Omega Lutra yeast?

[rtstrider]

A local brewery is wanting to sample Lutra for their lite ale. They're wanting something that ferments a good bit quicker than their current yeast. I will be brewing a batch kolsch very soon. The grain is being ordered this weekend and I'm going to ferment this at 68F temp controlled this time to see if it is indeed clean. I can replicate their environment somewhat as they do not ferment under pressure. They filter so that may help removing the yeast/grape flavor as well. Here is the recipe I'll be using (will be subbing tettnang for spalt since Morebeer is out of the small packs). Also this will be stepped up from the freezer bank. Brewers friend says I should have somewhere around 400 Billion cells...Then again I don't have a microscope or way to really verify that so who knows lol Anywho here's the recipe


Title: Lutra Kolsch

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Kölsch
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.037
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.047
Final Gravity: 1.009
ABV (standard): 4.94%
IBU (tinseth): 25.59
SRM (morey): 3.22
Mash pH: 5.9

FERMENTABLES:
8.25 lb - BEST Heidelberg (84.6%)
0.5 lb - BEST Vienna (5.1%)
0.5 lb - BEST Wheat Malt (5.1%)
0.5 lb - BEST Munich (5.1%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Hallertau Mittelfruh, Type: Pellet, AA: 3.75, Use: First Wort, IBU: 8.01
0.5 oz - Spalt, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: First Wort, IBU: 9.62
0.5 oz - Hallertau Mittelfruh, Type: Pellet, AA: 3.75, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 3.62
0.5 oz - Spalt, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 4.34

 

[Miraculix]

A local brewery is wanting to sample Lutra for their lite ale. They're wanting something that ferments a good bit quicker than their current yeast. I will be brewing a batch kolsch very soon. The grain is being ordered this weekend and I'm going to ferment this at 68F temp controlled this time to see if it is indeed clean. I can replicate their environment somewhat as they do not ferment under pressure. They filter so that may help removing the yeast/grape flavor as well. Here is the recipe I'll be using (will be subbing tettnang for spalt since Morebeer is out of the small packs). Also this will be stepped up from the freezer bank. Brewers friend says I should have somewhere around 400 Billion cells...Then again I don't have a microscope or way to really verify that so who knows lol Anywho here's the recipe


Title: Lutra Kolsch

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Kölsch
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.037
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.047
Final Gravity: 1.009
ABV (standard): 4.94%
IBU (tinseth): 25.59
SRM (morey): 3.22
Mash pH: 5.9

FERMENTABLES:
8.25 lb - BEST Heidelberg (84.6%)
0.5 lb - BEST Vienna (5.1%)
0.5 lb - BEST Wheat Malt (5.1%)
0.5 lb - BEST Munich (5.1%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Hallertau Mittelfruh, Type: Pellet, AA: 3.75, Use: First Wort, IBU: 8.01
0.5 oz - Spalt, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: First Wort, IBU: 9.62
0.5 oz - Hallertau Mittelfruh, Type: Pellet, AA: 3.75, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 3.62
0.5 oz - Spalt, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 4.34

AFAIK brewer's friend doesn't know about kveik pitch rates. You can go crazy low with these guys.

 

[rtstrider]

AFAIK brewer's friend doesn't know about kveik pitch rates. You can go crazy low with these guys.

There's a section in the yeast pitch rate calculator that offers slurry counts in general now. It's a pretty new feature. If nothing else it's a neat assumption of yeast counts lol

 

[Miraculix]

There's a section in the yeast pitch rate calculator that offers slurry counts in general now. It's a pretty new feature. If nothing else it's a neat assumption of yeast counts lol

That's nice. Although kveiks are a whole different beast. One teaspoon (yes, teaspoon) of slurry into five gallons yields good results for most of them. I wouldn't recommend this for lutra as you want it to be clean, but it shows the possibilities and what kveik is actually able to do. I'm always just throwing in what I got, no need for calculations here imho.

 

[balrog]

I think low pitch accentuates esters, which I don't think you want. I"ve not tried Lutra at low pitch rates, which I regularly use to get the orange ester from Voss (<1 gm/gal at ~1.045 OG). But all my attempts with Lutra have thrown the white grape/pear. It does fade with time conditioning cold in the keg, but I always hoped for fast fast fast as the war cry of Kveik yeast.

