Gotlandsdricke, a.k.a godlandsdricka, is a traditional farmhouse ale from the Swedish island of Gotland. The ale is still brewed on the island, but knowing what makes authentic gotlandsdricke is difficult elsewhere. In October 2023, I traveled to Gotland to learn from the traditional brewers and maltsters how to brew this rustic ale. Now, I’ll reveal my gotlandsdricke recipe and brewing tips.
Gotlandsdricke is clearly related to other alive farmhouse beer traditions of Nordic and Baltic countries. The traditions are based on farmhouse homebrews. The brewing methods and ingredients are similar to those of Finnish sahti, Estonian koduõlu, and Norwegian farmhouse ales. However, Gotlandsdricke has a flavor of its own, probably due to differences in how the tradition has been preserved, along with local constraints and preferences in brewing ingredients.
Gotlandsdricke translates as the drink of Gotland. On the island, this ale is also referred to as dricke, dricku, drikke, or drikku, simply meaning the drink. All these words are from Gotland’s dialect, while gotlandsdricka is grammatically correct in Swedish. Perhaps the generic name at least partly explains why this beer is so hard to pin down: various kinds of homebrewed ales can be called gotlandsdricke.
Other Resources
Most of the information in this story comes from my 2023 trip to Gotland. I spent six days touring the island and met eight homebrewers, four maltsters, and people from local craft breweries. I have also found useful background information from this classic book written in Swedish:
Salomonsson, Anders (1979). Gotlandsdricka: Traditionell kultur som regional identitetssymbol. Press’ Förlag AB.
It’s an excellent book, but Salomonsson was an ethnographer, not a brewer. The book leaves many gaps in practical brewing details. Of course, I have also used Lars Marius Garshol’s Historical Brewing Techniques, but this trip revealed many things that were new to Garshol – he was on the same trip.
If you want to know more about Nordic and Baltic farmhouse ales, I recommend Garshol’s book and my book, Viking Age Brew. Brewing Nordic Story: Sahti and Related Ancient Farmhouse Ales (Sahti ja sen sukulaisjuomat in Finnish) also describes the similarities and differences between Nordic and Baltic farmhouse ales.
Traditional Brewers in Gotland
In the past, gotlandsdricke was brewed by women, but over time, the brewing craft has become predominantly male. On the island, I met just one female brewer, Bettan Svanborg, who has won the gotlandsdricke championship several times despite not drinking much beer herself.
Bernt “Bison” Nilsson, who organized the annual championships for many years, estimates that there are about 200 homebrewers of gotlandsdricke on the island, but many brew only for Christmas. Younger generations are also carrying on the tradition, and the craft does not seem to be disappearing. However, several of the traditional maltsters are considering quitting, which is unfortunate for the preservation of the tradition.
What is Gotlandsdricke?
Is it a beer style? I think it can be considered a beer style, but the guidelines need to be very broad. In Gotland, I saw a huge variation in strength, ingredients, and brewing techniques. As with other Nordic and Baltic farmhouse ales, Gotlandsdricke has many typical characteristics, but some versions deviate significantly from the mainstream.
The alcohol content can vary greatly, but typically, ABV is in the range of 5–7%. Stronger versions are also available, with a higher alcohol content achieved by adding a large amount of sugar. However, gotlandsdricke promoter Bernt Nilsson points out that very high alcohol content is not part of the original tradition. Adding to the confusion, a lower-alcohol version brewed for daily consumption can also be referred to as gotlandsdricke. In this story, gotlandsdricke or dricke refers to the traditional feast version characterized by its stronger flavor and higher alcohol content.
Based on my experiences, I would describe gotlandsdricke as follows: The beer is hazy, with color ranging from orange-yellow to reddish-brown. The carbonation is soft or absent. The mouthfeel is soft and full-bodied. The taste is sweetish, malty, smoky, and juniper-flavored. The bitterness of hops is usually mild or absent, but some versions can taste bitter.
The typical ingredients of gotlansdricke are malt, juniper branches, hops, sugar or honey, and yeast. Especially the traditional, smoky, wood-dried malt gives character you won’t forget. I need to discuss how these ingredients are used before talking about the brewing techniques and a recipe. I’ll comment on the variation in ingredients and brewing techniques in the sections below.
