Keg Carbing naturally Voss Kveik

[Closet Fermenter]

I have just transferred my Irish Dry Stout to my serving keg via closed transfer. My beer cooler is kinda full, but I could accommodate another keg in a pinch.
My original intention was to naturally carbonate with an addition of corn sugar, and allow it to carbonate naturally. I have already added the priming sugar to the keg through the gas post. Current weather has daytime highs in low 90°’s; nighttime lows in mid 70°’s.
I have a spunding valve, but gauge only reads to 15 psi. A carbonation calculator says 30 psi at 90°.
My cooler is set at 45° The calculator says 9 psi at 45°F.
My question is this; will 45° shut down the Voss Kveik, which works best at 95-104°? Also, what is the highest pressure I can use and expect the yeast to reliably be able to complete the job on the added sugar?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

My question is this; will 45° shut down the Voss Kveik, which works best at 95-104°? Also, what is the highest pressure I can use and expect the yeast to reliably be able to complete the job on the added sugar?

I have fermented Voss at 65F and it fermented like you might expect a vigorous ale yeast like Nottingham. 45F seems a bit low, but I am not sure what I would expect.

 

[mac_1103]

Current weather has daytime highs in low 90°’s; nighttime lows in mid 70°’s.

Is the keg going to condition outside? Do you have any temperature-controlled space available other than your cooler? If you added the right amount of priming sugar for the carbonation level you want, is there really any need to spund?

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Is the keg going to condition outside? Do you have any temperature-controlled space available other than your cooler? If you added the right amount of priming sugar for the carbonation level you want, is there really any need to spund?

No other possibility for temperature control. You may have hit the key point in asking about priming sugar. That makes sense to me, in that spunding is unnecessary. I could just let it go at ambient temperatures, put it in the cooler when I have the space, and set it for serving pressure then.
Thanks!

 

[easttex]

Some kveiks resist natural carbonation because they drop out of suspension. I can't remember if Voss is one. You could always pitch a pack of US-05 in with your sugar water to ensure carbonation.

Carbonating in the keg will work. But set the keg in a cool part of your house for best results. Keezer temps are a little chilly for ale yeasts.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Some kveiks resist natural carbonation because they drop out of suspension. I can't remember if Voss is one. You could always pitch a pack of US-05 in with your sugar water to ensure carbonation.

Carbonating in the keg will work. But set the keg in a cool part of your house for best results. Keezer temps are a little chilly for ale yeasts.

Thank you, sir! That’s good information, and a starting place for more research.
Call me weird; I brew my own beer, ferment my own wine, and roast my own coffee beans. I am sitting here watching my homegrown green beans cook in a cast iron pot on a wood fire in my backyard. But the funniest thing is your comment about the “cool spot in my house”. I am a born & raised Southerner who has forsworn air conditioning; it’s not natural and only empties my wallet in favor of the power company. There is no cool part of my house, unless you are standing next to me! .

 

[whattabrau]

"My" Voss kveik -- they're probably all a bit different depending on where you get them from, plus mine is several dry-cycles old by now -- outright refuses to ferment below mid-70s.

In the beginning I didn't have much luck keg conditioning with it, but that problem seems to have gone away.

One possible explanation is that the beer pH dropped below the comfort zone of the yeast. Alas, I don't have any measurements from those beers, so it's only speculation. These days I leave the kettle pH on the high end (>=5.6) for Voss kveik, and the beer pH still drops to where it needs to be (I don't make high-octane beers, so there is significantly less buffering from malts as opposed to in a traditional beer).

The other possible explanation is that during some harvest cycle I managed to select and propagate cells less prone to flocculating.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

This is a first run with a dry yeast pack. After the transfer to the keg and the priming sugar addition, I put 5 psi on the keg just to keep the lid tight. Overnight, it has built up to 7 psi. It’s also at a temperature about 10° cooler than when it was kegged, so 7 may not be a total indication of how much it has already done.
I just locked the spunding valve all the way down, and am using it as a pressure gauge until it maxes out the dial, which won’t take too long.
Worst case is that I will eventually have to force carb if the yeast doesn’t cooperate, and I will have a beer with a little extra sugar. It wouldn’t be the worst beer I ever drank.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[whattabrau]

Worst case is that I will eventually have to force carb if the yeast doesn’t cooperate, and I will have a beer with a little extra sugar. It wouldn’t be the worst beer I ever drank.

Sugar is sweet compared to maltose, and even a few g/L unfermented priming sugar will stand out. Granted, I use table sugar, and maybe corn sugar is not quite as bad (has a lower relative sweetness), but it might still stand out as weird sweetness.

You could toss some champagne yeast in there, if you don't want to risk it. If you're worried about O2, spunding is a very very efficient way to clear the headspace of any O2 (you lose a bit of carbonation that way, but if you do it the right amount, not a significant amount of carbonation). Just remember that if you're using granular yeast, re-seal the lid in a hurry or risk a volcano.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

H

Sugar is sweet compared to maltose, and even a few g/L unfermented priming sugar will stand out. Granted, I use table sugar, and maybe corn sugar is not quite as bad (has a lower relative sweetness), but it might still stand out as weird sweetness.

You could toss some champagne yeast in there, if you don't want to risk it. If you're worried about O2, spunding is a very very efficient way to clear the headspace of any O2 (you lose a bit of carbonation that way, but if you do it the right amount, not a significant amount of carbonation). Just remember that if you're using granular yeast, re-seal the lid in a hurry or risk a volcano.

Hey, thanks for that. I really am not a fan of “sweet”, unless we’re talking about the ladies. No sugar in my coffee; no sugar in my tea, and no sugar in my slaw or cornbread. However, I am not a big fan of dry wine. Don’t want a syrupy wine, but a nice fruity flavor is good.

If it turns out that this has too much sweetness for me, I will definitely take your advice and add a yeast to finish it out.
Thanks!

 

[whattabrau]

However, I am not a big fan of dry wine. Don’t want a syrupy wine, but a nice fruity flavor is good.

Usually, if adding sugar brings out the fruitiness of a wine, the wine needs more age. That said, the wine may go south before the fruitiness comes out without sugar.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Usually, if adding sugar brings out the fruitiness of a wine, the wine needs more age. That said, the wine may go south before the fruitiness comes out without sugar.

I don’t add sugar to my wine, other than adding enough pre-fermentation to shoot for a 12% ABV. I only tried once to back sweeten a wine that went very dry, and I really didn’t get the best results. I agree, aging helps, but I tend to be impatient. It’s easier to learn to appreciate a wider variety of tastes.

 

[whattabrau]

I don’t add sugar to my wine, other than adding enough pre-fermentation to shoot for a 12% ABV. I only tried once to back sweeten a wine that went very dry, and I really didn’t get the best results. I agree, aging helps, but I tend to be impatient. It’s easier to learn to appreciate a wider variety of tastes.

There is no such thing as impatience. There is only making too little wine ;-)

All wine should finish dry (FG < 1.000) unless you halt it on purpose e.g. due to very high acid or something like that, but even then I prefer to neutralize the acid instead of leaving/adding sugar. But that's just my taste. I find even some coffees (just beans and water) to be borderline undrinkably sweet.