Belgian Quad with Voss Kveik???

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luckybeagle

Making sales and brewing ales.
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I just finished a Golden Strong Ale grist with Loki Kveik, fermented at 92F and it is easily among the top 5 tastiest beers I've ever brewed. I went grain-to-glass in exactly 5 days in an attempt to see if a tasty, high gravity beer (1081 OG) can truly be made in such short time. It actually can! I'm excited to see how this one changes over the coming weeks at cold temps. Still very hazy, of course.

Now, I'm gearing up for my next Kveik experiment, and am considering two different beers:

1. English Barleywine - I brewed this traditionally with Nottingham Dry about a month ago and am bulk aging at the moment. I could copy this exact grist and see how they compare immediately--and in 6 months, which might be fun.

2. Belgian Quadrupel - Easily my favorite beer style of all time. Just not sure how appropriate this style is for a yeast that throws off these pineapple/orange flavors.

Has anyone brewed a quad/belgian ale utilizing darki candi with Kveik? Think it'll make a muddled mess or something tasty, balanced and dry? FWIW I achieved 85% attenuation on this one, and used 1.5# of table sugar.

Thoughts????

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I have not brewed any Belgians with Kveik strains. I don't think it would actually ever have occured to me, because AFAIK all of the Kveik strains are POF-, so they won't produce phenols typical of many Belgian styles. That said, I don't doubt it could make tasty "quasi" Belgian beers, but without the phenol components.
 
I have not brewed any Belgians with Kveik strains. I don't think it would actually ever have occured to me, because AFAIK all of the Kveik strains are POF-, so they won't produce phenols typical of many Belgian styles. That said, I don't doubt it could make tasty "quasi" Belgian beers, but without the phenol components.
Good point. Though I mostly avoid it in my traditional Belgians, maybe this is a good beer to “spice” in the BK to try and work in some of those phenolic characteristics?

I think I’ll give it a go. Not entering any competitions and just want something dark, dry and strong to accompany our clear, temperate nights. I’ll post in here once I get it going
 
I had an idea this morning as I was plugging my ingredients into Brewtarget....

What if one were to brew a Quadrupel and pitch a blend of Kveik AND a traditional Belgian yeast (like WY3787 Trappist High Gravity or WY3522 Ardennes)? If it's pitched and held in the low 60's in a fermentation chamber for 1-2 days, then warmed it up to stimulate the Kveik, it theoretically shouldn't throw fusels or weird off flavors from the Belgian yeast, but should get the speed and ester profile of the Kveik, right?

Maybe that's a bad idea, but I thought I'd put it out there to see if anyone has opinions on that.
 
What are you hoping to get from the kveik if blended with a Belgian strain? A faster finish? I would be inclined to try straight kveik first and see how the quad turns out.

I agree, I should just see what it produces without spicing or yeast mixing/weird fermentation schedules--to establish some base flavors that I can build on later. Here's what I'm thinking for the BDS:

(Pannepot Gran Reserva recipe from Candisyrup)
OG: 1.100 (75% brewhouse efficiency)
FG: 1.020 (80% attenuation - my last batch attenuated 85%, so I'm a little worried about finishing too dry, if there is such a thing?)
IBU: 39

Mash profile:
124F for 20 minutes
155F for 60 minutes
170F for 15 minutes

14# Pilsner
0.75# Carafa III
1# Caramunich II
2# Torrified Wheat
1# D-180
1# Table Sugar

Whatever I have on-hand for bittering at 60
Hallertau Mittlefrau at 30 minutes

It's not a very simple grist, but it only calls for 1# (and one type) of candisyrup, which is expensive and somewhat hard to find locally.
 
Any particular reason for this rest?
No, not really :p It's just what Candisyrup was suggesting. But I did hear a beersmith podcast more recently saying that these low rests can be a waste of time. Maybe I should swap it out for a 75 minute mash at 149, followed by a mashout (my standard Belgian mashing schedule). I like being able to do step mashes, but frankly they stress me out and take too long. Think this will fly?
 
No, not really :p It's just what Candisyrup was suggesting. But I did hear a beersmith podcast more recently saying that these low rests can be a waste of time. Maybe I should swap it out for a 75 minute mash at 149, followed by a mashout (my standard Belgian mashing schedule). I like being able to do step mashes, but frankly they stress me out and take too long. Think this will fly?