 

[rtstrider]

I think low pitch accentuates esters, which I don't think you want. I"ve not tried Lutra at low pitch rates, which I regularly use to get the orange ester from Voss (<1 gm/gal at ~1.045 OG). But all my attempts with Lutra have thrown the white grape/pear. It does fade with time conditioning cold in the keg, but I always hoped for fast fast fast as the war cry of Kveik yeast.

I plan on fermenting this brew at a temp controlled 68f. Not too concerned about time of fermentation on this batch. Just want a nice baseline. If it turns out then I’ll rebrew and bump it up to say 75f and go in variants of 5f from there. That’s a big if

 

[balrog]

I've done Pils-type recipe at 80F, 70F, and 68F. No pressure ferm. Always got grape/pear. I was following the Dr Hans vid and the diff was he did 30psi ferment, which must suppress the ester below detection. I finally decided that for a lighter style beer I'll just do my Kolsch with the GigaYeast-021 in the same amt of time.

 

[rtstrider]

I've done Pils-type recipe at 80F, 70F, and 68F. No pressure ferm. Always got grape/pear. I was following the Dr Hans vid and the diff was he did 30psi ferment, which must suppress the ester below detection. I finally decided that for a lighter style beer I'll just do my Kolsch with the GigaYeast-021 in the same amt of time.

I have an extra keg now and wanted to ferment this at 68f no pressure so there's a baseline to work with. Once that's done I'll get/build a spunding valve for the ball lock keg. Shouldn't be TOO difficult That's what I'm hearing is needed from multiple sources to keep the esters down. Just wanted the temp controlled baseline first.

Edit: I just put in the grain order. Will be brewing a cream ale this weekend, Yoopers Fizzy Yellow Beer (using Imperial G-03 aka WLP029) next weekend, and the Lutra brew the weekend after. Having to play major catchup due to being out of town, and providing beer, on a family vacation This will allow time for the Lutra brew to be transferred to secondary and possibly lager a tad before going into the keg. Really want to treat this like a "lager" per se to try and mimic a clean beer.

 

[balrog]

providing beer

holidays and family are two big inventory depletion event creators. And the tennis bunch. And when I'm thirsty.

 

[rtstrider]

holidays and family are two big inventory depletion event creators. And the tennis bunch. And when I'm thirsty.

Absolutely! That and well the wife said we're giving away 6 packs of homebrew to family members for Christmas so yeah that put brewing/catching up into overdrive lol As of right now there's a Soulless Hop Pale Ale (morebeer kit) using Bells yeast, next up is the speckled heifer kit using wlp080, Yoopers Fizzy Yellow Beer with Imperial G-03 (aka WLP029), and then the Lutra Kolsch. All being brewed the next couple of weekends. So yep it's getting busy! Really curious to see how the Lutra Kolsch turns out though. Thinking if I go into it with a "kolsch" mindset it would be more fitting than expecting a pseudo helles.

 

[matteroftaste]

Update on my hard seltzer. I’m rusty and forgot you can’t take late ferm readings with a refractometer. The 4 brix i was reading was actually 0.995 it was finished in 48hrs. It’s cloudy and tastes like a watered down wine, but mixes well with squash. Cold crashing to see if I can get rid of some of the haze, but I’m not really to fussed.

 

[Miraculix]

Update on my hard seltzer. I’m rusty and forgot you can’t take late ferm readings with a refractometer. The 4 brix i was reading was actually 0.995 it was finished in 48hrs. It’s cloudy and tastes like a watered down wine, but mixes well with squash. Cold crashing to see if I can get rid of some of the haze, but I’m not really to fussed.

I made a Mead with lutra and it never fully cleared... tasted good though....

 

[matteroftaste]

I made a Mead with lutra and it never fully cleared... tasted good though....

Not that bothered either, I expected haze as I used tap water. Honestly I’m mostly relieved it wasn’t a stuck fermentation as I originally thought. It was just done. Nuts. Might make this a cloudy hard lemonade, it’s pretty good with a little sugar and lots of lemon juice.

