LALBREW® VOSS KVEIK ALE YEAST

[nickbarley]

In my experience, even after multiple months in the bottle, everything faded, except the flavour that came from the yeast, this stays. Which is actually great.

That would be nice if the flavors from the yeast stayed in there! It's very refreshing with this light grain bill. Just two row and melanoidin. Looking forward to see how this matures.

 

[Miraculix]

That would be nice if the flavors from the yeast stayed in there! It's very refreshing with this light grain bill. Just two row and melanoidin. Looking forward to see how this matures.

I must add, I did not use this yeast but the liquid form and an original from Norway, but they all displayed this behaviour, that the yeast based flavours stayed. As it's quite close to certain hop flavours used in ipas, I think it's possible to make a long term storage ipa with it, only with bittering additions.

 

[NobleNewt]

Well, my American Wheat is perhaps my fifth kveik batch and I'm noticing the same thing each time. It does continue to change (and improve) over time. It's decent right away, but there's a greenness there in the young beer even if it doesn't come across as such. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for the malt character to really shine through.

I've found the same with my beers. Drinkable right away, but after a couple of weeks of conditioning (I bottle condition), the green flavors fade allowing the malt to come through more. My last batch, Haus Pale Ale, was step mashed, and finished out at around 1.007! It was (obnoxiously) dry, but after a couple of weeks in the bottle turned out to be much more drinkable.

I describe the green flavor of Voss to be more of a snappy bite if that makes any sense. Almost like hop bitterness, but a little weirder on the tongue. It fades with time, but who has time these days?

 

[Miraculix]

I've found the same with my beers. Drinkable right away, but after a couple of weeks of conditioning (I bottle condition), the green flavors fade allowing the malt to come through more. My last batch, Haus Pale Ale, was step mashed, and finished out at around 1.007! It was (obnoxiously) dry, but after a couple of weeks in the bottle turned out to be much more drinkable.

I describe the green flavor of Voss to be more of a snappy bite if that makes any sense. Almost like hop bitterness, but a little weirder on the tongue. It fades with time, but who has time these days?

In my opinion, it's an acidic bite, which I have percieved with all three kveiks I've tried, which is lutra and Voss and one original mix from Norway from a friend who was there.

And I agree, over time this gets much better, but it does not truly fade. Especially in a cleaner and low abv beer, this can be a bit unpleasant and does not really fit into the picture. But in a higher abv beer, this acidic bite gets easily overpowered by residual sweetness and alcohol.

Obviously in a sour, this wouldn't be a problem as well.

 

[NobleNewt]

In my opinion, it's an acidic bite, which I have percieved with all three kveiks I've tried, which is lutra and Voss and one original mix from Norway from a friend who was there.

And I agree, over time this gets much better, but it does not truly fade. Especially in a cleaner and low abv beer, this can be a bit unpleasant and does not really fit into the picture. But in a higher abv beer, this acidic bite gets easily overpowered by residual sweetness and alcohol.

Obviously in a sour, this wouldn't be a problem as well.

That's a very good description! I hate not having fermentation control because I know there are more style-appropriate yeasts, but I keep sticking with the Voss because it's so darn hardy and you can't beat the turnaround time.

 

[Roxhambrewshed]

Anyone have any info on when this will be available in North America?

Got mine here LalBrew Voss Kveik Yeast (11g)

 

[NobleNewt]

In my opinion, it's an acidic bite, which I have percieved with all three kveiks I've tried, which is lutra and Voss and one original mix from Norway from a friend who was there.

And I agree, over time this gets much better, but it does not truly fade. Especially in a cleaner and low abv beer, this can be a bit unpleasant and does not really fit into the picture. But in a higher abv beer, this acidic bite gets easily overpowered by residual sweetness and alcohol.

Obviously in a sour, this wouldn't be a problem as well.

I'm going to backpedal my statement about the bite on this yeast... I just popped an American brown bottle last night after only 5 days of bottle conditioning, and it was pretty phenomenal. It's a clone of Avery's Ellie's Brown, and it is pretty spot on. I don't get any of that bite that I've gotten with past brews with this yeast, but I also fermented at the lower end of the spectrum.

