I’m happy, surprised and puzzled now - my first Latvian farmhouse beer. I didn’t even know those existed. As in Estonia it was “commercialy available” at a fair. This one I bought at the The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia (on the fair The 48th Latvian Folk Applied Arts FAIR
Tried a Google search and found some pages, but just in Latvian it seems…
Surprisingly smoky, reminds me of peat - some herbal notes too, not sure if it’s juniper? And fair amount of sweetness too - wonder if there is honey added too?
Well, just curious if anyone has any information - certainly interesting and quite brew - and rather different from anything I’ve tried before… 
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It would not supprise me if this is something @larsga knows the most about.
http://www.garshol.priv.no/download/lithuanian-beer-guide/book.pdf
Try that book, not read it myself yet, but heard good things about it.
Very cool find! There is still a living tradition of farmhouse ale in Latgale. I never heard of these guys before, but this sounds very much like real traditional Latvian farmhouse ale. The farmhouse ale in Latgale seems generally to be made with smoked home-made malts, and these guys seem to be in the right spot for that.
Peat seems very unlikely as a fuel. People seem only to have used that in places where there wasn’t enough wood, like Orkney, west Jutland, and way out on the Norwegian coastal islands. I know there is a guy in nearby Berzpils who uses alder, so that could be it. It has a very characteristic aroma, but hard to describe. Not like oak or beech at all, though not very like peat, either, to be fair.
They may have pasteurized the beer and then added honey. Some of the Lithuanian farmhouse breweries do that.
Thanks a lot for the tip, @nilsas! I need to take a closer look at this, and perhaps travel there.
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@SheltonBrothers
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Thanks! Just difficult to pinpoint the smokey notes - not the bonfire or bacon type at least, that’s for sure. The whole thing just took me by surprise. Much more interesting and tasty than expected. I just regret now that I didn’t take the kvass as well.
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What you call the bonfire/bacon type is probably beech. That’s what’s used in Schlenkerla, for example.
Interesting and tasty: anything made with traditional malts is likely to blow the ball out of the stadium. People who know how to malt well generally make fantastic beer.
And, yeah, I’m sure the kvass would have been really interesting, too. Far and away the best kvasses I’ve had are the traditional ones. The commercial stuff is almost like a parody.
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google connects ‘Kolnasata’ to Berzpils via these links:
http://www.celotajs.lv/lv/e/latgales_alus_kolnasata
Damn - I’d love to pop down there, cool find indeed.
Yeah, that looks like a really, really interesting place to visit. I didn’t realize before, but it’s the same guy: Dainis Rakstiņš. He even has his own farmhouse yeast (about which we know very little at the moment), so that should be a seriously interesting beer.
I just searched beer.reddit.com for something relevant and it turns out that’s the same larsga 
I’m also not familiar with Kolnasata but my best guess is that wood flavors will have been imparted by cask aging or even cask fermenting?
The high sweetness is typical and without it you’ll see that it’s actually somewhat sour rather than neutral. You can find something like that here https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/t257lavas-k275ni326a-p275rkona-vasara/305037/
The most well-known “farmhouse” (commercial) ale is probably https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/brengulu-alus-tumsais-dark/81637/ which is only unfined but you can find it on draught somewhat easily
Good luck!
Hello, I see this is a thread from almost 6 years ago, but I would like to answer some of the questions and provide some information.
This Sunday, Majas Alus Kolnasata will be at the Open Air Museum again for the market with a fluent English speaking person present.
I am a friend of this family for 8 years.
The wood used is Alder, as someone guessed. This is burnt in a traditional black sauna, with the heat and smoke rising through a mesh in the ceiling, in the loft space, the grain is placed on the mesh and moved around regularly to give even flavour and to dry the grain.
The yeast used is “recycled” so to speak as per tradition.
A particular variety of hop is used also, and has remained the same for many years.
It is approximately a 3-4 day process from smoking and drying the grain (2 days), with the beer fermenting in large wooden butt (big barrel with no top essentially) for another 2 days - the ABV is typically 5.7% and the beer really does have the most incredible smokey aroma.
Very few businesses produce beer using traditional methods in Latvia now, so we are proud to be one of the few remaining.
Being an “active” and unfiltered beer with artificial ingredients, the life of the beer is typically just a few weeks when stored in cool conditions. Where we are able to source electricity at events, the beer is poured via a tap which cools down the beer (as per any pub or bar you go to).