 

[rtstrider]

Lutra has been pitched from the freezer stash into a small starter. It should be ready for the Kolsch next weekend. Will be doing a 68F temp controlled ferment this go around to see what, if any, difference this makes in the final product

 

[rtstrider]

This has been fermenting at 68F for right under 72 hours. The krausen is beginning to drop. I pulled the lid off the bucket fermenter and I got that grape musk smell right away. I'm going to give this another week or so in primary then try racking to secondary, lagering/gelatin it for a bit before kegging. So far this is very reminiscent of the non temp controlled brew. This was supposedly a very hefty pitch rate at around 400 billion cells in 5.5 gallons of 1.047 wort. I doubled the amount of yeast nutrient in the boil as well. I'm not going to go with myth busted just yet because I'm still working to get this "clean" ferment that is being marketed. The next ferment will be in a keg with a spunding valve set to 15 psi at room temps. That's what the kveik facebook forums swear by in regards to clean fermentation. I still think if this falls into the background it would make a decent kolsch yeast but it would have to majorly fall in the background. I'll keep this posted as the fermentation continues

Edit: This is very reminiscent of when Hothead was touted to be a "clean" yeast. I guess clean is very subjective. When I think "clean" I think of a yeast that falls out and offers little to no character to the beer. Think wlp001 or the real chico (aka yeast slurry built up from Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) if given time to cold condition. Wyeast 1007 fermented cold then allowed time to lager and drop out would be another prime candidate of a clean yeast imo. To me that's the standard of ale yeast that mimics a lager yeast. Maybe I'm just too picky though?

 

[rtstrider]

I just pulled a sample from the fermenter. This is much cleaner than the first time. There’s still a definite musk in the background but that’s where it is…Background. I’m thinking the key to being “clean” here is pitch very heavy (400 billion cells in a 5 gallon batch), temp control to 68f, and just time. I’m eager to see what comes of this after some cold conditioning but Kolsch is exactly where this belongs!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Lutra is a low fluctuation yeast, if you don't cold crash or keg it for 2 weeks your tasting the yeast, as clean as it is it still has a texture or you can taste the difference but after conditioning correctly you can't beet it, good luck

 

[rtstrider]

Lutra is a low fluctuation yeast, if you don't cold crash or keg it for 2 weeks your tasting the yeast, as clean as it is it still has a texture or you can taste the difference but after conditioning correctly you can't beet it, good luck

I have two options here. One is to prime this in the keg via priming sugar and the other is to rack it to secondary and lager it until a keg opens. I’m torn on which route to take but at leaning towards lagering the batch until a keg opens up. Essentially I want to give this every shot possible at being “clean” I say the rest of the recipe is a definite keeper!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I have two options here. One is to prime this in the keg via priming sugar and the other is to rack it to secondary and lager it until a keg opens. I’m torn on which route to take but at leaning towards lagering the batch until a keg opens up. Essentially I want to give this every shot possible at being “clean” I say the rest of the recipe is a definite keeper!

That's up to you but I've even tried to grow half a pint and it still doesn't drop at 45f sitting for a week

 

[lumbergh]

The Oktoberfest I used it on dropped super clear after a month or so in the keg.

 

[rtstrider]

The beer was clear in the fermenter and tasted "clean" to me. Not American ale clean but I don't want to make a final judgement until this keg has had proper cold conditioning/fining time. I will say this is much cleaner than my last venture. Things to note that seemed to help

Pitch very heavy (around 400 billion cells for 5 gallons) - I build up to a 2 liter starter. I think a 1.040 2 liter starter with yeast straight from the pack would work just as well
Control the ferment temperature at 68F with a 2 degree variance
Give the yeast time not only to ferment, but, to clean up and drop out
Double the amount of yeast nutrient in the boil (I normally use 2.2 grams per 5 gallons at the 10 minute mark. I use 4.4 grams at 10 minutes with Kveik)

Basically treat this like your normal ale yeast. I pitch heavy on those too for insurance. In regards to the ferment temp I plan on playing around with this and seeing if this is temperature specific or specific to variance in temperature changes. As of now the beer has been racked over to a keg with priming sugar. The kegerators full and there was an empty keg sitting around...Figured why not lol Anywho I'll make sure to post pictures of the first pour and give another review. That'll be sometime early next year. Hopefully this helps anyone else looking for the way to get "clean" results with this yeast

 

[Miraculix]

The beer was clear in the fermenter and tasted "clean" to me. Not American ale clean but I don't want to make a final judgement until this keg has had proper cold conditioning/fining time. I will say this is much cleaner than my last venture. Things to note that seemed to help