Wort/beer temperature was around 75 degrees. I set my Inkbird to 80 which means my wort temp was about 5 degrees cooler. This is about as clean as I've had either the Omega or Lallemand Voss ferment.

I listened to a Brew Strong episode lately with a guy from Escarpment Labs in Canada, and he mentioned that some of the kveiks they've experimented with change character with temperature while others are consistent no matter the temp. Maybe Voss is one of the ones that change depending on fermentation temperature?

Either way, I might recommend fermenting at the lower end of Lallemand's recommended range for a cleaner profile.

 

[Miraculix]

I'm going to backpedal my statement about the bite on this yeast... I just popped an American brown bottle last night after only 5 days of bottle conditioning, and it was pretty phenomenal. It's a clone of Avery's Ellie's Brown, and it is pretty spot on. I don't get any of that bite that I've gotten with past brews with this yeast, but I also fermented at the lower end of the spectrum.

Wort/beer temperature was around 75 degrees. I set my Inkbird to 80 which means my wort temp was about 5 degrees cooler. This is about as clean as I've had either the Omega or Lallemand Voss ferment.

I listened to a Brew Strong episode lately with a guy from Escarpment Labs in Canada, and he mentioned that some of the kveiks they've experimented with change character with temperature while others are consistent no matter the temp. Maybe Voss is one of the ones that change depending on fermentation temperature?

Either way, I might recommend fermenting at the lower end of Lallemand's recommended range for a cleaner profile.

Interesting.

What were the ogs and fgs of the beers that had this bite and what numbers did you have from your recent brew that didn't have the bite?

 

[BolgBeorach]

I'm going to backpedal my statement about the bite on this yeast... I just popped an American brown bottle last night after only 5 days of bottle conditioning, and it was pretty phenomenal. It's a clone of Avery's Ellie's Brown, and it is pretty spot on. I don't get any of that bite that I've gotten with past brews with this yeast, but I also fermented at the lower end of the spectrum.

Wort/beer temperature was around 75 degrees. I set my Inkbird to 80 which means my wort temp was about 5 degrees cooler. This is about as clean as I've had either the Omega or Lallemand Voss ferment.

I listened to a Brew Strong episode lately with a guy from Escarpment Labs in Canada, and he mentioned that some of the kveiks they've experimented with change character with temperature while others are consistent no matter the temp. Maybe Voss is one of the ones that change depending on fermentation temperature?

Either way, I might recommend fermenting at the lower end of Lallemand's recommended range for a cleaner profile.

I've fermented 4 beers with Kveik and never had that acrid bite that you describe. Latest two I fermented at about 35C (95F) and the two before at close to 40C (105F). Only flavour I ever really get from it is a tropical/orange hint, and that tends to fade out completely after sufficient conditioning.

 

[NobleNewt]

Interesting.

What were the ogs and fgs of the beers that had this bite and what numbers did you have from your recent brew that didn't have the bite?

I did an amber ale with OG 1.058, FG 1.010 that had it. I also did the Haus Pale Ale recipe that was 1.049 and finished at 1.008 that also had the flavor. Both of those were fermented at 85-90 degrees F.

This most recent brown ale was 1.056 and 1.010. Part of the pale ale's problems could have been that it went a couple of gravity points lower than anticipated. It's since mellowed significantly and is a much more approachable beer. The others just had a bit of a funk I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I'm also one of those people that perceive certain hops as "soapy". That was never the case in the past, but it seems to be something I've acquired over the years. Another thing.. I haven't yet done water treatments. That's about to change moving forward, but could very likely be a culprit in this flavor. Usually, I use 50/50 RO/tap water with Campden for chloramine. That's always been a good blend but probably isn't appropriate for all styles.

 

[NobleNewt]

I've fermented 4 beers with Kveik and never had that acrid bite that you describe. Latest two I fermented at about 35C (95F) and the two before at close to 40C (105F). Only flavour I ever really get from it is a tropical/orange hint, and that tends to fade out completely after sufficient conditioning.

I'm interested to see what happens when I start treating water on my next batch. Hops may also be the culprit, but I'm not sure.

 

[firerat]

I finally got settled into our new house and am itching to brew something. I haven't made anything since last June!!!

I have a packet of Voss and like 11 lbs of 2-row that is starting to get old and a ton of cascade hops equally as old. Maybe I'll throw it together and make a Viking SMaSH since i don't have my fementation chamber set up yet.

