LALBREW® VOSS KVEIK ALE YEAST

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I found the Voss stalled with an elderflower fizz ferment. Had to keep adding nutrient and keep it really hot. Got there in the end.
 
Okay, I'm trying another angle. What do you all think about a buckwheat honey kveik ale? I'm imaging a simple malty beer with good head retention and pleasant hop character. I'd add up to a pound of honey after it's chewed through the malt sugars. Something like:

KVEIK
1.047 - 1.010, 28 IBU, 5.5 gal
30% 2 Row
30% Munich 6
30% Wheat
10% Buckwheat honey (cold side)
Bittering @ 60
1oz Willamette @ 15 & 2
LalBrew Voss yeast
 
Not sure why you would wait for the malts to be chewed up to add the honey, just add it to your ferment vessel if you don't want it to get hot and lose the aroma. Some do say that the honey can have bacteria etc in it that is disabled by the high sugar content hence adding it on the hot side. Could add it at whirlpool 65 celsius which would pasteurise it. I don't bother and just chuck it in when I've used our honey.

Would recommend that you have a double dose of yeast nutrient and some kettle finings.

Let me know how it comes out as we are just about to harvest our honey.
 
DuncB said:
Not sure why you would wait for the malts to be chewed up to add the honey, just add it to your ferment vessel if you don't want it to get hot and lose the aroma. Some do say that the honey can have bacteria etc in it that is disabled by the high sugar content hence adding it on the hot side. Could add it at whirlpool 65 celsius which would pasteurise it. I don't bother and just chuck it in when I've used our honey.

Would recommend that you have a double dose of yeast nutrient and some kettle finings.

Let me know how it comes out as we are just about to harvest our honey.
Click to expand...

I probably will just throw it in the fermentor at the start. I had planed to brew this Sunday, but something unexpected happened and it will be another week before I can. Will report my results back here. I think it will be a nice beer. The only question being if the buckwheat honey character actually comes through.
 
rhys333 said:
I probably will just throw it in the fermentor at the start. I had planed to brew this Sunday, but something unexpected happened and it will be another week before I can. Will report my results back here. I think it will be a nice beer. The only question being if the buckwheat honey character actually comes through.
Click to expand...
Buckwheat will come through, don't use too much the flavour can mess a beer up if used too much.

Pasteurize it before throwing it into the beer! There are wild yeasts inside that could create bottle bombs or ruin the beer in other ways.
 
I got lucky with our honey when I primed with it in a manuka smoked malt honey beer.

But we have very clean bees!

It might make it funky as well.
 
rhys333 said:
Okay, I'm trying another angle. What do you all think about a buckwheat honey kveik ale? I'm imaging a simple malty beer with good head retention and pleasant hop character. I'd add up to a pound of honey after it's chewed through the malt sugars. Something like:

KVEIK
1.047 - 1.010, 28 IBU, 5.5 gal
30% 2 Row
30% Munich 6
30% Wheat
10% Buckwheat honey (cold side)
Bittering @ 60
1oz Willamette @ 15 & 2
LalBrew Voss yeast
Click to expand...

Brewed this today, with one change: cascade @ 15 minutes instead of Willamette. Should have results in 10 days, @DuncB
 
Miraculix said:
Buckwheat will come through, don't use too much the flavour can mess a beer up if used too much.

Pasteurize it before throwing it into the beer! There are wild yeasts inside that could create bottle bombs or ruin the beer in other ways.
Click to expand...

I'm kegging and using the kveik monster, so I'll wing it with the honey on this one.
 
I finally got around to kegging the buckwheat honey kveik today. It went from 1.048 to 1.008, or 5.25% and 83% attenuation.

The gravity sample tastes nice, but I'm not getting any buckwheat honey character at all. Perhaps it will show after carbonation, but I'm leaning towards the buckwheat flavor concerns as a myth. That said, maybe the stuff I have is less potent than other sources. There was a thin film on top of the beer, but I think this is wax or other residuals from the natural honey I used rather that some sort of infection. Time will tell if it affects head retention.
 
Wax would be solid at those temps, normally solid up well over 40 celsius. Assume you weren't pasteurising.

I think that getting any aroma off honey is tricky when it is being added to bold ingredients. When I made a Manuka smoked malt honey beer the malt completely overpowered the honey which was pahutokawa based. I think honey sugar adds the complexity but aroma not so sure.
The wax on the top would be a great way to reduce oxidation though if it was achievable. Fill bottle, wax oil floats to top and solidifies on the surface perfect. Sadly " ye canna change the laws of physics Jim ".
 
DuncB said:
Wax would be solid at those temps, normally solid up well over 40 celsius. Assume you weren't pasteurising.