Pitch very heavy (around 400 billion cells for 5 gallons) - I build up to a 2 liter starter. I think a 1.040 2 liter starter with yeast straight from the pack would work just as well
Control the ferment temperature at 68F with a 2 degree variance
Give the yeast time not only to ferment, but, to clean up and drop out
Double the amount of yeast nutrient in the boil (I normally use 2.2 grams per 5 gallons at the 10 minute mark. I use 4.4 grams at 10 minutes with Kveik)

Basically treat this like your normal ale yeast. I pitch heavy on those too for insurance. In regards to the ferment temp I plan on playing around with this and seeing if this is temperature specific or specific to variance in temperature changes. As of now the beer has been racked over to a keg with priming sugar. The kegerators full and there was an empty keg sitting around...Figured why not lol Anywho I'll make sure to post pictures of the first pour and give another review. That'll be sometime early next year. Hopefully this helps anyone else looking for the way to get "clean" results with this yeast

So basically no benefits

What I experienced is that the kveik twang increases with time in the bottle or keg. The longer it's stored, the more pronounced the kveikyness gets.

 

[rtstrider]

So basically no benefits

What I experienced is that the kveik twang increases with time in the bottle or keg. The longer it's stored, the more pronounced the kveikyness gets.

Cold conditioning has a way of cleaning up things so that's why I'm holding off on a final judgement lol There's no twang here like Hothead or Voss so far. This still has a malty grape-ness to it but its much less pronounced than it was in the previous brews. There's a musk that was there prior to the yeast flocculating out. The keg is filled to the brim so will have to pull a few pints first before fining with gelatin

 

[Miraculix]

Cold conditioning has a way of cleaning up things so that's why I'm holding off on a final judgement lol There's no twang here like Hothead or Voss so far. This still has a malty grape-ness to it but its much less pronounced than it was in the previous brews. There's a musk that was there prior to the yeast flocculating out. The keg is filled to the brim so will have to pull a few pints first before fining with gelatin

I think I have been at that stage with my Kveik ARA as well. Pretty clean to begin with, almost no "kveikness" or kveik twang. But later on it came to the surface, I think probably one to two months after bottling I recognised it first time and it increased with time. It was still far lower than the kveik twang that Voss imparted to my beer, so still a pretty clean brew BUT with a twang that was big enough that another experienced brewer instantly recognised it. He frequently travels to Norway and knows his kveik stuff, so he might be more sensitive than the everage homebrewer though.

 

[Beermeister32]

Me confused. If you have time to lager this properly, why not use a real Kolsch yeast?

 

[rtstrider]

Me confused. If you have time to lager this properly, why not use a real Kolsch yeast?

So far between 2565 and Imperial G-03 (wlp029) my preference is Imperial G-03. Personally haven't messed with other kolsch yeasts successfully yet. Koln is on the list. In this batch the goal is to more or less wanting to replicate the "clean" characteristics of the Lutra yeast as that's what's being advertised. The previous Lutra beer, Omega Lutra Helles, left a ton to be desired in the "clean" department.

 

[rtstrider]

Here‘s the kolsch that was fermented with Lutra. This is much much much better than the Omega Helles recommendation. Honestly this is worth a rebrew! The ibus are in the mid 20s so it helps cover up the yeast. It does not taste like 20 ibus. This is very light, refreshing, and flat out crisp!

 

[lumbergh]

I was thinking about making an American wheat ale with Lutra as I don't have fermentation temp control temporarily and ambient temps are a little too warm for most yeasts. Any thoughts?
I also have Voss.

 

[royger]

I would use Voss. I think the slightly fruity profile would be better.

 

[DJL531]

I seem to have the worst luck with these strains. Last one I used was Omega and it got stuck at 1.024. I had some Voss that I collected from another brew, made a starter, pitched it and it died after 2 days. It went from 1.057 to 1.026 and sat there for almost a week. It is now sitting on a heating pad to keep it warm, but after 5 days I am only down to 1.019. This is a pilsen LME 2.5 gallon brew, so about as simple as you can get. Today is day #11. If I can make it another 5 points I will keg it and call it quits for this yeast.

 

[DuncB]

I double the yeast nutrients with all my Kveiks you could try a refeed of the Pilsen.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I was thinking about making an American wheat ale with Lutra as I don't have fermentation temp control temporarily and ambient temps are a little too warm for most yeasts. Any thoughts?
I also have Voss.

HB American Apricot Wheat Beer with Lutra. Brewed this last summer and then again i late fall. They both got good reviews.