They probably put that 124F (protein) rest there because of the 2 pounds of torrified wheat. But IMO 2 pounds in this recipe doesn't really justify a protein rest, because the well modified pilsner malt doesn't need it and it could possibly harm foam retention.
 
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It's not a very simple grist, but it only calls for 1# (and one type) of candisyrup, which is expensive and somewhat hard to find locally.

Have you tried alternatives to Candi syrup? There was a time when it wasn't available to Homebrewers. In BLAM, they recommend all different kinds of sugars, and in Radical Brewing, Randy Mosher dedicated a lot of space to alternative sugars. I like Piloncillo, but it's easy to come by in my town where we have a sizable Hispanic population. It gives a nice rummy flavor, a bit more complex than other simple sugars, but still not D-180.
 
Thanks all!

InspectorJon, I swore off making candisyrup/candisugar around this time last year after a huge, sticky mess and a pretty crappy Dubbel. I was basically just making carmelized sugar before. However, with lockdown and my ingredient pantry now featuring some DAP, I decided to give it a go again after seeing your post, and made two pounds of the 290F. WOW! Super good! I get a lot of rum and raisiny flavors--just as the description says. I filled a quart sized mason jar with the stuff, so I'm guessing that, even though it weighs more than 2 lbs with the water content, I should plug it into my recipe designer as 2 pounds of table sugar for calculating OG, and just manually adjust the lovibond to.... not exactly sure.
 
I was going to suggest making your own syrups. I've done it a couple of times, the 290 was my favorite too. "Bowl full of cherries" is an accurate description of the aroma and flavor I got. Cheap, easy and fun to make.
 
Right on Jayjay. I'm excited. That sounds like a winning flavor for the style!

I tweaked my recipe and am considering this instead of the Pannepot-esque clone:

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For the Sugar adjunct, I plugged in 2 lbs (though it'll be more by weight due to water absorption in the syrup). I'm estimating 90L for that, and manually entered it, and upped the beer's SRM via Midnight Wheat to hit that Westvleteren dark chestnut color of ~36 SRM. I also added in some Aromatic and Special B since I think they're both nice and have produced tasty Dubbels and Quads for me in the past.

I think I'd aim for low-mid 80's for fermentation temperature on this one--I don't want the noticeable pineapple flavors that my Kveik Strong Ale had to overpower the character malts and sugar, but I do want it to finish fast, clean, and without alcohol burn--which I now know this yeast can do.

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(check out this pretty grain-to-glass "Belgian" Golden Strong ale--brewed 6 days ago, burst carb'd and tasting incredible...!)

I've got about 12 oz dense Kveik slurry that I might pitch a little heavy to also (hopefully) avoid overboard esters. What do you guys think about this gameplan and recipe?
 
Right on Jayjay. I'm excited. That sounds like a winning flavor for the style!

I tweaked my recipe and am considering this instead of the Pannepot-esque clone:

View attachment 682935

For the Sugar adjunct, I plugged in 2 lbs (though it'll be more by weight due to water absorption in the syrup). I'm estimating 90L for that, and manually entered it, and upped the beer's SRM via Midnight Wheat to hit that Westvleteren dark chestnut color of ~36 SRM. I also added in some Aromatic and Special B since I think they're both nice and have produced tasty Dubbels and Quads for me in the past.

I think I'd aim for low-mid 80's for fermentation temperature on this one--I don't want the noticeable pineapple flavors that my Kveik Strong Ale had to overpower the character malts and sugar, but I do want it to finish fast, clean, and without alcohol burn--which I now know this yeast can do.

View attachment 682936
(check out this pretty grain-to-glass "Belgian" Golden Strong ale--brewed 6 days ago, burst carb'd and tasting incredible...!)

I've got about 12 oz dense Kveik slurry that I might pitch a little heavy to also (hopefully) avoid overboard esters. What do you guys think about this gameplan and recipe?
Oh hey, can you share that golden strong recipe? I'd love to have that on tap! I'm a big fan of kveik for stouts and IPAs, havent tried it yet in a Belgian.
 
