Norwegian Summer Blonde Stalljen & Riwaka All Grain Kit

Norwegian Summer Blonde Stalljen & Riwaka All Grain Kit

A crisp, refreshing summer blonde brewed with Norwegian Kveik Yeastery Stalljen and the wonderfully distinctive Riwaka hop.

This beer started life as a lager-inspired recipe, but after brewing it ourselves with Kveik Yeastery Stalljen, we decided it deserved to be its own thing.

So forget trying to squeeze it into a traditional beer style. This is our Norwegian Summer Blonde — light, refreshing and seriously easy drinking, with a little Norwegian farmhouse brewing heritage and a healthy dose of New Zealand hop character.

The Star of the Show – Stalljen

We're using Kveik Yeastery Stalljen, a fantastic Norwegian kveik culture originating from Hornindal.

Stalljen is a fascinating yeast. Kveik is often associated with fermenting at remarkably high temperatures, but here we're doing things a little differently. Fermented at around 18°C, Stalljen produces a much cleaner and more restrained character, giving us the perfect base for a light, crisp blonde beer.

It's a great example of just how versatile kveik can be.

And if you've never brewed with Stalljen before, this is a pretty good place to start.

Malt

The malt bill is deliberately simple, keeping the beer light and letting the yeast and hops take centre stage.

• Bohemian Pilsner Malt
• Vienna Malt
• Carapils
  

The Pilsner malt provides the light, clean base, Vienna adds a touch of extra malt depth, while Carapils helps give the beer a smooth mouthfeel and good head retention.

All grains are supplied pre-crushed and ready for brewing.

Hops

• Riwaka
• Hallertau Mittelfrüh

Riwaka is one of New Zealand's most distinctive hops, bringing bright citrus, fresh tropical fruit and plenty of character to the finished beer.

We've paired it with Hallertau Hallertau Mittelfrüh, adding a subtle floral and lightly spicy note underneath the modern hop character.

The result is a lovely combination of old-world lager-style hop character and new-world fruitiness.

Yeast

Kveik Yeastery Stalljen

This is where the beer gets really interesting.

Stalljen is a Norwegian multi-strain kveik culture with a huge fermentation range. We're using it at the cooler end of that range, around 18°C, to produce a clean fermentation while still allowing the character of the yeast to complement the hops.

If you've been curious about kveik but don't fancy fermenting your beer at 30°C+, this is a great demonstration of what these remarkable Norwegian yeasts can do.

What to Expect

Expect a pale, crisp and refreshing blonde ale with a clean malt character, subtle floral notes and a bright burst of citrus and tropical fruit from the Riwaka.

It's light enough for a sunny afternoon, but there's enough going on to make you reach for another glass.

And that's really what we wanted from this beer.

Simple. Refreshing. A little bit different. And very easy to drink.

Kit Includes

Everything you need to brew approximately 20 litres of Norwegian Summer Blonde:

• Quality pre-crushed grains
• Riwaka and Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops
• Kveik Yeastery Stalljen
• Protafloc
• Full Grain Over Sands brewing instructions
  

Brew Facts

• Batch size 20 litres
• OG 1.049
• FG 1.011
• ABV: 5%
• IBU: 24
• EBC: 7.5

A little bit Norwegian. A little bit New Zealand. Completely Grain Over Sands.

We originally brewed this one as an experiment.Could we brew a beer in time for the world cup final and we liked it enough to put it into the Grain Over Sands range — which is probably the best reason for a beer to make the cut.