I brewed two rough versions of this sahti recipe over the winter, the only difference each time being the yeast that I used (and any mistakes that I made). The first batch used Mangrove Jacks M42 ale yeast, the second used a sourdough starter made over the course of two weeks with Bioreal fresh organic yeast and some basic bread flour. Each one was clarified with fungal chitosan, although I can’t say I was particularly impressed with the results - it seems to have killed the ability to form a head without really clarifiying it much. Each also got a small amount of priming sugar in the bottle and at least a couple of weeks before drinking (save for a pint for me during the bottling process).

Appearance: Basically identical.

Process: The brewer’s version fermented for two weeks, the baker’s for one. I would have left it for the full two weeks, but it had clearly stopped any significant activity by that point.

Alcohol content: The brewer’s yeast went to about 5%, the baker’s to about 2%

Scent: The juniper is predominant in both, but significantly more present in the baker’s version.

Flavour: The situation with the scent is reversed here, surprisingly, and the brewer’s version has a much bigger presence of that fresh and resinous juniper. tasankovasara on this community described their own experience with baker’s yeast as being banana-like, which I think is a reasonable description. It’s not a powerful presence, but it’s definitely there.

Mouthfeel: I was surprised by how different this was. The baker’s one is far more astringent. Not unpleasantly so, by any means, but significantly more. Additionally, it has done far less with the priming sugar, having only the faintest hint of carbonation. I assume that was simply a case of the yeast not tolerating the level of alcohol and having virtually nothing left to work with on the sugar.

Overall it was a worthwhile experiment, but I think I will keep doing it the non-traditional way with brewer’s yeast. Sorry Finland. I promise not to do it in your country. I would be interested in trying out kveik yeast as a halfway point, though. I used an ale yeast simply because I wouldn’t have been able to keep the demijohns as the higher temperature that kveik wants, so that may have to be a summer project.