Oh hey, can you share that golden strong recipe? I'd love to have that on tap! I'm a big fan of kveik for stouts and IPAs, havent tried it yet in a Belgian.


Here you go! It's a simple one--I'll just include my brew notes for the day in case it is helpful:

Technicals - 5.5g batch
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.013 - Attenuation ~85%
ABV: 8.9%
SRM: 4.6
IBU: 33.8
BU:GU ratio: 0.42

Ingredients:
75% Brewhouse Efficiency
90% Floor malted Bohemian Pilsner (14.00 LBS)
10% Table sugar, added during lauter (1.5 LBS)
31 IBU worth of Nugget at 60 min
2.6 IBU worth of Styrian Golding at 15 min

Process
Single infusion mash at 149F for 75 min
Mash out at 170F for 15 min
90 Minute Boil

Fermentation and Packaging:
Chilled to 85F and pitched a 1200 mL starter of Imperial Yeast Loki Kveik at high krausen (approx 8 hours after building starter)
Held at 85F for 24 hours followed by quick rise to 92F.
Reached FG in ~60 hours, crashed at 72 hours post-pitch.
Burst carbonated at 45psi for 12 hours, reduced to serving pressure


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Really digging this beer!!

Do you think you'll need the Special B? Using it with the syrup may give you too much of the raisin/plum flavor.
Hmm, good point. I will have to taste my syrup again now that it has cooled down. I don't recall getting any plum from it yesterday during the taste tests, but since I am using about 2 lbs in it, I could play it safe and leave the special B out. I'll post up the final decision here once I get back from the LHBS--hoping to make the run today or tomorrow.
 
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Brewed it yesterday! Here's the rundown:

Technicals - 5.25g batch
OG: 1.081
FG: 1.013 - Attenuation ~85% (ESTIMATE)
ABV: 9.03% (ESTIMATE)
SRM: 30.8 (ESTIMATE, not exactly sure the color of the homemade candisyrup)
IBU: 32.2
BU:GU ratio: 0.40 - Slightly malty

Ingredients:
80% Efficiency (woot)
81% Weyermann German Pilsner (12.00 LBS)
10% Homemade "D90" Candi sugar, at 30 minutes (1.5 LBS)
5% Aromatic Malt (3/4 LB)
3% Midnight Wheat (1/2 LB)
26 IBU worth of Nugget at 60 min
6.5 IBU worth of Hallertau Mittelfruh at 30 minutes

Process
Single infusion mash at 149F for 75 min
Mash out at 170F for 15 min
90 Minute Boil
Chilled to 82F and pitched 3 oz thin slurry of Imperial Yeast Loki Kveik (Voss)
Fermentation room set to 80F. Beer temp unknown

Pictures, because who doesn't like pictures of brewday?
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Heating strike water to 162F for a 149F target

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Mashing via HERMS at 149F

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Blichmann 32ft HERMS coil doing its thing

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Mash-out for 15 minutes


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Weighing out the Nugget 60 minute addition


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Waiting on the 45 minute fly sparge


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Before minor temperature correction (actual is 1.053 pre-boil, pre-sugar)


Didn't take any boil pictures, but here's the goods in a 6.5G carboy after aeration:

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Yesterday was one of those brew days that you always hope for--minimal mess, hitting all numbers and no surprises. It helps tremendously when you don't have to scrub out a carboy or run PBW through the plate chiller when you're trying to simultaneously brew! A little extra care and planning goes a long way given the sheer number of variables that one has to control for on brew day.

I'm 17 hours post-pitch right now and am at this point in fermentation:

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Kveik is absolutely nuts. ALWAYS use a blow off tube! You can't really see it, but this carboy is fitted with a 1 1/2" vinyl tube jammed into the neck of the carboy.

Will post up my results! Going to keg half and bottle condition the other half.
 

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Update: This one is going much more slowly than the first Kveik Golden Strong. As of yesterday, I was at 1.032 @ 80F, which is only about 61% apparent attenuation. If I'm able to match my NGS (Norwegian Golden Strong) attenuation percentage, I should finish around 1.013, which would be awesome.

