Kveik craze!

[fofusak]

I've been reading on the great prowess of kveik strains lately. At first I just thought it was just a overhype. I went to the LHBS and they were out of a yeast I wanted (I don't even recall which one it was) but they offered me Imperial Loki. Supposedly to be the super cool thing and what not. Yeah... whatever, I'll take. You're telling me it ferments fine at warmer temps so I don't need to care about that? Lazy me likes that!

I brewed a simple American Pale Ale.
2 Row
120 crystal
Centennial, Cascade and Crystal.

I split the batch and fermented 5 gals with the Kveik yeast.
I barely cooled the wort below 100 and I was like yeaaah, I'll just pitch and leave! I proceeded to take a shower before leaving, grabbed a bite and just an hour later I started seeing it go to the top. I didn't think much of it but I didn't care much as I used a blow off tube.

It was done in about 3 days.

I tasted it, and while I can't say it's a stellar brew, I can say it is a very good one still. Especially for not caring to cool down or control temperature.

I'm so happy with it that I stocked up on glycerine and sterile tubes to freeze it in case I can't get a hold of it again.

Which brings me to my point! I'm hunting Bootleg Biology's OSLO like crazy, because now I believe it may be real that it can ferment lager-like beers without temperature control. They're out of it everywhere and the homebrew stores that carry their yeasts say they're not getting it again anytime soon. I even tried contacting the guy at Bootleg (Hi Jeff, if you read this, now you know who I am! *waving hand*)

So, who among you good people who dried OSLO is willing to mail me some of your precious flakes? Maybe I can bribe you with some of the local brews or sweets? (I'm near Seattle). Or perhaps I can buy a yeast or something online for you and get it shipped to you?

Thanks!

 

[Hoppy_Sanchez]

Kviek yeast is what’s up. I used the horindal from giga yeast. I fermented what was intended to be a helles in 3 days at 85. I did start cool then ramped it up. Crystal clear beer after a week. Definitely see what giga has to offer.

 

[Kenmoron]

Well I happen to live in Kenmore and have Oslo flakes

 

[fofusak]

AWESOME! I'll DM you
Thanks, and now that you mention you're at Kenmore, your name is incredibly great

 

[HaySed]

Well I happen to live in Kenmore and have Oslo flakes

I am sorry Fofusa for just jumping in your post.

Hello Kenmoron,
I am also interested in obtaining Oslo flakes/yeast.
I have FY #10: Farmgarden drying righ now if you'd like to trade? I live in SoCal

 

[couchsending]

Yet to find a Kveik yeast I would use again...

 

[shetc]

I made a Gordon Strong American Brown ale recipe and used a 1/2 teaspoon of Omega Hothead. Fermented for 3 days at 90F. This beer is so good! And I still have most of the package of Hothead. Crazy!

 

[day_trippr]

While I would never try to dissuade anyone from following that path, from the perspective of a fairly traditional methods brewer with tight control of fermentation temperature and farming a half dozen favorite yeast strains the whole Kveik thing is mildly entertaining but otherwise rather pointless to me...

Cheers!

 

[Dland]

My foray with the much touted Hornandel strain has produced two kegs of great looking beer that tastes like plastic, or some other odd chemical. I can consistently make good lagers and ales, yet my attempt with this supposedly bomb proof yeast makes a dumper. Was trying for a citrus tinged pseudo lager, and I got beer that tastes like it sat in the sun in a plastic orange soda bottle for a month.

I am quite curious to know where I went wrong, but hesitate to try it again, even though I did save some yeast in both dehydrated and slurry form.

 

[balrog]

I have seen enough to be only cautiously curious at this point.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I've been pretty lucky with voss and hornindal in stouts, brown ales, and an ipa so far; I'm going to use it in a pilsner next and might try drying some.

 

[Beer-lord]

I waited, watched and learned then brewed a tasty IPA with lots of late hops and dry hopping. It's very enjoyable. Is it the best beer I've ever brewed? No but its damned good and everyone who's had it likes it..... a lot! It's citrusy and has absolutely no off flavors.
I used Hornindal pitched at 90 and fermented in the mid 90's. It was ready in 2 1/2 days but since I was dry hopping and cold crashing, it was in the fermenter 7 days. 2 days later, I was enjoying it and it's only been 2 weeks and it's almost gone.

 

[Amadeo38]

My foray with the much touted Hornandel strain has produced two kegs of great looking beer that tastes like plastic, or some other odd chemical. I can consistently make good lagers and ales, yet my attempt with this supposedly bomb proof yeast makes a dumper. Was trying for a citrus tinged pseudo lager, and I got beer that tastes like it sat in the sun in a plastic orange soda bottle for a month.

I am quite curious to know where I went wrong, but hesitate to try it again, even though I did save some yeast in both dehydrated and slurry form.

Where did you source the yeast from (this question goes to the other poster who had bad luck as well)? Sounds like it could be a non-isolate culture, or even the wrong strain altogether (Muri #4 produces rubber/plastic at times, which ages out). Also, don’t forget these yeasts are adapted to high nutrient environments due to their traditional use in Raw Ale or high OG wort. You’ve got to double up on yeast nutrient (at least a full tsp) if you want it to turn out nicely with beers <1.050 OG.

I’ve tried Voss, Hornindal, and Stranda several times each at various pitch rates and temperatures up to 98F and all beers have been great. Even a Biermunchers Centennial Blonde with Voss at 90F. The “worst” so far is a NEPA that’s currently resting a few days to lessen the hop burn, but my mistake was dry hopping at 78F before I learned that’s a no-no. Even that one is still good; just not great like my other NEPAs (I usually go 4-5%ABV and <30 IBU, so I call them PA not IPA). Yesterday at 2pm I pitched Voss into a 1.044 OG White Ale at 85F and today at 11am my Tilt is showing SG of 1.017 and still bubbling away.

 

[shetc]

While I would never try to dissuade anyone from following that path, from the perspective of a fairly traditional methods brewer with tight control of fermentation temperature and farming a half dozen favorite yeast strains the whole Kveik thing is mildly entertaining but otherwise rather pointless to me...

Cheers!

Only 1 way to find out [emoji6]

 

[Miraculix]

All yeasts have some kind of trade off or special needs. You just have to follow them, then the results will be accordingly. For kveik it is nutrient demand, underpitching and possibly higher temperatures. If the wrong circumstances are there, it will give you results that won't taste nice, just like "normal"yeasts also do. It's just different points to focus on in the case of kveiks, points that are usually easier to handle for homebrewers than the demands of all those classic yeasts, meaning it is easier to throw in some nutrients then to set up a temperature controlled fermentation chamber.

 

[Dland]

Where did you source the yeast from (this question goes to the other poster who had bad luck as well)? Sounds like it could be a non-isolate culture, or even the wrong strain altogether (Muri #4 produces rubber/plastic at times, which ages out). Also, don’t forget these yeasts are adapted to high nutrient environments due to their traditional use in Raw Ale or high OG wort. You’ve got to double up on yeast nutrient (at least a full tsp) if you want it to turn out nicely with beers <1.050 OG.

I got the yeast from morebeer, shipped with cool packs. Was in Omega slurry pouch, labeled Hornindal. Beer was 1.061 starting gravity. I did not use any additional yeast nutrient.

Warmed pouch up to cellar temp before pitching in aprox 10 gallons wort, no starter. Fermented at a controlled temp of 85F. Last I checked gravity was 1.007 or 8, so it worked out.

Since it had the off flavor when I racked from primary, I did give it two weeks at cellar temp(around 70F) to finish off, spund and hopefully taste better. It has been cold crashed for 3 days now I think. 2 days ago and it still tasted like plastic.

I'm glad to hear it may age out, I'll give it some time before I dump. It really is an odd flavor, does not taste good or healthy, but also does not taste like any kind of infection I've encountered.

 

[Miraculix]

I got the yeast from morebeer, shipped with cool packs. Was in Omega slurry pouch, labeled Hornindal. Beer was 1.061 starting gravity. I did not use any additional yeast nutrient.

Warmed pouch up to cellar temp before pitching in aprox 10 gallons wort, no starter. Fermented at a controlled temp of 85F. Last I checked gravity was 1.007 or 8, so it worked out.