I messed around with Hornidal someone gave me but haven't tried Voss yet. Screw it I'm brewing tonight!!!

 

[Miraculix]

I finally got settled into our new house and am itching to brew something. I haven't made anything since last June!!!

I have a packet of Voss and like 11 lbs of 2-row that is starting to get old and a ton of cascade hops equally as old. Maybe I'll throw it together and make a Viking SMaSH since i don't have my fementation chamber set up yet.

I messed around with Hornidal someone gave me but haven't tried Voss yet. Screw it I'm brewing tonight!!!

That´s the spirit! My advice, keep the OG above 1.055. 1.065 is probably even better. If the tartness comes a bit through, higher OGs will mask it better.

Unfortunately, I'm a big fan of lower OG beers... so I'll stick to the english yeasts I guess.

 

[BolgBeorach]

I'm interested to see what happens when I start treating water on my next batch. Hops may also be the culprit, but I'm not sure.

I use RO water without additions, if that is of any help.

 

[NobleNewt]

I use RO water without additions, if that is of any help.

With my most recent batch of ingredients, I ordered all of the water additions to start building my water from RO. BeerSmith does a great job of creating those profiles. I’ve never messed with it, but I’ll start on my next batch.

 

[BolgBeorach]

With my most recent batch of ingredients, I ordered all of the water additions to start building my water from RO. BeerSmith does a great job of creating those profiles. I’ve never messed with it, but I’ll start on my next batch.

I actually did the same thing last week, interestingly enough. Got a few bags of minerals to use in a weissbier I'll do soon. I figured I was making the extra effort on everything else, so I might as well level up on the water aspect as well. Being able to start from a neutral RO base is also worth making the full use of

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

I find that using nutrients in kveik beers make the beers better. Just my two cents. Especially for under 1050OG beers

 

[Miraculix]

I find that using nutrients in kveik beers make the beers better. Just my two cents. Especially for under 1050OG beers

What was the exact effect you got from the nutrients?

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

What was the exact effect you got from the nutrients?

Well in my opinion most kveik yeasts have this kinda sharp bitter taste to it. With the nutrients I've noticed that most of that is gone. Like there's still the citrusy taste but less of it. I always ferment at 38degrees celcius with Voss and at 33degrees with Hornindal. Actually have started to prefer the horningdal lately (3-4 batches)

 

[Miraculix]

Well in my opinion most kveik yeasts have this kinda sharp bitter taste to it. With the nutrients I've noticed that most of that is gone. Like there's still the citrusy taste but less of it. I always ferment at 38degrees celcius with Voss and at 33degrees with Hornindal. Actually have started to prefer the horningdal lately (3-4 batches)

Good info, I also really don't like that specific taste and had that a lot in my beers.

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

Good info, I also really don't like that specific taste and had that a lot in my beers.

Cool, glad you could use it. I've brewed with kveik now almost exclusively for over 2, maybe even three years now. Started with the real farm stuff from Voss, tried the lallemand stuff, didn't like it much. May have been my fault. Now I love Horningdal. It's awesome. I ferment under pressure at high psi and high temp. Last beer took just over 32 hours to finish

 

[Miraculix]

Cool, glad you could use it. I've brewed with kveik now almost exclusively for over 2, maybe even three years now. Started with the real farm stuff from Voss, tried the lallemand stuff, didn't like it much. May have been my fault. Now I love Horningdal. It's awesome. I ferment under pressure at high psi and high temp. Last beer took just over 32 hours to finish

I also started with an original from Norway. That was fun! It infected my lager starter once and sloooowly turned that at first perfectly clean lager into a kveik

Then I also checked Voss, was a bit too tart for me. I hope this tartness is what you are referring to with "bite" because later on I got the same thing from lutra.

Lutra without this bite would be really nice.

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

I also started with an original from Norway. That was fun! It infected my lager starter once and sloooowly turned that at first perfectly clean lager into a kveik

Then I also checked Voss, was a bit too tart for me. I hope this tartness is what you are referring to with "bite" because later on I got the same thing from lutra.

Lutra without this bite would be really nice.

Yes. Tart, that's the word I was looking for. Cool experiment with the clean lager!