Commercial Gotlandsdricke/Gotlandsdricka
Although the gotlandsdricke tradition is based on farmhouse homebrewing, it has also been produced commercially in Gotland by several breweries. Unfortunately, as of October 2025, I am not aware of any options for purchasing a Gotland-made dricke. When I visited Gotland, I had the pleasure of tasting Ölverket Brewery’s Dundar Gotlandsdricka, but in May 2025, I heard that the brewery was closing. Things may change quickly, as Gotland has many craft breweries that could brew gotlandsdricke. I’ll update this article if I hear good news from Gotland. Gotlandsdricke has been brewed commercially in the USA, but I’m unsure how authentic the beers are.
Traditional Malting
For me, the most special thing about gotlandsdricke is the traditional, smoky, farm-made, wood-fired malt. It is still produced by several farmers in Gotland. The maltsters homebrew with the rustic smoky malt, and some of them provide the malt to other traditional brewers. To understand Gotlandsdricke thoroughly, you need to know the basics of Gotland’s malting process.
I met eight Gotlandsdricke brewers, and based on the talks with them, the love of smoke flavor varies significantly. Some Gotlanders brew with 100% of the traditional malt, which makes the dricke extremely smoky. Some brewers dislike the smoky flavor and opt for local, non-smoky malt instead. The majority of Gotland’s brewers appear to blend traditional smoked malt with modern, local, non-smoky pale barley malt. Then, the smoke intensity can be adjusted from zero to eleven.
On the island, I met four farmhouse maltsters who described their malting process. Three of these maltings were highly traditional with wood-fired malt kilns. In two of these maltings, I was able to taste the malt. I was also able to taste beers and worts made with these malts. I also visited a malthouse located on a farm and malted local barley, but it had a DIY malting machine that mimicked the farmhouse malting process. I’m confident that I got a good idea of how the traditional malt affects the flavor, although this data may sound sparse. We must remember that the number of working malt houses is small, and those who malt provide malt to several brewers.
The wetting and germination phases in Gotland are fairly similar to other Nordic farmhouse maltings, which have been documented, for example, in Historical Brewing Techniques. The drying phase is highly interesting and creates lots of flavor. In Gotland, malt is traditionally dried by leading woodfire smoke through the grains. The process is similar to farmhouse malting in Stjørdal, Norway, but the smoke flavor is different.
The major difference is that in Gotland, birch is the favorite wood for drying, while maltsters in Stjørdal prefer alder. From the maltings we visited, three out of four fired the malt kiln with birch. One of these was actually Staffan Larsson’s malting machine. He produces several types of malts and can utilize various smoke sources. For gotlandsdricke malt, he uses birch.
One maltster used spruce as a drying wood. It was surprising that we had to ask again: Did you really say ‘spruce’? After all, we have been told to avoid conifers for smoking because of harsh turpentine flavors. When I tasted this malt, it had an intense and pleasant smoke flavor without any negative conifer flavors.
In Gotland, the loft-type malt kilns have been popular: the fireplace is downstairs, and the smoke is channeled through the malt bin upstairs. This gives the smoke time to slightly cool before reaching the malt. Two of the active maltings I saw were of this type. In Stjørdal, the malt kiln is basically a brick-walled square with a wood fire on the bottom and a malt layer on the top. I’m not sure if these kiln differences result in flavor differences, but the type of wood used for drying certainly makes a difference.
I saw the traditional malting procedure in practice when I visited farmhouse maltster and brewer Göran Winarve. He has a gorgeous two-storey farmhouse for malting and brewing. One malt batch takes 150 kg of barley to produce 130 kg of malt. Malt is wetted, germinated, and dried upstairs. The fireplace for drying is downstairs, from where the smoke is conveyed upstairs through the malt bed. The brewery room is downstairs as well.