Since it had the off flavor when I racked from primary, I did give it two weeks at cellar temp(around 70F) to finish off, spund and hopefully taste better. It has been cold crashed for 3 days now I think. 2 days ago and it still tasted like plastic.

I'm glad to hear it may age out, I'll give it some time before I dump. It really is an odd flavor, does not taste good or healthy, but also does not taste like any kind of infection I've encountered.

I read about this on multiple ocassions, but just a few people seem to experience this plastic thing and nobody has a clue where it might come from. Would be really good to know what the reason is because a lot of people don't have this problem.

 

[day_trippr]

Only 1 way to find out

I do believe you "took at left turn in Albuquerque" and totally missed my point

Cheers!

 

[Dland]

I read about this on multiple ocassions, but just a few people seem to experience this plastic thing and nobody has a clue where it might come from. Would be really good to know what the reason is because a lot of people don't have this problem.

I can only speculate;

My current process sends a clean wort with very little hot break to fermentor.

Seems like it might be a very different wort than what this yeast was evolved in. If it was used in raw ales...there is a lot less for it to eat in my wort..

 

[shetc]

Don't think so

I do believe you "took at left turn in Albuquerque" and totally missed my point

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Ok...

 

[bracconiere]

i didn't follow, but i hope for a "kviek, low hopped, stout, brüt" then i know i'm cool!

 

[Saunassa]

I used the omega hornindal on a blonde and it turned out great. Transferred a bit of the trub from the kettle to the fermenter and I added an ounce of fresh balsam tips 15 minutes before end of the boil in the hop basket. Considering they use juniper in Norway could having some of the trub and balsam add nutrients the yeast needs?

Dlands post made me think about this.

 

[Amadeo38]

I used the omega hornindal on a blonde and it turned out great. Transferred a bit of the trub from the kettle to the fermenter and I added an ounce of fresh balsam tips 15 minutes before end of the boil in the hop basket. Considering they use juniper in Norway could having some of the trub and balsam add nutrients the yeast needs?

Dlands post made me think about this.

I don’t know about the balsam but the trub probably contributed some nutrient. The juniper was not a source of nutrient in Norwegian ales but rather a method of sanitizing the water and providing a filtration bed for the grain, similar to using a false bottom nowadays.

 

[Miraculix]

I can only speculate;

My current process sends a clean wort with very little hot break to fermentor.

Seems like it might be a very different wort than what this yeast was evolved in. If it was used in raw ales...there is a lot less for it to eat in my wort..

That might actually be the reason. Works be probably better just to dump everything in, no sortation of hot break material, it's all nutrients.

 

[Kenmoron]

I have yet to have those rubbery flavors with any kveik. I double up on yeast nutrient and I do BIAB with everything in the kettle going to the fermenter. I've read of people getting rubbery flavors much more commonly when not using yeast nutrient. I'd imagine there is a bunch of nutrient that is also provided by the trub. So perhaps it needs all that trub...and if not, may need to go extra heavy on the yeast nutrient!

 

[TandemTails]

I've been playing with a few kveik strains lately. The most promising i've seen so far is using Oslo in meads and wines. It's a pretty low phenoic producer but it lets me ferment at 75-80'F (ie: not having to keep things around 60'F) which means i can potentially get rid of my fermentation chamber and free up some space in my office.

I have Aurora (isolated from hornindal) fermenting a barleywine and a tropical stout right now. it's still really young (less than a week) but i'm hoping the results will be good.

 

[Miraculix]

I just recently had a look on maltmiller, my main online shop here in the uk and daaaamn..... I did not want to order any more brewing stuff, but they seem to have all tose exotic kveiks in stock... that IS tempting!!!!

 

[shetc]

Omega Kveiking dropped my IPA from 1.059 to 1.007 in 48 hours. Probably keg tomorrow.

 

[fofusak]

I kegged mine quickly and I just found out that it definitely benefitted from conditioning. I mentioned it was a good beer but not stellar, now I love it (and my friends do too).

To second people on the nutrients, I pitch most of my trub into the fermenter, so that may have helped me to get good results.

 

[shetc]

Kegged, dry hopped and burst carbing.