In Norway the farmers brewed their own beer from the Stone Age up to around 1900, in some cases into the present. Traditional beer was a key part of Norwegian peasant life, and a necessary part of every social and religious ritual of any importance, literally from birth to grave.

Lars Marius Garshol discusses how central beer was to Norwegian peasant culture by showing how it was used for Christmas, births, weddings, funerals, and so on. It will also show how beer was literally regarded as holy, being used in ritual offerings, for baptizing children, and so on. Most of these customs are forgotten today, but they are richly documented in historical documents and Norwegian ethnographic literature and offer a glimpse into a world very different from our own. And yet in many ways recognizable.

Lars Marius Garshol is a Norwegian software engineer that travels the world to learn more about beer. Garshol spent ten years researching various aspects of brewing at remote farmhouses throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. He is the author of Larsblog, a blog devoted to sharing his discoveries and travels as he researches the lost art of brewing in northern Europe, Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing, and a book on Lithuanian beer. He lives with his wife and children in Rælingen, Norway.

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