I traveled home from Gotland with a sack of Göran Winarve’s malt and brewed gotlandsdricke with it. The smoke character was outstanding and clearly different from any commercial smoked malt I know. I have also brewed Norwegian stjørdalsøl with farmhouse malt from Stjørdal, and it was fascinating to compare these two great farmhouse malt types (by memory, I brewed these ales 6 years apart). The smoke intensity was stronger in my stjørdalsøl than in gotlandsdricke. I think Stjørdal’s malt had more smoke, but the reason might also be that the stjørdalsøl had higher gravity. The smoke character was clearly different, though not easy to describe. In my opinion, birch produces a spikier smoke flavor, perhaps closer to oak than to beech or alder. Alder imparts a wide range of flavors not found in beech-, oak-, or birch-smoked malts. In my experience, birch smoke gives a beer a drier taste than alder smoke.
Brewing With Sugar
Gotlandsdricke is often brewed with table sugar, which is a surprising part of the tradition. Why is sugar a brewing ingredient in Gotland but rarely used in other Nordic and Baltic farmhouse ales?
Before the trip, my theory was that ancient brewers of Gotland used honey, and later, sugar replaced honey. After all, remnants of honey-containing ales have been found in ancient Scandinavian graves.
I met eight traditional homebrewers in Gotland, and only one of them brewed without sugar, plus Ölverket Dundar Gotlandsdricka was an all-malt beer. The talks with brewers didn’t support my theory at all. None of the brewers used honey. They considered honey to be expensive and an uncommon ingredient. More likely, farmhouse brewers started using it because it was cheap and an easy way to make more beer, including stronger beer. Gotland’s traditional malt is so flavorful that the taste isn’t harmed by moderate amounts of sugar. Sugar beets have been grown in Gotland, making sugar a local ingredient. I also saw an old grandmother’s handwritten recipe that included sugar. The recipe is written for 80 liters of gotlandsdricke, but states that with more sugar the brew can be extended to 120 liters.
Surprises don’t end here. Gotland’s brewers use sugar both before and after fermentation. Before fermentation, sugar is used to increase the gravity and alcohol content. After the main fermentation, sugar is occasionally added to the fermenter to maintain slow fermentation in the cellar. According to the brewers, this residual fermentation prevents the ale from going sour. I’ll discuss this method further in the section on fermentation.
I have heard claims that Gotland’s brewers add sugar just before drinking to backsweeten it. None of the brewers I met in Gotland admitted to using sugar for this purpose. Nevertheless, even if sugar is added to the fermenter just to keep the yeast active, it can make the beer sweeter. In Gotland, I tasted one quite sweet dricke where I could sense the presence of sugar, but it wasn’t the most typical version.
Original Gravities and Proportions of Sugar
When we met farmhouse brewers in Gotland, we always asked how much sugar they used. The proportions varied a lot.
When I saw Göran Winarve brewing, he added two kilograms of sugar to 100 liters of hot wort. We measured the original gravity after adding sugar: 1.054. This allowed me to calculate that the gravity from the malt was 1.046, and the sugar contributed 11% of the wort’s gravity. This was the lowest sugar proportion, apart from one brewer who didn’t use any sugar.
Another valuable data point was a visit to an experienced, award-winning brewer who had just brewed and had saved two wort samples for us—one before and one after adding sugar. We couldn’t see the brewing, but we were able to measure wort gravities: 1.050 before and 1.067 after adding sugar. This means that 4.3 kg of sugar is needed for 100 liters, and sugar accounts for 24% of the original gravity. The malt bill consisted entirely of Gotlandsdricke malt, resulting in a wort that was firmly smoky and amber in color, even with the addition of sugar.
I also saw a gotlandsdricke brew day, where the original gravity before adding sugar was 1.040. The brewer admitted that he might have diluted the wort below the usual level while answering our intensive questions during the brew. Nevertheless, his typical gravity before adding sugar is likely to be in the range of 1.040–1.055. He said that he usually adds 6–8 kg of sugar for 50–70 liters of dricke. This means that around 30 % of the gravity comes from sugar. This is on the high side, but we also met another traditional brewer who uses about 1 kilogram of sugar per 10 liters of dricke.
