Bootleg Biology OSLO

[jpb2716]

Hello all.

I previously used Oslo in a couple of batches when it was first released. I brewed a pseudo-Pilsner and a pseudo-Vienna Lager. Both came out out great, in my opinion. The “Vienna Lager” actually took a bronze in a local BJCP competition.

I recently purchased another pack of it and I’m looking to do a little more experimenting. Has anyone here brewed a pale ale or an IPA with it? I was considering both of these options since it ferments so clean.

 

[secretlevel]

I actually have used it on a Cream Ale and a couple of IPA's/Pale Ales. They come out wonderfully and quickly - it's my substitute for US-05. I never quite got lager flavors or crispness out of my Oslo.

@jpb2716 is this why you say "pseudo-lager"? Congrats on the competition though, this yeast can't be too far off from lager after all. @isomerization what are your thoughts on this after using lager yeast vs Oslo?

 

[isomerization]

I actually have used it on a Cream Ale and a couple of IPA's/Pale Ales. They come out wonderfully and quickly - it's my substitute for US-05. I never quite got lager flavors or crispness out of my Oslo.

@jpb2716 is this why you say "pseudo-lager"? Congrats on the competition though, this yeast can't be too far off from lager after all. @isomerization what are your thoughts on this after using lager yeast vs Oslo?

I’ve used it twice before and my biggest complaints are too much body and lack of that faint sulfur character traditional found in lagers.

I personally enjoy using L17 (or any of the related strains), but variety is fun too, thus the use of Oslo now.

Did you find that Oslo played well with letting the hops shine in the IPAs you've done?

 

[secretlevel]

I’ve used it twice before and my biggest complaints are too much body and lack of that faint sulfur character traditional found in lagers.

I personally enjoy using L17 (or any of the related strains), but variety is fun too, thus the use of Oslo now.

Did you find that Oslo played well with letting the hops shine in the IPAs you've done?

My thoughts exactly, it finishes a little high compared to most lager strains in addition to lacking parts of the lager character. Attenuation I got on it has always been 80% when fermented at 85F.

To me, it resembles US-05 in a sense that it's clean, although slightly higher attenuating. The one IPA I submitted to a competition got silver out of 36 entries or so, it really did accent the hops so no complaints there!

 

[isomerization]

My thoughts exactly, it finishes a little high compared to most lager strains in addition to lacking parts of the lager character. Attenuation I got on it has always been 80% when fermented at 85F.

To me, it resembles US-05 in a sense that it's clean, although slightly higher attenuating. The one IPA I submitted to a competition got silver out of 36 entries or so, it really did accent the hops so no complaints there!

Cool, it finishes so much faster than US-05, that I’m interested to try it in single hop trials.

 

[Mer-man]

Cool, it finishes so much faster than US-05, that I’m interested to try it in single hop trials.

Like, so you can do them while you're still in the store making up your mind?

 

[JohnSand]

That's the next step: a beer that finishes before it starts!

 

[JohnSand]

I just pitched a pint starter into 5.5+ gallons of 1.056 pilsner. I set the ferm chamber to 85, the wort was chilled to 78.
Do I need a blow off tube? This is in a 7.9 gallon bucket.

 

[secretlevel]

I just pitched a pint starter into 5.5+ gallons of 1.056 pilsner. I set the ferm chamber to 85, the wort was chilled to 78.
Do I need a blow off tube? This is in a 7.9 gallon bucket.

Probably not, but playing it safe could pay off!

 

[JohnSand]

Thanks! I had the same thought and rigged one. It's bubbling steadily now.

 

[JohnSand]

How long have you guys kept this warm after activity stops?

 

[secretlevel]

I just finished another IPA with this, in keg 1 week and I'm loving it so far! It's a Bell's Hopslam clone and Oslo worked wonderfully to provide a clean profile.

In terms of keeping it warm - I honestly don't have a heating solution so I just pitch at 80F and wrap the fermenter in a camping bag for a week. It usually finishes out by day 3 or 4 and I keep it there for a few more days just in case. At that point it's around 70F.

 

[JohnSand]

Thank you.
I'll probably keep it at 85 for a week. The basement is 64.

