Brewing at a farmhouse ouside Voss, Norway

[premington]

Found this totally fascinating Blog post and had to share it with the forum. This fellow visited a farm outside Voss, Norway to share in a family beer brewing session. This brew uses equipment and methods the family has used for hundreds of years. Some aspects of this brew completely violate the conventions we all know, but it goes to show there are many methods to our madness. Most fascinating is the family yeast (Kviek), which imparts its own orange-peel aroma. Also, fermenting at a ghastly 102-109 F (39-43 C).

A yeast that imparts orange peel and spice aromas and flavors? My God... Where can I get some?!

I also found treating their water by steeping juniper tips with as few berries as possible in the water before the mash to be a really interesting idea. Anyone try it?

Chime in for a discussion on the methods used. This opens a world of exploration for us home brewers.

Enjoy!

http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/291.html

 

[Lefou]

I've been following him for a while, especially after being fascinated with his interest in Nordic brewing tradition. When I found out the characteristics of the local yeast it was a pleasant shock.
Did some research and found people have been asking for those strains here in he US and now they are available. It seems a great alternative yeast for seasonal summer brewers who don't want to mess with Belgian saison yeasts. My local shop within 11 miles doesn't have a line of Voss or "Hothead" strains, but Luv2Brew does. Come summer, a Nordic ale is on my list to brew.
Omega Yeast Labs and the Yeast Bay are known sources for Nordic strains, maybe you can find them but if you do, they will be more expensive due to scarcity.

"The Mad Fermentationist" has his own take on this alternative brewing option ... check out his blog.

 

[premington]

I've been following him for a while, especially after being fascinated with his interest in Nordic brewing tradition. When I found out the characteristics of the local yeast it was a pleasant shock.
Did some research and found people have been asking for those strains here in he US and now they are available. It seems a great alternative yeast for seasonal summer brewers who don't want to mess with Belgian saison yeasts. My local shop within 11 miles doesn't have a line of Voss or "Hothead" strains, but Luv2Brew does. Come summer, a Nordic ale is on my list to brew.

"The Mad Fermentationist" has his own take on this alternative brewing option ... check out his blog.

Totally agree with you. I wasn't aware one can order this yeast strain. It's definitely on my list for a spring brew of a summer ale. Very excited to see what recipe I can design around this yeast. Thanks for the tip on where to locate it!

I've enjoyed dabbling in the gruit world, and made a very delicious brew using only chamomile, yarrow, juniper berries, and wormwood. Came out balanced and quite enjoyable on the first brew, and it didn't sour. The old Nordic ways definitely hold some interesting exploration for adventurous brewers.

 

[thehaze]

Last year I had used Omega Hothead Ale yeast for two beers and fermented at around 77-78F and the beers turned out very good.

Next time, I will simply put the fermenter outside during summer and leave it there for 10 days, cold crash and bottle.

The yeast is supposedly somewhat clean at low temperatures and very fruitty/estery at higher temps. No fusels alcohols would be noticed even at higher temps. It is a great yeast, which can make anything from pale/IPAs to darker styles and probably saison/farmhouse style beers.

 

[Lefou]

With a new refrigerator, I have the ability to do lagers but a hot weather yeast like the Voss strain is something that definitely adds more dimension with summer brewing. Before the 'fridge and discovering access to kveik, my brewing season was only a few months during fall and winter.
Now I can be less of a pest in the kitchen and brew more.
Having more options is great and I was considering using the Voss and Belgian strains for a variation on kreik without the lambic bugs. I can get cherries in June by the bucket.

 

[premington]

Does anyone have a link to where we can buy the Voss strain? I've been searching online and haven't found anything. But I might not be using the proper search keywords.

 

[thehaze]

Down this page you will find a link for shops that sell Omega yeast, which have Kveik strain: http://www.omegayeast.com/homebrew/

 

[Miraculix]

I saw this post as well and got totally hooked on the idea to get some original kveik from Norway, the real deal with all the bacteria and mixed yeasts inside.
A few months later my girlfriend's father mentioned that he went to Norway and gathered multiple kveiks from the brewers he got to know there.... In a side sentence.......

Long story short, already brewed a hoppy and strong ipa with it and this stuff was better and more aggressive than expected! Will brew a lot more with it!

 

[shoreman]

There's also one up in the Vault on white labs right now called
1. WLP611 New Nordic Yeast Blend
https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast-vault

 

[Miraculix]

There's also one up in the Vault on white labs right now called
1. WLP611 New Nordic Yeast Blend
https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast-vault

Specs don't look like kveik. Attenuation is too low and flocculation is also too low. Temperature range is also too narrow (although already quite wide).

 

[shoreman]

Omega Yeast Labs has three kveik strains available - http://www.omegayeast.com/portfolio/hornindal-kveik/ one of them new called
Hornindal Kveik

 

[Miraculix]

Omega Yeast Labs has three kveik strains available - http://www.omegayeast.com/portfolio/hornindal-kveik/ one of them new called
Hornindal Kveik

Sounds like the real deal! I like their description of flocculation "high and low" as this is what I also experienced. Most of it drops like nothing I have ever seen before but a bit of fog seems to stay forever.

Exiting times we brew in!

