Fermenting outside with kveik

[Ashun]

I was wondering if anyone had experience with fermenting kveik strains outside. I was thinking of attempting this. It's supposed to be in the 90+ the next few days. I was thinking of wrapping the carboy in a blanket and putting it outside. Any suggestions or info would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

[beersk]

My thing with this yeast is that it's really heat tolerant and just an overall great yeast. But it did not evolve fermenting and maintaining fermentation hot. It likely evolved by pitching hot and letting it cool to ambient temps. It never gets above 90F in Norway. Chill to 90-100F, pitch the yeast without aeration and let the temp fall to whatever your ambient room temp is. That's my suggestion. Other than that, knock yourself out, ferment outside...

 

[RPh_Guy]

If you could get a temp controller like an Inkbird 308, and a heat source like a FermWrap, that would be ideal.
It's best to maintain the high temperature, or only drop just a bit.

Otherwise, good luck

 

[Ashun]

I fermented one with voss in my garage about a month ago. It stayed right around 85 degrees. It was finished in 4 days. Turned out fantastic. Just wondering if I fermented a little warmer if I could draw out more esters and possibly be finished sooner.

 

[Ashun]

If you could get a temp controller like an Inkbird 308, and a heat source like a FermWrap, that would be ideal.
It's best to maintain the high temperature, or only drop just a bit.

Otherwise, good luck

Yeah, I'm able to get any kind of temp control at the moment. I know that omega hothead claims to need no temp control. I may give it a try outside just to see what the results might be. Could be a fun experiment. Just didn't know if anyone has tried this yet.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Oh I assumed you were using an expressive culture for the wonderful esters.
With hothead, any temp is fine. Go for it.

 

[Ashun]

Oh I assumed you were using an expressive culture for the wonderful esters.
With hothead, any temp is fine. Go for it.

It says hothead ferments pretty clean. But it does say it has honey like aroma and over ripe mango. If fermented a little warmer I was hoping to draw that out a little more. I used hothead a few months ago at room temp and it took 2 weeks to finish and was super clean. No esters or aroma of any kind.

 

[Beer-lord]

I have a small utility room I can only get to from the back of the house. It's basically a water heater closet with enough room for some shelves and my keezer. It's not temperature controlled. I left 6 gallons of Hornindal beer on top the keezer for 2 days at about 94, wrapped in a blanket. By day 3 it was done. Actually, I didn't check it until day 3 and it looked like it was done sooner. Dry hopped a few days, crashed and on day 7, kegged it. Day 9, it's being enjoyed.
I don't doubt certain Kveik strains can get about 105. Once you get to 95, it can take 18 hours or more to get to room temperature if you brought it back inside. By then, most of the work is done.

 

[IslandLizard]

Absolutely!

A few days ago, at our latest yearly homebrewers campout, 2 members of our club brewed, fermented, and served a Kveik beer in 3 days. Brewed Wednesday eve, racked to a keg, chilled in the creek, fermented on the football field with a black trash bag over it for 2.5 days in bright sun (80s-90). Temps dropped to 70s during the night, didn't seem to hamper the process.

Saturday afternoon the keg was chilled in the ice trailer, then racked to a clean keg, force carbonated (shaking) and served during dinner. It was definitely done and not overly cloudy. Tasted great!

IIRC, they used Hornindal, not Voss.

 

[Ashun]

I have all three. Hothead, voss, and hornindal. Was thinking of using hothead because it says no need for ferm control. But it sounds like it may not matter. Might change my mind and go with hornindal or voss and see what happens. I'm definitely intrigued.