I think that getting any aroma off honey is tricky when it is being added to bold ingredients. When I made a Manuka smoked malt honey beer the malt completely overpowered the honey which was pahutokawa based. I think honey sugar adds the complexity but aroma not so sure.
The wax on the top would be a great way to reduce oxidation though if it was achievable. Fill bottle, wax oil floats to top and solidifies on the surface perfect. Sadly " ye canna change the laws of physics Jim ".
Click to expand...

I didn't pasteurise. Just dump and go. :rock:

I'll have another look at it shortly, as I've yet to complete the keg transfer.
 
Didn't think that you were pasteurising just pulling your leg there.
I don't think that it would be Propolis either as that has a very distinctive taste and the bees don't normally have that on the comb. They use it as glue to fill holes and stick things. It almost tastes like pine resin / medicinal it's very distinctive.
 
DuncB said:
Didn't think that you were pasteurising just pulling your leg there.
I don't think that it would be Propolis either as that has a very distinctive taste and the bees don't normally have that on the comb. They use it as glue to fill holes and stick things. It almost tastes like pine resin / medicinal it's very distinctive.
Click to expand...


I didn't notice the film again when I went to keg the beer. Just a little bit of hop oil. Based on your above description though, what I initially saw seemed like it might be wax. It was a thin and delicate film, almost invisible, and may have been solid. Very, very thin though.

I tasted some last night after one day of carbonation. Still a ways to go before I know for sure, but it seems to have good head retention. So far it's drinking like a lawnmower beer. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

EDIT: I just had a honey kveik barley sandwich at lunchtime. For scientific purposes, of course. There's a definite background flavor that I can't attribute to malt, yeast or process. It's sort of tangy, in a nice way. I don't think anyone could pick it out specifically as honey flavor though.

20210422_125934.jpg
 
Last edited:
Adding my experience to this thread. Brewed a batch of Centennial Blonde on Monday afternoon (4/19) with hopes of it being ready by Friday evening. Pitched a full packet of yeast into 4 gallons of 1.048 wort at 85 F at 6 PM. Didn't have any nutrient to add. First noticed blowoff activity at 8:30 PM. A heating pad kept fermentation between 82 and 92 F the entire time.

Fermentation Schedule:
4/19 06:00 PM - SG: 1.048
4/20 03:00 PM - SG: 1.014
4/21 11:00 AM - SG: 1.012
4/21 09:00 PM - SG: 1.010
4/22 08:00 AM - SG: 1.010

Cold crashing as we speak then will add gelatin when the temperature comes down and force carb it overnight.

The last sample has a nice citrus aroma and flavor and a light body which should play well with the anticipated audience. Still can't believe how quickly this yeast was able to finish up and I'm excited to see how it tastes carbed up! I'll follow up soon.
 
2BedroomBrewing said:
Still can't believe how quickly this yeast was able to finish up and I'm excited to see how it tastes carbed up!
Click to expand...

I have not used the dried Voss, just Voss from Omega. The thing that has shocked me more than the fast fermentation times was how fast the beer cleaned up. I usually count on an ale to take 2 weeks to ferment, another week to carbonate, and another week or two of conditioning to hit prime. I kicked my first 5 gal keg of Voss IPA 4 weeks after brew day!
 
CascadesBrewer said:
The thing that has shocked me more than the fast fermentation times was how fast the beer cleaned up.
Click to expand...
This is great to hear because I ultimately opted not to fine with gelatin in case 24 hours wasn't long enough for it to work (I usually do 48 hours)

DuncB said:
I didn't find the dried Voss that quick at clearing, but it was in an elderflower wine. But the Opshaug dropped like an anvil in a vacuum.
Click to expand...
Right now it's got a haze that I would compare to how US-05 looks for the first week or so on draft without fining. Usually I like to serve my beers as clear as possible (when appropriate), but given the rush I've had to throw that out the window. I'll keep you posted on how long it takes to clear up!
 
2BedroomBrewing said:
This is great to hear because I ultimately opted not to fine with gelatin in case 24 hours wasn't long enough for it to work (I usually do 48 hours)
Click to expand...

Note, that I am referencing the yeast cleaning up any off flavors (or maybe not producing them to start with). My two dry hopped Voss beers remained hazy (though neither lasted long). My last non-dry hopped Pale Ale did drop very clear but it took a week or two in the keg (that one did have some hops at flameout and whirlpool and 10% flaked oats). I never have added finings to a beer and I don't care much about crystal clear beer. The time I made a starter to build up some Voss, the starter dropped crystal clear in about a day without cold crashing.
 
i've only used the dried voss in hoppy pales, and at that, further off the charts, in no-boil, whirlpool at 170f pale ales. If it flocculates, i would never know it.

But with 1/2 pkg pitch rate (1.1 gm/gal) and 95F fermentation, the orange ester is pronounced.
 
I had only used the omega voss, but did not have very good clarity, it was not awful but not that clear. I figured it had more to do with high pitch temp without a good cold break then it did with the yeast.