Airlock activity had slowed down to 1 bubble per 10 seconds or so, so I took my wine thief and tried to rouse the yeast up from the bottom of the carboy. I also bumped the space heater up to 90F. I'm not sure if it helped much, but I am now seeing a bubble every 6 seconds through the airlock. Could simply be CO2 leaving the beer as it warms, or maybe it did help ramp up fermentation a bit. Time will tell.

I'm trying to keep the wine thief out of it (I am perpetually afraid of infection), but it's hard. in all honesty I'll probably take another gravity sample tonight. My logic is, if the yeast works at a 2x or 3x pace over standard ale yeasts, then one day is like 3 days, right? :p

Even at 1.032, though, the taste is very interesting and pleasant. The rummy notes from the DIY candisyrup are becoming apparent, and actually mesh well with the yeast-driven berry/fruit flavors. If this one dries out properly, I think it'll be very delicious.
 
Second update: Just checked it. Flavor is unchanged from yesterday. Gravity is now 1.030, so it's moving albeit extremely slowly for Kveik. Temperature is 90F. Wondering if I should just leave it alone, pitch a highly aerated "starter" of kveik (I have some slurry left in the fridge that I could throw on a small 800ml stirplate or something), or just leave it alone like I would any other beer?

I'm thinking the root cause of this sluggish fermentation (again, by kveik standards) is my very light pitch of about 4 oz thin slurry left over from a 1.080 ale--no starter, 1 week old, straight from the fridge. My first beer received a 1200ml fresh starter pitched at high krausen--maybe those fresh yeasties were ready to rip through fermentation more than this tired, light slurry.
 
Here you go! It's a simple one--I'll just include my brew notes for the day in case it is helpful:


View attachment 682953

Really digging this beer!!


Hmm, good point. I will have to taste my syrup again now that it has cooled down. I don't recall getting any plum from it yesterday during the taste tests, but since I am using about 2 lbs in it, I could play it safe and leave the special B out. I'll post up the final decision here once I get back from the LHBS--hoping to make the run today or tomorrow.

I am going to need some tasting notes from this one!
 
I am going to need some tasting notes from this one!

I can give you a few! Not following any BJCP description format, just sharing my impressions:

Overall this beer has greatly exceeded my expectations. At a little over a week in the keg, it has become refined and extremely easy-drinking. Tons of flavor still, but it melds together better now than when it was freshly kegged. Pineapple and berry dominate, with some background tropical flavors. Carbonation is on the higher end, and I think the subtle sharpness really helps this beer taste refreshing and takes it out of "juice" territory. The mouthfeel is substantial (e.g. not thin), but not at all heavy. Gives a nice impression of sweetness without being cloying at all. If I didn't know this beer was ~9% ABV, I would easily crush two pints and regret it. No fusel alcohols, no peppery phenols.

The only adjustment I plan to make next time is to use less lactic acid to bring the pH down during the mash. I've read that kveik naturally buffers the pH of beer lower than standard ale yeasts in fermentation, which can drift a beer into sour territory with less effort. It has the lightest, slightest twang.

I will be ecstatic if I can replicate these results. I don't think that'd be difficult--it's practically a SMASH recipe with single infusion mash and a yeast that is not finicky re: pitch rates. My wife and I agreed last night that this needs to be my "house beer." It's so approachable and fast to turn around (grain to glass in 5 or 6 days, hitting its stride beautifully on day 13). I might attempt a slightly lower gravity version next time whilst keeping the BU:GU ratio in check.
-------------

I just bought ingredients for a 10 gallon batch of an Irish Red Ale today. I'll also be brewing this one with Kveik (Loki). 5 for me, 5 for my dad (Father's day gift). Maybe if I can blast through this one quickly enough, I'll put some on tap down at the office. I now serve three masters: my office, my parents, and my own taste buds--with preferential treatment going to my office seeing as they bought a kegerator AND surprised me with this canvas above it:

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Since I'm now pretty much on the hook to keep my colleagues well-lubricated, I'm finding so far that Kveik is perfect for this demand and my small-scale equipment (15g kettles). It doesn't tie up my fermentation chamber as I've been just putting the carboys in a small room upstairs with a space heater set to 90F.

I'll update shortly on the QUAD and anticipate brewing the IRA tomorrow, which I'll also document here. "Fun with Kveik" should've been the name of this thread!
 
