's ready, and try to identify the flavors from it in the beer.

We want you to have a great experience, so we may adapt the session for your convenience. Feel free to get in touch, and we'll arrange a session that fits you.

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