The sugar amounts above do not include dosages for the cellared beer. One brewer said that when he brews 40 liters of dricke, he adds 1 kilogram of sugar to the hot wort and another 1 kilogram to the fermenter. The fermenter additions are done slowly, perhaps once a week, over several weeks of storage.
While sugar amounts were highly variable, malt amounts were more consistent. Göran Winarve brews 100 liters of dricke from 30 kg of his own gotlandsdricke malt. Another brewer said that he brews 50–70 liters of dricke from 15 kg of gotlandsdricke malt. One brewer said that he makes 40 liters of dricke from 10–15 kg of malt. The old grandmother’s recipe that I saw made 80 liters of dricke from 30 kg of malt.
Gotland’s traditional malt yields less sugar per kilogram than modern malt. My recipe for gotlandsdricke yields about 3 liters of beer from 1 kilogram of malt. That’s a fairly typical ratio in Gotland. However, since I achieve a higher yield from modern malt, I can forgo table sugar and still attain an original gravity of 1.066, which I like ideal for gotlandsdricke.
Juniper and Hops
Juniper grows everywhere on Gotland, and juniper branches are a typical and traditional ingredient of gotlandsdricke. Many brewers use large amounts of juniper branches, while some do not use juniper at all. Generally, juniper’s flavor is subtle, second to the beer’s smokiness and maltiness.
During my trip, I saw the traditional brewing process twice, and both times the brewers used surprisingly large amounts of juniper branches: in the mash filter and as a juniper infusion used as brewing water. The juniper flavor was extracted by boiling the branches and water in a pot. Interestingly, the beer didn’t acquire a sharp juniper taste.
Hops are also used, but their role is less prominent than juniper. Two gotlandsdrickes I tasted were slightly bitter, while others had only a very mild hop presence, primarily to aid in preservation rather than impart bitterness. Some of the brewers used homegrown hops.
Gotlandsdricke Brewday
While visiting Gotland, I attended two gotlandsdricke brewdays, and the brewing process was similar in both: juniper infusion was made the same way, mashing was pretty much the same, and the wort was brought to a brief boil. The amount of sugar was the most distinctive difference. When we interviewed Gotland’s other brewers, I started to notice a typical pattern of how gotlandsdricke is brewed today.
I’ll now briefly describe the brewday of Göran Winarve, which I view as a typical gotlandsdricke brewing process. I’ll comment on the brewing details and variations in the next section. Winarve’s typical batch is 100 liters, but when we visited him, he brewed a half-batch of 50 liters, because it wasn’t yet Yuletide brewtime. He measured the amount of malt and sugar, but I had to eyeball the amounts of juniper and hops.
Göran Winarve’s Gotlandsdricke for 50 Liters:
15 kg wood-smoke-dried barley malt
50 liters of juniper branches
0.5 liters of homegrown hops
1 kg of table sugar
Baker’s yeast (fresh compressed Kronjäst)
The following photo series describes the essential steps of brewing.
I had to leave before Winarve added yeast, but he described how the fermentation proceeds. I’ll describe this in the section on fermentation below.
Brewing Process Mysteries
The brewing process described above was surprising in many ways.
First, starting the mash with boiling juniper infusion? Aren’t we warned that temperatures above 78°C destroy the malt enzymes? I have tested the Gotland-style mash at home and I observed this: when only 1 liter of boiling juniper infusion per 1 kg of malt is used at the beginning, the mash temperature quickly drops to 63–65°C, and enzymes remain active. I even got a highly fermentable wort from this method. I suspect that boiling infusion releases malt starches efficiently, and then the temperature drops quickly enough to preserve even beta-amylase enzymes.
The second boiling infusion in the lauter tun probably destroys the enzymes, but by then the saccharification is complete. The thick mash is thoroughly mixed, but when the infusion is poured over the mash a second time, Gotland’s brewers don’t mix the mash. They don’t want to break the juniper branch filter, and they trust that the infusion will rinse out malt sugars even without mixing.
So, mashing with a boiling juniper infusion or water certainly works, but it’s not my favorite method because results may vary depending on the batch size and equipment. My gotlandsdricke recipe is written for a more conventional mashing and sparging scheme, which gives me better malt sugar extraction and more predictable fermentability.
