HopsAreGood
Well-Known Member
I’ve used Lutra a bunch of times since it came out, and also the dry version since they put that out as well. A year or two ago I fermented it at 85 a few times and felt it gave really clean character. I’ve done a few with it where I’ve pushed it over 90 and every time I do that I feel like it gets this really grape musk Kind of character that can overpower the hops. It’s not unpleasant or anything but it masks the hop character. It’s my fault for pushing it that high when I know what happens when I do that. There’s another guy in here somewhere who’s had the same experience with it. I think his name is @rtstrider.I’ve fermented Lutra 3 times now and it’s been exceptionally clean. Ran it at 70/78/85/ and came out lager clean. I actually enjoy it for that reason. Quick turn around pseudo lagers for the summer. I wonder if it was the yeast or the Nelson for you?
In terms of using Columbus, it’s been a hotside go to for me personally for sometime. It helps fill the gaps with that true “hop” characters. Cascade is another one that works well for that.
Regarding your beer, it’s looks great! In your eyes, Was it the musty character that took away from the beer or was it something else? Or was it lacking something you were hoping for?
Conversely, opshaug from white labs has produced some of my favorite beers I’ve ever made. It’s marketed as a clean/neutral kveik just like Lutra, but in my experience it truly is exceptionally clean. I’ve done a single hop Citra, single hop Sabro,single hop Necteron, and a single hop eclipse and all four of those beers were straight up defined clear hop character. Truly memorable beers for me.
I have two homebrew stores fairly local to me, and only one of them Carries white labs and occasionally has opshaug. When they’re out of it I tend to settle for Lutra when I’m looking for a clean yeast. I don’t really like ordering liquid yeast through the mail.
So overall it’s a fine beer, but it has that slightly overpowering Lutra character that I’ve experienced before. I actually just purchased three packs of opshaug today and will be using them for a few upcoming brews.