The fires are burning here at Dogfish Head today as we brew Sah'tea for the first time in full production.
The beer is one we brewed at our brewpub a while back when writer Burkhard Bilger was writing a feature on Dogfish Head for The New Yorker, so you can read all about our first stab at this strange brew.
Our version is a take-off on a Finnish style beer called sahti. Traditional sahti is brewed with a variety of grains, malted and unmalted, including barley, rye, wheat, and oats; then flavored with juniper berries in addition to, or instead of, hops. The old-school style of brewing sahti also includes the step of heating hot rocks over a fire and using them to boil the wort.
In traditional Dogfish-style, we break with tradition by finishing the beer with an exotic black chai tea at the end of the boil.
Lead Bryan Selders explains the Dogfish brewing process:
Mission accomplished! The hot rocks were successfully transferred to the wort and boiling ensued (although we are certainly not winning any safety awards on this one). Here's the video:
