Historically, every farmer in Voss would make their own beer. Every farmer had a dedicated brew house which resembles a Finnish savu sauna (smoke sauna). When the beer was ready on the fourth day the farmer and his neighbors would gather in the dark and smokey brew house to drink the uncarbonated, warm and yeasty beer. This gathering was typically a time for only the boys to gather.

Some farmers produced their own malt which would be dried in the sun during the summer or in a netted frame over an oven during the winter. Beer was brewed sever times a year for Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas.

Recipes were not exactly based on science but opinions were strong. For instance, twice the amount of hops were used in the summer time because of storage issues and potential spoilage. There however was no attention paid to the hops alpha acids in this calculation. Once thermometers became commonly used, each farmer had an almost religious belief in the temperatures used during the brewing process which would typically only vary by a degree or two between farmers.

Each farmer was obliged to brew his weight in beer which was a bit of a tax on heavier farmers.