When I tested Winarwe’s mashing method at home, I also made the juniper infusion by boiling, and I didn’t get solvent flavors. I have ideas why boiling the branches works. First, Winarve didn’t want to boil the branches for long: when the infusion started to boil, Winarve scooped the branches out. Possibly also skimming the dark scum when the wort approached boiling, removed some juniper resins. Another possible explanation is that boiling extracted juniper resins, but most resins remained in the spent mash. Perhaps juniper resins floated to the top of the mash and remained there during lautering without sparging. So, if you boil the branches and change the mashing or lautering, you might end up with a harsh solvent taste. That’s why I recommend avoiding the boil in my gotlandsdricke recipe.
Speaking of boiling, the wort was briefly boiled in both brewing sessions that I attended. Interviews with other brewers confirmed that a short boil is typical for dricke today, although some traditional brewers leave the wort unboiled. No doubt, in the past dricke was a boil-free raw ale. One traditional brewer said that he cheats by skipping the boil, unlike the experts. By experts he referred to other traditional brewers with more refined techniques. In my dricke recipe, I like to “cheat” too.
Fermenting Gotlandsdricka
Gotlandsdricke fermentation is typical for Nordic and Baltic farmhouse brewing, except for the late sugar additions. Gotlandsdricke brewer Tryggve Berling described his fermentation procedure excellently:
Add yeast when the wort is 32–35 °C. Let ferment for 2 days at a warm temperature, then move the ale to the fridge at 8–10 °C, where slow fermentation continues. After 8 days at cold, start feeding the ale with sugar occasionally.
Berling uses 1+1 kg of table sugar for a 40-liter batch. One kilogram is added before fermentation, and one kilogram during late fermentation. His dricke is at its best after two to three weeks. Other brewers reported similar fermentation procedures, albeit with different sugar ratios.
Most gotlandsdricke brewers ferment with Swedish KronJäst baker’s yeast, which is available both as fresh-compressed and dried. I was surprised by the high fermentation temperatures, because sahti brewers usually don’t use baker’s yeast above 25 °C. Warmer than that, Finnish fresh-compressed baker’s yeast (Suomen Hiiva) ferments explosively, producing excessive fermentation flavors. I guess Swedish baker’s yeast works better at higher temperatures. One brewer pitched at 37 °C, then moved the ale to the fridge after about 12 hours, when fermentation had started.
I didn’t ask how Berling packages his beer, but he probably takes beer from the fermenter for consumption. I saw two other brewers do it. Needless to say, the beer needs to be in a vessel that prevents pressure buildup or allows easy pressure release. I saw stainless steel kegs in two places.
In the recipe below, I describe both the traditional fermentation possibly ongoing in the cold, and a more modern version with complete fermentation at warm temperatures without sugar (except possibly for bottle-conditioning). Both versions give excellent yet different kinds of dricke.
Gotlandsdricke Recipe
The following recipe is my idea of an ideal gotlandsdricke. I won’t attempt to replicate what Gotlanders brew today. Instead, I try to imagine what dricke was before sugar, commercial baker’s yeast, and metal kettles. I have left out sugar, but I’ll give tips for experimenting with it. I prefer Norwegian kveik over baker’s yeast, but I also advise how to ferment with baker’s yeast. I like to skip the wort boil, but if desired, you can bring it to a boil—though I see no need for it.
I consider the firm smoke flavor the highlight of this beer. The recipe includes 50% smoked malt, but you can use less or more depending on your preferences. The standard commercial smoked malts are acceptable substitutes for the traditional Gotland malt, but if you can find malt smoked over birch or alder, that would be more authentic. In my opinion, oak-smoked malt is closer to Gotland-style malt than the standard beechwood-smoked malt. Swedish Humlegården homebrew shop has occasionally sold Gotland’s smoked malt. In the USA, Sugar Creek Malt produces traditional Nordic-style smoked malt, which would be excellent for this beer (they make both birch- and alder-smoked malts). You can also smoke the malt yourself, as I do when I brew dricke.