I have some the dry voss but I am waiting for the temp to warm up before trying it. I did not get orange from the omega voss, hope I can get it from the dry version.
 
ba-brewer said:
I had only used the omega voss, but did not have very good clarity, it was not awful but not that clear. I figured it had more to do with high pitch temp without a good cold break then it did with the yeast.

I have some the dry voss but I am waiting for the temp to warm up before trying it. I did not get orange from the omega voss, hope I can get it from the dry version.
Click to expand...

1.1 gm/gal pitch rate, 95F, I have done it 3 times with a pkg of Lallemand Voss and gotten the orange.
 
ba-brewer said:
I did not get orange from the omega voss, hope I can get it from the dry version.
Click to expand...

I got a very strong "sweet orange" character in the two Omega Voss beers that I fermented hot (85F). I am not positive of my pitch rate. I made a small starter with the pack, mostly to build up some volume that I could split. I then split that yeast into 4 jars. I pitched one of those fresh into a 5 gal batch and one of those 11 months old into a 2.5 gal batch. I pitched the same amount into another 2.5 gal batch that I fermented at room temp, and got minimal orange character. Yeast nutrient added to all batches.
 
Thanks for the info @CascadesBrewer and @balrog.

I fermented in mid 90s, but I also did a bitters at high ale temps that turned out OK.

I still have some slurry from the Omega Voss, might do a side by side trail at some point. I brew in the garage and getting temps up into the 80s and 90s is not the easiest thing right now but a couple months it will be a different story.
 
2BedroomBrewing said:
Adding my experience to this thread. Brewed a batch of Centennial Blonde on Monday afternoon (4/19) with hopes of it being ready by Friday evening. Pitched a full packet of yeast into 4 gallons of 1.048 wort at 85 F at 6 PM. Didn't have any nutrient to add. First noticed blowoff activity at 8:30 PM. A heating pad kept fermentation between 82 and 92 F the entire time.

Fermentation Schedule:
4/19 06:00 PM - SG: 1.048
4/20 03:00 PM - SG: 1.014
4/21 11:00 AM - SG: 1.012
4/21 09:00 PM - SG: 1.010
4/22 08:00 AM - SG: 1.010

Cold crashing as we speak then will add gelatin when the temperature comes down and force carb it overnight.

The last sample has a nice citrus aroma and flavor and a light body which should play well with the anticipated audience. Still can't believe how quickly this yeast was able to finish up and I'm excited to see how it tastes carbed up! I'll follow up soon.
Click to expand...

UPDATE: 6 days later and this beer is very drinkable! Smooth and light with just enough bitterness and a lovely citrus note.

On days 4 and 5 there was still too much yeast in suspension which gave it an unwanted tart yeast flavor although even then it was still pretty drinkable. Excited to see how this beer further develops by next weekend!
 

Attachments

  • 20210425_164914.jpg
    20210425_164914.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 31
2BedroomBrewing said:
UPDATE: 6 days later and this beer is very drinkable! Smooth and light with just enough bitterness and a lovely citrus note.

On days 4 and 5 there was still too much yeast in suspension which gave it an unwanted tart yeast flavor although even then it was still pretty drinkable. Excited to see how this beer further develops by next weekend!
Click to expand...

I have yet to draw out that orange citrus flavor in my Voss kveiks. Maybe this summer I can get a batch up past 90F.
 
I pitched a pack yesterday (5/1) at 4:30 pm. I checked on it this morning at 5 am - gravity had dropped from 1.060 to 1.025. I then went to work for 6 hours and checked again. It's now at 1.013. Wow! My fermenter is in a warmish (mid to upper 70's) garage and I put the brew belt on under a sweat shirt. Temp has been 94-97 so far.
 
rtstrider said:
@rhys333 It looks like you may be onto something with that Voss kolsch

https://rivalrybrews.com/products/voss-kolsch
I have a smack pack of 2565 waiting to be used since I've never tried it. Brewing the Centennial blonde next weekend for something that's a really quick turn around. Around what temp did you ferment your Voss kolsch?
Click to expand...

I fermented the Voss kolsch at around 80F, and it took under a week. Last time I used 2565 it tasted great, but took 5 to 6 weeks to ferment out. That stuff is crazy slow.
 

Similar threads

duelerx
Lalbrew LoNa, a new Saccharomyces Cerevisiae hybrid yeast for Low Alcohol Beer
Replies
8
Views
2K
BrewnWKopperKat
BrewnWKopperKat
K
Tropical brewing, with no temperature control
Replies
2
Views
421
hottpeper13
H
Ali01
Anyone tried brewing a Voss kveik lager?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Closet Fermenter
Closet Fermenter
Jaurez
Pressure fermenting with Kveik Voss
Replies
3
Views
2K
ebbelwoi
ebbelwoi
J
Suggested yeast for a raw ale (other than kveik)
Replies
5
Views
657
DuncB
D

Latest posts

Back
Top