Kentucky Common Yeast

[5mooth0perator]

Kentucky Common has been on my radar for a while as inspiration for my fermented root beers. Now that I have moved towards spunding and bacteria, I've sort of realized that the Kentucky common might be more relevant and a little more complex than I initially thought. A dark adjunct filled young highly carbonated low attenuated beer with a little lactic acid is very satisfying.

I wonder what a good yeast for the short turn around time 6-8 days would be? I initially thought they would have been using lager yeast like the California Common. They aren't letting it settle, so I don't know that it matters whether a lager yeast or ale yeast. I'm wondering if a low flocculating yeast might not work better?

 

[RPh_Guy]

From the BJCP:

"Modern characterizations of the style often mention a lactic sourness or sour mashing, but extensive brewing records from the larger breweries at the turn of the century have no indication of long acid rests, sour mashing, or extensive conditioning. This is likely a modern homebrewer invention, based on the supposition that since indigenous Bourbon distillers used a sour mash, beer brewers must also have used this process. No contemporaneous records indicate sour mashing or that the beer had a sour profile; rather the opposite, that the beer was brewed as an inexpensive, present-use ale. Enter soured versions in American Wild Ale ."

While off-style, for speed you can't beat kveik strains like Omega Hothead, Hornindal, or Voss.
(I just bottled a beer with Hornindal after only 3 days fermentation.)

I suppose any clean ale yeast would be appropriate.
Reducing fermentation time isn't difficult. Pitch a big starter of active yeast (and/or several rehydrated dry yeast packets), add nutrient, and oxygenate thoroughly. Keep temp toward the upper end of the recommended range.

Hope this helps

 

[5mooth0perator]

From the BJCP:

"Modern characterizations of the style often mention a lactic sourness or sour mashing, but extensive brewing records from the larger breweries at the turn of the century have no indication of long acid rests, sour mashing, or extensive conditioning. This is likely a modern homebrewer invention, based on the supposition that since indigenous Bourbon distillers used a sour mash, beer brewers must also have used this process. No contemporaneous records indicate sour mashing or that the beer had a sour profile; rather the opposite, that the beer was brewed as an inexpensive, present-use ale. Enter soured versions in American Wild Ale ."

While off-style, for speed you can't beat kveik strains like Omega Hothead, Hornindal, or Voss.
(I just bottled a beer with Hornindal after only 3 days fermentation.)

I suppose any clean ale yeast would be appropriate.
Reducing fermentation time isn't difficult. Pitch a big starter of active yeast (and/or several rehydrated dry yeast packets), add nutrient, and oxygenate thoroughly. Keep temp toward the upper end of the recommended range.

Hope this helps

I think it is odd that they would seem to think that it wouldn't be possible to brew a sour beer without extensive conditioning, I'm not familiar with BJCP, but seems clearly POV, especially that part about a biscuit flavor. I add bacteria to all of my brews and it adds a refreshing quality in about a week.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I could be wrong but I assumed they were listing sour and long conditioning separately (it was historically neither sour nor extensively conditioned).

I know sours can be quick. My most recent sour I bottled 3 days after brewing.

The BJCP (beer judge certification program) maintains the closest thing to a standard for beer styles.

 

[Miraculix]

If you are interested in Kentucky common, read this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/kiss-yer-cousin-rye-kentucky-common-ale.290419/

Revvy was one of the guys who rediscovered this style, there is loads of infos in the thread. The beer is btw. really nice, brewed it once myself.

 

[Hellbender1]

I brewed 4.5 gallons of Kentucky Common on the first of the month (OG 1.051), split it into thirds, and pitched the splits with WLP001 California ale, WLP080 Cream ale, and WLP810 San Fran lager. Fermented at 62-63F.

I thieved some samples a few days ago; the refractometer corrected gravities were 1.011 for the California and 1.012 for the other two. The California seemed to have a bit of stonefruit aroma to it. I'll bottle them this weekend and will do some blind taste tests once they're carbed up.

 

[5mooth0perator]

While I doubt they were using sour mashes,(maybe some bacteria in there) the short turn around time does make me wonder if maybe they were using distillers yeast: https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/bourbon/what-makes-whiskey-yeast/

 

[EaseTN]

I know sours can be quick. My most recent sour I bottled 3 days after brewing.

Pls tell me more. Details.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Pls tell me more. Details.

Kveik yeast is all the rage. I fermented with Omega Hornindal at 95°F with my Lacto blend pitched at 12 hours.
OG 1.049, FG 1.010. The beer is delicious.
Normal hot kveik fermentations typically finish in 18-36 hours. This one was a little slower for some reason, possibly because of the acidity.

I only mentioned it because of how fast these strains ferment and don't require additional conditioning.