I’m surprised with the amount of simple sugars in the Quad that it’s still at 1.030. If it doesn’t get much lower and is too sweet, you could consider pitching some saison yeast or something with high attenuation. Or just add more kveik I suppose.
 
I’m surprised with the amount of simple sugars in the Quad that it’s still at 1.030. If it doesn’t get much lower and is too sweet, you could consider pitching some saison yeast or something with high attenuation. Or just add more kveik I suppose.

I was surprised, too--especially with how long it took to get to 1030 from 1081. The Strong Ale (also 1.080) got about 85% attenuation and finished up at about 1.012 - 1.014 (can't remember exactly, will have to check my notes). I suppose I could get less attenuation given the 3% midnight wheat and 5% aromatic malt in the grist. Good idea on the saison or kveik addition, but since my last post I've been checking and tasting it every 48 or so hours. It has been steadily ticking down after I gave the yeast a good rousing with my wine thief and bumped the temperatures back up to the 90's from the low 80's.

Day 1: 1.081
Day 6: 1.030
Day 8: 1.022
Day 10: 1.018
Day 12: **Will check today**

As of day 10 it tasted a little too sweet to me at 1.018, so I'm really hoping the yeast has a little magic left in it. But it's also weird tasting 85 degree flat beer, so carbonation might help cut through that berry sweetness I perceive. I'd really like to see it around the 1014 range, but asking it to dry out like some of the Belgian yeasts can do might be a tall order for Kveik. We'll see!

I'm also going to crash and fine this one, which I didn't do with the Strong Ale. My experience with kveik is limited to these three experiments so far, but it seems like there's a lot more slurry/yeast sediment produced with this kveik yeast, and this particular strain doesn't drop totally clear. The Strong is still a little hazy but seems to be developing a cleaner flavor profile as it conditions at kegerator temps--not sure if that's from additional yeast dropping out, or other conditioning/aging processes. Might be in my head, but it seems like some of the sweetness and pineapple-forward flavors have retreated to the background, which is a nice improvement over its very young taste, IMO.

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Here's the Kveik Red Ale (Irish Red recipe) I brewed on Wednesday:

Technicals - 10.50g batch

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.013 (estimate at 78% attenuation)
ABV: 6.1% (ESTIMATE)
SRM: 19.8
IBU: 25
BU:GU ratio: 0.44 - Balanced

Ingredients:
85% Efficiency (woot woot)
85% Maris Otter (19.00 LBS)
5% Crystal 120 (1 LB)
5% Crystal 40 (1 LB)
5% Chocolate Malt (1 LB)

25 IBU worth of Nugget at 60 min

Process
Single infusion mash at ~153F for 60 min
Mash out at 170F for 15 min
60 Minute Boil
Chilled to 85F and pitched 1600mL Loki Kveik starter made from slurry (left over from Golden Strong Ale) - I used ~800ml per carboy.
Fermentation room set to 90F. Beer temp unknown

I used much less Lactic acid this time. Hopefully that results in less twang--can't tell if that's the yeast, or the low finishing pH of the beer, aided by having a low sweet wort pH--Kveik supposedly buffers the finished beer down lower than standard ale yeasts.

Here are some pics of brewday:

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Filling up the mash tun to dough in at 1.25 qt/lb

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Recirculating mash through HERMS coil

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Nice and clear sweet wort after just 15 minutes--some slight mounding in the middle. I stirred it up good a few times before mashout and reduced the flow after seeing this.

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Fly sparging to 12 gallons preboil


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Playing around in brewtarget while waiting for the sparge to complete. I sure miss the speed of batch sparging!

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My toddler daughter said "That's too very full! Don't make a mess!" LOL

Overall it was a great brew day. I heard Gary Glass on the most recent Beersmith podcast (link here) talk about his Kveik expermentations. One of the things he notes is how much less water and time it takes when chilling the wort down to pitching temps. I agree 100%--I feel very wasteful blasting water through my plate chiller for 20+ minutes to get to low ale pitching temps, so it's nice to run the wort through at about a gallon a minute and be done quickly.
 
First pour and tastings of the Kveik Quad:


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It's probably not fair to critique it so early (literally racked from the carboy this afternoon and crank-n-shaked at 25psi a few times), but I'm going to drink some anyway. In the name of science. Yeah... science.