 

[brownni5]

I plan to brew my house Helles recipe with Oslo to 1) try it in a pale pseudo-lager and 2) to take advantage of warm July temps. My only question is will an underpitch result in a clean ferment?

 

[secretlevel]

I'm not sure if it will, I'd play it safe and make 0.5-1L starter. I also read that fermenting at lower temps (60's F) will result in a cleaner beer.

Edit: I actually found the notes on Lutra page, so not necessarily Oslo, but still might be applicable.

For the most lager-like profile, we suggest fermenting between 68℉-72℉.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Over on the Skare thread I've posted about Escarpment's hunt for an Oslo equivalent, which led them to two strains from Skare that they are now marketing as KRISPY :
It can be used to make clean, lager-like beers in a fraction of the time since fermentations can be performed in the 20-30ºC range. KRISPY is a selection of two strains from the Skare kveik, and is a bit different from the Kveik Ring: Skare we previously released. Attenuation: 70-82% // Optimum Temp: 18-30ºC // Alcohol tolerance: High // Flocculation: Medium-High

Whilst I'm here, I might as well mention Wicklow Ubbe, which seems to be, ummm, a "very close relative" of Oslo which is much easier to get in the UK at least.

Omega have released OYL-071 Lutra, an isolate from their Hornindal blend :
Lutra is shockingly clean with unrivaled speed when pitched at 90°F (32°C). The strain is perfect for brewing a refreshing pseudo-lager without the lead time of a lager. Lutra is your worry-free way to navigate the evolving demand for cold ones.

• Flocculation Medium-High
• Attenuation 75-82%
• Temperature Range 68–95° F (20–35° C)
• Alcohol Tolerance11%

 

[Northern_Brewer]

As a headsup if you fancy trying Krispy or some of their weirder kveiks, Escarpment don't normally deal direct, but until tonight are selling homebrew packs direct from their website at C$12 (or C$9 for short-date), with a C$1.50 contribution to their local food bank - but a minimum of 5 packs and only within Canada. Still, might be handy for someone :
https://escarpmentlabs.com/blogs/resources/bfcm-2020-direct-to-consumer-sale

 

[brownni5]

I plan to brew my house Helles recipe with Oslo to 1) try it in a pale pseudo-lager and 2) to take advantage of warm July temps. My only question is will an underpitch result in a clean ferment?

Just found this. Meh. Not nearly as good as my go-to lager yeast from Bootleg. This seemed more like a bland pale ale than the Helles it was supposed to be. I'll keep using it in the summer months, but not for lager type beers.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

Over on the Skare thread I've posted about Escarpment's hunt for an Oslo equivalent, which led them to two strains from Skare that they are now marketing as KRISPY :
It can be used to make clean, lager-like beers in a fraction of the time since fermentations can be performed in the 20-30ºC range. KRISPY is a selection of two strains from the Skare kveik, and is a bit different from the Kveik Ring: Skare we previously released. Attenuation: 70-82% // Optimum Temp: 18-30ºC // Alcohol tolerance: High // Flocculation: Medium-High

Whilst I'm here, I might as well mention Wicklow Ubbe, which seems to be, ummm, a "very close relative" of Oslo which is much easier to get in the UK at least.

Omega have released OYL-071 Lutra, an isolate from their Hornindal blend :
Lutra is shockingly clean with unrivaled speed when pitched at 90°F (32°C). The strain is perfect for brewing a refreshing pseudo-lager without the lead time of a lager. Lutra is your worry-free way to navigate the evolving demand for cold ones.

• Flocculation Medium-High
• Attenuation 75-82%
• Temperature Range 68–95° F (20–35° C)
• Alcohol Tolerance11%

Isn't Skare (the farm culture) already a 2 strain culture? Or there's a typo in the farmhouse registry?

Maybe they sourced Skare that had incorporated new strains that weren't present at the first sample ever studied.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Given that Escarpment are the guys who are Lars' main "science" partners, they know more than anyoe about how many strains a given culture has. So if they say " KRISPY is a selection of two strains from the Skare kveik, and is a bit different from the Kveik Ring: Skare we previously released. ", then I think we can safely say that there are more than two strains in the "original" Skare, regardless of what people may have found in samples thereof.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

Given that Escarpment are the guys who are Lars' main "science" partners, they know more than anyoe about how many strains a given culture has. So if they say " KRISPY is a selection of two strains from the Skare kveik, and is a bit different from the Kveik Ring: Skare we previously released. ", then I think we can safely say that there are more than two strains in the "original" Skare, regardless of what people may have found in samples thereof.