 

[deks77]

I love the omega hothead strain that came from this yeast.. I live in FL so warm weather brewing is a huge + .. I tell you what hothead and mosaic wheat beer mmmmm

 

[shoreman]

Cool I just grabbed the Hornindal Kveik strain to use for summer brewing - does anyone have experience with this strain? I don't have temp control and have always stuck to belgian strains in summer - looking forward to more hop forward beers with this one.

 

[cegan09]

So it doesn't look like anyone sells the exact yeast from the blog post in the first post. Though the Voss Kveik looks similar. Though the exact strain is available through the NCYC.
https://catalogue.ncyc.co.uk/strains/brewing/saccharomyces-cerevisiae-3995
3996 - 3998 are the individual strains that make up the 3995 mix.

Not sure if you can order from NCYC from the states or not, looks price if you can.

 

[SanPancho]

Yeast Bay has sigmunds voss. Dont recall specifically but i enjoyed it. It had more character than hothead as i recall.

 

[cegan09]

So it does (too many yeast companies to keep track of). Sold out right now, but I might watch for it to come back and try it out.

 

[premington]

I saw this post as well and got totally hooked on the idea to get some original kveik from Norway, the real deal with all the bacteria and mixed yeasts inside.
A few months later my girlfriend's father mentioned that he went to Norway and gathered multiple kveiks from the brewers he got to know there.... In a side sentence.......

Long story short, already brewed a hoppy and strong ipa with it and this stuff was better and more aggressive than expected! Will brew a lot more with it!

Hey there, Miraculix!

When you used the Kviek, did it sour the beer? I know you said "bacteria and mixed yeasts inside".

Also, is the Omega brand a blend of yeasts, or is the Kviek a single strain? I assume Omega isn't selling yeast with bacteria in it.

Looking forward to making a brew with it... probably on my next batch. Doing an amber ale this weekend, so it'll have to wait a few months.

 

[Miraculix]

Hey there, Miraculix!

When you used the Kviek, did it sour the beer? I know you said "bacteria and mixed yeasts inside".

Also, is the Omega brand a blend of yeasts, or is the Kviek a single strain? I assume Omega isn't selling yeast with bacteria in it.

Looking forward to making a brew with it... probably on my next batch. Doing an amber ale this weekend, so it'll have to wait a few months.

Hey there, Miraculix!

When you used the Kviek, did it sour the beer? I know you said "bacteria and mixed yeasts inside".

Also, is the Omega brand a blend of yeasts, or is the Kviek a single strain? I assume Omega isn't selling yeast with bacteria in it.

Looking forward to making a brew with it... probably on my next batch. Doing an amber ale this weekend, so it'll have to wait a few months.

According to what I have read, some Kveiks are souring the beer and some are not. They might have been all initially non souring and then been infected with lactic bacterias during time, or some just might have been like this since the beginning, nobody knows. The kveik I got here luckily is not souring the beer, I am pretty happy about that. It gives very distinctive flavours which I have not tasted before. It is somehow lager-ish with some lemon/orange in addition, if that makes sence. I tried fermenting with it only around 20c, which is fairly low for a Kveik, so the fruity part should be improved with higher temperatures. I initially used a fairly hop heavy IPA wort just to get rid of some lactic acid bacterias, if they would have been present, so that I can reuse the yeast.

According to what I read, the bacteria might be the main contributors when it comes to the specific flavour. They do not have to be lactic acid bacteria or acid producing bacteria in general, but don't ask which type they might be. I read that the yeast alone does not bring much flavour, but in conjunction with the bacterias, the magic happens. This might explain why the single strains available, Voss and Hothead do not seem to create those interesting flavours.

The new strain might really be just the real mix, bacterias and different yeasts, just what kveik actually is. If I wouldn't have already a real Kveik here, I would instantly order some of the mixed culture. It is a very nice yeast. Drops like a stone, highly attenuative and tastes nice. The next big thing imo!

 

[thehaze]

The Omega Hothead Ale yeast I have tried does not sour the beer and it is actually quite estery at higher temps.

 

[Beerswimmer]

The Yeast Bay just put it back in stock, I just ordered a vial I read about 99% of the Lars blog and now have my summer brewing figured out. I just need to find some juniper around here......

 

[Lefou]

If you can't find the juniper branches, you could substitute with packaged dried juniper fruit berries. Some brew shops carry them as adjunct ingredients.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

My wife's Estonian, and loves sahti. The idea of using juniper branches as a filter bed has always intrigued me - whether in a hollowed out half-log (for runoff), or at the bottom of a tun.

 

[ba-brewer]

If you can't find the juniper branches, you could substitute with packaged dried juniper fruit berries. Some brew shops carry them as adjunct ingredients.

The link to the blog by the OP seemed to suggest they did not want the berries, but it did not say why.

 

[Lefou]

I respect using all original ingredients and method.
Tradition imparts a certain feel that stays true to the style, enhancing the character and identity of the beer. Some beers can only be done the traditional way, but when you don't have those things available, you try to make do.
I think that's how a lot of variations got made and some other really good styles evolved.

One thing's for sure, though ... if someone says they're thinking of putting Doritos in their Nordic-style beer, I'm gonna backhand 'em.
Figuratively, of course.

 

[shoreman]

The link to the blog by the OP seemed to suggest they did not want the berries, but it did not say why.

They use the branches basically as a false bottom to separate the wort from the grain (since they are just low tech farmers and stick to tradition), but the juniper is also used as a disinfectant. There's a really great 2 part podcast on all of this on the Milk the Funk podcast.