Also I've found that you need to chill to room temp before adding dryhops. I think over 30 degrees brings out to much, eeeh I dunno... Resin haha, from the hops.

Still. I love my kveik strains. I must be on gen 15-20 on the Voss and 6-7 on the horningdal. They are still going strong. Love the stuff. I've also noticed that some hops don't agree well with voss. Like sabro. I made a simple smash from pale malt and sabro with Voss. It came out weird. Not bad. Just weird. Also with cascade if added late two of my beers have come out kinda sour, like a squeesed lemon. Don't know. I'm by no means a pro. But I've been doing this for over 5 years now.

 

[Miraculix]

Yes. Tart, that's the word I was looking for. Cool experiment with the clean lager!

Also I've found that you need to chill to room temp before adding dryhops. I think over 30 degrees brings out to much, eeeh I dunno... Resin haha, from the hops.

Still. I love my kveik strains. I must be on gen 15-20 on the Voss and 6-7 on the horningdal. They are still going strong. Love the stuff. I've also noticed that some hops don't agree well with voss. Like sabro. I made a simple smash from pale malt and sabro with Voss. It came out weird. Not bad. Just weird. Also with cascade if added late two of my beers have come out kinda sour, like a squeesed lemon. Don't know. I'm by no means a pro. But I've been doing this for over 5 years now.

Well.... That experiment was not on purpose, but it certainly was interesting to see that the typical kveik flavour took over more and more each day passed, after bottling. At first Vienna lager, after two months Vienna kveik.

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

Well.... That experiment was not on purpose, but it certainly was interesting to see that the typical kveik flavour took over more and more each day passed, after bottling. At first Vienna lager, after two months Vienna kveik.

I can imagine that was interesting. Hehe. Vienna kveik sounds awesome though so I'm sure it didn't feel like a loss. How are your results with clearness. Mine vary so much. I mean of course they clear up given enough time. But kinda defeats the purpuse if you have to wait a month, right? Some of mine take literally hours to clear, others take weeks. Kveik beers that is. I've started adding gelatine to the cloudy ones. I just think it's weird how different more or less the same recipe can be.

 

[NGD]

@Julian Høstan Urrea I’ve had similar results using Voss from two different sources. Most the of time they don’t want to clear. Sometimes they drop clear within a week. I’d like to hear if anyone has had success figuring out what causes this.

 

[El Duderino]

@Julian Høstan Urrea I’ve had similar results using Voss from two different sources. Most the of time they don’t want to clear. Sometimes they drop clear within a week. I’d like to hear if anyone has had success figuring out what causes this.

I had the same issue. Brewed teh same recipe 2 seperate times each with fresh yeast from the packets, 1 beer cleared, and the other stayed hazy through the whole keg

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

I had the same issue. Brewed teh same recipe 2 seperate times each with fresh yeast from the packets, 1 beer cleared, and the other stayed hazy through the whole keg

I'm thinking it could have something to do with late hop addicions? Like what happens with Neipa ( New England Pale Ale)? I do love my kveik though. My last one is a pale ale with some tropical hops fermented with horningdal. Wonderful

 

[rhys333]

Has anyone tried combining the Voss kveik strain with simple sugars like invert syrup?

I'm thinking about adding a pound of homemade invert #3 to a wheat beer fermented with Voss and I'm wondering if it might result in some ester weirdness. I'm not aiming for a particular style here. Just a light amberish wheat beer with some interesting caramel and toffee undertones. It will be a moderate 1.050, 5% beer with balanced C-hop flavor and aroma. Something like:

50% Wheat malt
33% 2 Row
12% #3 invert
5% C60

 

[Miraculix]

Has anyone tried combining the Voss kveik strain with simple sugars like invert syrup?

I'm thinking about adding a pound of homemade invert #3 to a wheat beer fermented with Voss and I'm wondering if it might result in some ester weirdness. I'm not aiming for a particular style here. Just a light amberish wheat beer with some interesting caramel and toffee undertones. It will be a moderate 1.050, 5% beer with balanced C-hop flavor and aroma. Something like:

50% Wheat malt
33% 2 Row
12% #3 invert
5% C60

My concern would be that the invert won't provide any nutrients but sugar and kveiks really want their nutrients to metabolise the sugar.