Aroma:

Not much. A little berry fruit, but not very strong. Maybe some subtle molasses smells from the candisyrup? Intensified as it warmed up.

Appearance:

Tan head that quickly dissipates to a thin cap. Maybe it will retain more foam once it's properly carbonated, but the alcohol content might hinder that at 9%+. The midnight wheat malt might help some, and/or promote lacing on the glass, but not much yet.

Flavor:

Kind of hard to describe. Stone fruit? It has some subtle alcohol warmth and perfumey esters. It also has some of that Kveik tang that I thought was due to lactic acid in my Golden Strong. I used much less lactic acid in my Kveik Red Ale, and tonight's sample of that beer yielded much less of this fruit/sour twang. The chocolate and crystal malts of that one really overshadowed the heavy ester profile of the Voss.

Still, as the quad has warmed up it is presenting itself as pretty drinkable. I wish the candsugar I made for it showed up in a bigger way. It did dry out pretty nicely. More on that in the mouthfeel section.

Mouthfeel: Sides of my tongue get a nice tingle after each sip. For being rapidly carbonated, it does have a light and dry mouthfeel despite its interesting and bold flavors, which I like in a Quad. Tongue dries out quickly and is left with a slight jolly rancher/sourpatch kids aftertaste. This sourness I don't like so much.

Overall Impression: It's a quad, albeit one that is completely absent of the traditional phenolic elements. Some pepper/spice would probably keep the esters in check, and maybe balance out the acidic/sour essences. Or it might further muddle this beer. I hate sour beers, don't like ciders, sour candies, etc, so any beer that has those tastes is hard for me to get in to. This one has just enough of those flavors to start to distract me, and makes me not want to pour a second glass.

Also, after reviewing the grist, I'm realizing I'm relying on the dark candi sugar and a small touch of Aromatic to make it a quad--there's not a ton to differentiate it from my Golden Strong. Normally the traditional Belgian yeast would be doing the heavy lifting here, but since the Loki is its own beast I think it really needs a wider variety of darker malts, OR to be fermented cooler, or both. I know simple grists are common in Belgium, but with just how unique and un-Belgian this yeast is, the recipe needs more specialty malts to make up for what the Voss does and doesn't bring to the table. It's too easy for the Voss profile to make its way to the center stage when not much else in the grist contributes bold flavors.

I also have to remember that this beer was brewed exactly 14 days ago, and is over 9% ABV. Even though it doesn't really have "off flavors" from fermenting warm, it may still take time for the complex flavors from the candisyrup and the aromatic malt to come together. There's a lot going on in this beer. Probably also a lot of yeasties that need to drop out still (despite a 48 hr cold crash). Best way I can describe it is that it's like 4 or 5 talented musicians all perfectly playing their favorite songs on their respective instruments at once. When I taste for one individual flavor, I can tell most of them are good, but they really need to play together to make for an enjoyable experience. I think/hope time can bring this beer to that point.

Anyway, if you read this rambling description of a very green and totally unconventional beer, kudos to you. I'll pour a glass in about a week and report back on any significant changes.
 
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Also, after reviewing the grist, I'm realizing I'm relying on the dark candi sugar and a small touch of Aromatic to make it a quad--there's not a ton to differentiate it from my Golden Strong.

If the candi sugar doesn’t have much flavor, you likely need to add some combination of Special B, darker crystal or even chocolate malt to get The flavors you’re looking for In a dark strong ale.

Thanks for the review, and I look forward to see how it is after a few weeks.
 
I brew Dubbel with Mangrove Jack M29 on 30'C (86F) and beer is super.

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I think that M29 is good yeast for all Belgian ale beers.
 
I fell a little behind on this thread!