During April 1st to 3rd 2024 and June 5th until 26th 2024, we will have fluent English speaking family members available for those who do not speak Latvian, Latgalian or Russian, to be able to visit us and see how the beer is made, followed by tasting of the beer, some Latvian cheese and home made garlic breads. The cost is around 6 euros per person (typically a 30 minute tour and 30 minute tasting) but there is a minimum booking fee of around 30 euros (if under 5 people). Booking must be made in advance, we are not open for casual visitors unfortunately as we have livestock and local markets and events which may mean no one is available if you just turn up, but we can discuss days and times (sometimes with just 24 hours notice if it suits the diary).
It is approximately a 2.5 hour drive from Riga, however, we can recommend some places to visit so every 30 minutes or 1 hour in the region you can break up your day and maybe visit 4 or 5 places, by heading towards via Madona or Jekabpils to Rezekne, up towards Gulbene (passing us half way) and then back via Sigulda.
There is also the option for an additional fee to have home made soup from a “cauldron” over a fire.
The summer in June is the best time to visit, especially around the 15th to 20th, as we prepare and brew for the Jani and Ligo (mid-summer) celebrations on 23/24 June.
You can also purchase some beer to take away with you when you visit.
There is an accordion if anyone is able to play, as we encourage song and dance.
For young children (and adults), we usually have some sheep and lambs to feed if we are using the land at the time next to the property for them to graze.
Not sure I can add an email address here, but if you go to the Majas Alus Kolnasata Facebook, there is an email address there for English speakers which comes through to someone who can help with any questions you have!
Thanks!
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Only just seen this thread. As the person who originally entered this beer on Rate Beer (and made a mess of it !) I thought I’d better reply. @LoivbondPupil53 perhaps you could enter an official description of this beer. Add it to this thread B
https://community.ratebeer.com/t/beers-issues-reporting-please-post-here-for-modifications
with the reference to this beer
https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kolnasata-majas-alus/624667
and the Mods will (hopefully) do the rest.
If you do that, I’ll edit my original review to be what it should have been.
I see from my records that I drank the beer at Riga Beer Festival. It might be useful to know if there are any regular outlets for it (bottled) in Riga (e.g. Lauvas Alus, Alus Pasaule) ?
Other Latvian breweries who brew similar beers are Baudalus, Cesvaines, Ezerbruzis, Kraslava, Latgolys, Madonas and Brengulu – the latter 2 towards the more commercial end of the spectrum. [ I’ve not been to Latvia since 2019, so some of these breweries may no longer exist ]
Thanks for your reply. I shall look into doing that at some point in the near future!
Unfortunately, 95% of the events or markets they sell at are in the eastern third of the country, with Jekapils probably the furthest west they go to regularly (maybe once a month to a market of 200 or so stall holders outside DEPO - about 1 hour 40 drive from Riga)
Only really do they go as far as Riga 5 or 6 times a year for the open air museum or a beer festival.
Due to the beer needing to be stored in a basement or similar where it is cool all year round, and if not managed properly or sold from a barrel quick enough once tapped it can turn “sour”, we only sell by the glass at events or markets or fill bottles to take home and chill.
It’s not a beer that we can produce commercially in high enough volume in a traditional hand made way. As soon as you change methods or bring in equipment to increase production, the USP disappears, plus, we want to keep the recipe in the family as it is now the 4th generation (I think).
Although a 4 day process, 2 of those days require the beer to be attended to every 2-3 hours, so sleep can be deprived of, especially if one is away for the day selling somewhere, plus all the other tasks (land and animals, possibly tourists visiting).
There are many unfiltered beers available on tap and by bottle, but perhaps not using such methods to make it a “home beer” (Majas Alus). Cesvaines and Madonas are available all over the country on tap.
Customers regularly call to order for collection or to ask when the next batch will be ready, some order 20 litres or even a barrel regularly for family celebrations, and locals often just come and knock on the door in the hope someone is in, but if you do happen to be in Latvia, and want to try it and explore the country away from Riga, you can prearrange this, or you can always contact us to see if we happen to be going to Riga or elsewhere (even not for an event, but a family member or friend making a journey) so we can bring some beer to you.
But, I would definitely recommend Latgale for the summer celebrations - perhaps Balvi by the lake or Rezekne opposite GORS event centre - traditional music, dancing and more - plus people selling local and traditional produce. Don’t forget to make a wreath for your head!
Latgale also has a language (some say dialect) that Latvian speakers find difficult to understand, mostly spoken by the over 50’s, maybe some over 40’s. Latgalians can understand Latvian, though.