Skare was studied initially by NCYC in the UK so it was them who determined it was a 2 strain culture (unless there's a typo). There's however the possibility that the original cultures has picked up strains since when it was first collected, it's been three years since then. Or it's a typo in the registry which I think is the most probable option

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Skare was studied initially by NCYC in the UK so it was them who determined it was a 2 strain culture (unless there's a typo). There's however the possibility that the original cultures has picked up strains since when it was first collected, it's been three years since then. Or it's a typo in the registry which I think is the most probable option

Or they've simply found more strains - it happens all the time with some of the British family brewer strains, I can imagine that it's quite possible when you're dealing with a new family of yeast where you don't quite know how they work, and possibly old cultures on a ring where viability ain't great and you just grow up the "easy" ones.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

Or they've simply found more strains - it happens all the time with some of the British family brewer strains, I can imagine that it's quite possible when you're dealing with a new family of yeast where you don't quite know how they work, and possibly old cultures on a ring where viability ain't great and you just grow up the "easy" ones.

That makes sense too, technology isn't the same either from 3 years ago, things move pretty fast in the scientific side of brewing

 

[Miraculix]

I used lutra and and I used Voss and also an original kveik directly from Norway and all of them had a certain tartness involved. Not much, but enough to put me off.

Does Oslo display this tartness as well?

 

[OldDogBrewing]

I used lutra and and I used Voss and also an original kveik directly from Norway and all of them had a certain tartness involved. Not much, but enough to put me off.

Does Oslo display this tartness as well?

This tartness is because kveik lowers the pH more than other Sacch families. So you have to mash at your desired pH and then adjust the pH to buffer so it's not as noticeable

 

[secretlevel]

I used lutra and and I used Voss and also an original kveik directly from Norway and all of them had a certain tartness involved. Not much, but enough to put me off.

Does Oslo display this tartness as well?

I haven't noticed any from what Bootleg Bio sent me. Then again, my mash pH is usually 5.35ish. Got a 41 and a 39 for my west coast IPAs , both got medals in local comps.

You can just mash at 5.45 or 5.5 pH if you're worried.

 

[Miraculix]

I haven't noticed any from what Bootleg Bio sent me. Then again, my mash pH is usually 5.35ish. Got a 41 and a 39 for my west coast IPAs , both got medals in local comps.

You can just mash at 5.45 or 5.5 pH if you're worried.

I do not think that mash ph does anything to the final ph of the beer. The yeast is just going to lower it until it feels most comfortable, that is how biology works. It is not like "this yeast lowers it for 1,2 points and that one just for 0,5 points" it is more like "this one goes to 3,5 and that one to 4,3".

 

[JohnSand]

I haven't found it tart either. Possibly slightly fruity, but I'm not sure if that wasn't the hops.

 

[Sayvillebrew]

I made an Olso “Kolsch”. Fermented at 92F for 72 hours, crashed 1 day, kegged, added gelatin and burst carved for 2 days. Turned out amazing, clear and no off flavors. I dried the yeast slurry using a food dehydrator and separated into 2g baggies. I made a starter with one of the 2g baggies from the freezer and pitched into a “bud clone”. I wanted to see how it did with a flavorless beer. I just kegged it so we shall see. So far, I am loving this Olso and now I have enough to last me a very long time!

 

[Texas]

I made an Olso “Kolsch”. Fermented at 92F for 72 hours, crashed 1 day, kegged, added gelatin and burst carved for 2 days. Turned out amazing, clear and no off flavors. I dried the yeast slurry using a food dehydrator and separated into 2g baggies. I made a starter with one of the 2g baggies from the freezer and pitched into a “bud clone”. I wanted to see how it did with a flavorless beer. I just kegged it so we shall see. So far, I am loving this Olso and now I have enough to last me a very long time!

Any feedback on the Bud clone?