Just wanted to post a quick update. With Voss Kveik, I've now brewed the following beers:
  • Belgian Golden Strong Ale
  • Belgian Dark Strong Ale
  • Kolsch
  • Irish Red Ale
  • Belgian Blonde Ale
(origins in "quotes" since they are not true to style other than the grist)

My opinions:

Golden Strong - Amazing. One of the tastiest beers I've brewed to date. No late hop additions, just a simple, simple SMASH recipe and a hot ferment.
Dark Strong - Fairly tasty. Special B as mentioned above would probably enhanced this beer. Not sure if it was the lactic acid or the Kveik influence, but it has a bit of sour twang.
Kolsch - Drinkable, clean, kind of boring. Fermented at room temperature and put on tap down at my office. Doesn't taste like a Kolsch, but rather a light lager/summer beer. 7out of 10.
Irish Red Ale - Malty, slightly chocolatey. Initially like an Irish Red, though that changed. Very good fresh but got twangy with time and was remarkably different toward the end of the keg. 80F fermentation. I was glad it blew when it was done.
Belgian Blonde Ale - Fermented as hot as possible (95F+). Thin, boring. At times I hate this beer. At other times I realize it's the only thing I have to drink and it's better than nothing. The thinness is likely due to the 1lb of table sugar and the low OG from the grains made it bland. Not a lot of flavor from the malt due to its low makeup. Not a lot going on in this beer, and it shows. Bland. Would probably be much better with 30% more of every grain used, but then it would start getting into Tripel/golden strong territory, and I was hoping for something more sessionable. Oh well.

Take-aways: I'm hanging up my Kveik hat for a while. I fermented half the Kolsch batch with a traditional German Ale strain (Wy1007) and the other half with Loki Kveik. The traditional one took longer but was one of the best, most professional tasting beers I've ever produced. It went FAST. The Golden Strong was the star of this experiment, and the Belgian Blonde was garbage. As others have said, this yeast thrives with high OG beers. I've saved some and am still interested in doing a big barleywine with 100% Maris Otter base and a 70s fermentation temp schedule. I am no longer interested in using it to ferment 1.070 or under beers, though.

My dog has the right impression of the Blonde Ale.

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Nice write up. I just got done complaining about the pseudo- Helles I brewed with Oslo Kveik. I brewed the same beer with lager yeast this spring and it was amazing. This beer with Kveik is a boring pale ale. I'm not surprised it's different, but surprised it's so different. I think write-ups like yours (and to a lesser extent, my experience) are incredibly valuable to the brewing community.

I'm glad Kveik is out there for some, but it's not for me.
 
Thanks for the follow up! It's interesting to me that the golden strong was so good and the blond was not. They are very similar styles, with the main difference being the alcohol content.
 
Well I'm back at it.

In the fermentation chamber I've got a traditional Chimay Grande Reserve hogging up the space for the foreseeable future. Nothing worth drinking in this weather is in my "cellar" (barleywines and quads don't sound too appealing in this heatwave!) and I'm morally opposed to spending $10 on a six pack when I could brew a 5 gallon batch of *something* for just a little over that amount. What's one to brew?

Enter Kveik Golden Ale!

It's hot, I have a free carboy, a pound of Magnum hop pellets, a 55# bag of MFB Pilsner, and plenty of Loki Kveik at my disposal--seems like everything is set up well to put this one together!

I love being able to do a 60 minute boil, chill to 90-95F, pitch some yeast and then neglect the carboy for a few days. Feels like the early days of homebrewing, only the beer tastes better now!

As mentioned above, Voss Kveik does not seem to go well with lower gravity beers, especially those featuring dark malts, or complex hop schedules. The best outcome I've had to date with Voss is a 1.080+ SMASH beer, hot fermentation temps, and a quick turnaround. 7 days grain to glass is the target, and a record fast brew day is the cherry on top. I think this time I'll add some wheat malt, though, for some head retention. Maybe just 1/2 lb. I really don't want to stray from the Golden strong grist

Kveik Golden Ale (5.25g batch, 72% efficiency - hybrid fly sparge because I'm impatient and have a preemie at home)

OG: 1.083
FG: 1.012
Attenuation: 85%
ABV: 9.25%
Bu/gu: 45
IBU: 37

14 lbs MFB Pilsner malt
0.5 lb Wheat malt
1.5 lb table sugar

37 IBU Magnum at 60 min

Single influsion at 149F for 75 minutes
60 minute boil this time.


Loki Kveik yeast. Probably will just dump in 4 oz of slurry and call it good. 95F pitch temp. Wish me luck?
 
Any tasting notes on the golden strong ale? I'm about a week and a half in to fermentation. I have sort of a strong alcohol taste to it. I pretty much based my recipe off of yours.
 

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