Since I’m not using sugar, the original gravity needs to be in the range of 1.065-1.070 to achieve the appropriate sweetness and fullness of a farmhouse feast beer. Then the alcohol content will fall nicely within the 6–7% ABV range, which I find perfect for this beer.
I prefer to ferment this beer with kveik that produces a malty beer without excessive fruity flavors. I prefer yeast with low to medium attenuation because it helps in achieving the desired sweetness. I usually ferment at traditional kveik temperatures of 30–40 °C. Nevertheless, any kind of kveik will work with fermentation conditions that favor more malt and sweetness, and less fruity or spicy flavors.
I provide two options for fermentation. The modern method involves complete fermentation, allowing packaging without concern about residual fermentation in bottles or kegs. In the traditional method, the ale is cellared soon after the main fermentation, and residual fermentation may continue in the cold storage. While the traditional method is what most Gotlanders use, I have also obtained good, traditionally tasting dricke using the modern method.
If you want to use baker’s yeast, I recommend traditional fermentation, as the lactic acid bacteria within it may start working as the yeast finishes and the ale is still warm. High fermentation temperatures of 30–35 °C appear to work well with Swedish baker’s yeast, but I would not ferment at such a high temperature with all brands of baker’s yeast. For example, above 25 °C, Finnish baker’s yeast (Suomen Hiiva) tends to ferment explosively with excessive fermentation flavors. For this reason, a lower temperature, such as 20–25 °C, might be safer when you start experimenting with baker’s yeast fermentations.
If you have access to juniper branches, I recommend using them because the flavor is fantastic and traditional for dricke. If you cannot get juniper branches, either brew without juniper or mimic its flavor with berries. However, juniper berries won’t fully replicate the more woody and needle-like flavor of the branches. For a delicate flavor, add 20 g of coarsely crushed berries (1 g per liter of beer) to the hot wort during lautering.
If you have homegrown hops, they would work excellently in this beer. For commercial hops, use ones with a mild bitterness of 3–5% alpha acids.
Gotlandsdricke Recipe for 20 Liters
Original gravity: 1.066
Final gravity: 1.016
Alcohol by volume: 6.6 %
IBU: 10
Ingredients:
3.0 kg Pilsner malt (50 %)
3.0 kg Smoked malt (50 %)
Bittering hops for 10 IBU
2–10 liters juniper branches (optional)
Kveik farmhouse yeast, or baker’s yeast
If you are using juniper branches, prepare a juniper infusion first: let the branches infuse in 60–80 ºC water for at least two hours. Use this infusion for mashing and sparging. Note: I usually make enough infusion for mashing and then top it up with water for sparging. For more details, see Brewing Techniques for Juniper, Spruce, Fir and Pine.
Prepare the hop tea by boiling the hops in a small amount of water for at least one hour. For additional info, see Raw Ale Brewing Techniques and Recipes.
Mash at 66–68°C (151–154°F) for at least one hour using either juniper infusion or hot water. When the hop tea has been boiled for an hour, dump it into the mash, including the liquid and hop solids.
Begin lautering and recirculate until the wort runs clear. Sparge with 75–80 °C water until you have collected 20 liters. Chill the wort to fermentation temperature, then ferment using either method below.
Modern fermentation: let ferment to completion. Bottle or keg soon, once most of the yeast has flocculated. Apply gentle carbonation similar to that of British cask-conditioned ale.
Traditional fermentation: When fermentation begins to calm, move the ale into the cold storage promptly. The warm fermentation usually takes only 1–2 days. At this point, there might be some residual fermentation bubbling away, but the beer should no longer taste cloying or unfermented. If you are unsure about the timing of this transfer, you can check whether the gravity is within the range of 1.024–1.016. Either rack the beer into containers before moving it to cold storage, or wait until most of the yeast has settled and then package it. With traditional fermentation, the beer may get some carbonation from residual fermentation in the cold, or it can be served uncarbonated. It’s also traditional to store the ale cold until drinking and occasionally check that the storage vessels aren’t building up too much pressure.
This beer is best consumed very fresh: I recommend serving it 2–3 weeks from brewing, as the Gotlanders do. Save some to see how the flavor evolves. I usually like this kind of ale best within two months.