 

[rtstrider]

Got the itch and tried Lutra in a cream ale. Tried a different technique that I haven't used yet due to all of the mentions of pressure fermentation being clean with Lutra. I fermented without an airlock. I used a bucket fermenter with a transfer hose in the air lock hole. I put a piece of sanitized foil over the hose and let it ride at room temps. Keep in mind I got crazy low efficiency this brew (not related at all to Lutra) so this beer is in the 3.5% abv range. OG was 1.035 and it's super dry. I'll be darned though...It's actually flippin clean! So recommendation for those searching for a clean brew...

Do not use an airlock or pressurized fermenter. Let this off gas naturally. That's the trick!

This actually tastes like American cheap swill but you know what? Mowing weather is here and in another week this keg will be carbonated! Perfect timing!

 

[Miraculix]

Got the itch and tried Lutra in a cream ale. Tried a different technique that I haven't used yet due to all of the mentions of pressure fermentation being clean with Lutra. I fermented without an airlock. I used a bucket fermenter with a transfer hose in the air lock hole. I put a piece of sanitized foil over the hose and let it ride at room temps. Keep in mind I got crazy low efficiency this brew (not related at all to Lutra) so this beer is in the 3.5% abv range. OG was 1.035 and it's super dry. I'll be darned though...It's actually flippin clean! So recommendation for those searching for a clean brew...

Do not use an airlock or pressurized fermenter. Let this off gas naturally. That's the trick!

This actually tastes like American cheap swill but you know what? Mowing weather is here and in another week this keg will be carbonated! Perfect timing!

Air locks off gas completely naturally. I don't understand were you build up pressure in your system, sounds more like open fermentation to me. You need to have an air tight container that can hold internal pressure and some type of pressure release valve (spunding valve) to ferment under pressure. Just leaving our the air lock does not create a pressurised fermentation.

Low abv beers are naturally cleaner. I've had characterfull yeast getting clean as a lager with 1.03 of beers. Maybe that's why your lutra is so clean?

 

[rtstrider]

Air locks off gas completely naturally. I don't understand were you build up pressure in your system, sounds more like open fermentation to me. You need to have an air tight container that can hold internal pressure and some type of pressure release valve (spunding valve) to ferment under pressure. Just leaving our the air lock does not create a pressurised fermentation.

Low abv beers are naturally cleaner. I've had characterfull yeast getting clean as a lager with 1.03 of beers. Maybe that's why your lutra is so clean?

You know that might be it! Low abv brew and I was going for a simulated open fermentation. I'm going to rebrew this a few times and see if the efficiency can be bumped up a bit to test the low abv/clean yeast theory.

 

[Jackson Akson]

Greetings! My first day as a forum member, but I am a long time brewer. My luck with Kveik Lutra is basically 0 for 20. All basic beers of 90-95% 2-row and 5-10% cara_____ and usually 1.5 oz of varying hops. Fermentation temperatures maintained between 74 and 76F. Some fresh dry yeast used, and some batches I used rinsed cake. All 20 of my batches were grape juicy, murky, under conditioned with minimal head retention. I leave batches in primary for 27 days, secondary for 18 days and bottle condition for 45 days minimum at room temp. I have 3 more packs of yeast that I will probably add to the compost pile instead of ruining more beer....... but question: Does Lutra need to be used quicker? Is 45 days in a carboy too long causing the yeast to die off? Do flavors really get worse with more time?

 

[rtstrider]

Greetings! My first day as a forum member, but I am a long time brewer. My luck with Kveik Lutra is basically 0 for 20. All basic beers of 90-95% 2-row and 5-10% cara_____ and usually 1.5 oz of varying hops. Fermentation temperatures maintained between 74 and 76F. Some fresh dry yeast used, and some batches I used rinsed cake. All 20 of my batches were grape juicy, murky, under conditioned with minimal head retention. I leave batches in primary for 27 days, secondary for 18 days and bottle condition for 45 days minimum at room temp. I have 3 more packs of yeast that I will probably add to the compost pile instead of ruining more beer....... but question: Does Lutra need to be used quicker? Is 45 days in a carboy too long causing the yeast to die off? Do flavors really get worse with more time?

Not at all! If anything you've described the experiences I've had, ester wise, using that strain to a T! Have it in a cream ale right now. It was once "clean" but now the Lutra is rearing it's ugly grape/citrus head again Pretty much done with that yeast strain tbh. Pitch rate and ferment temp really do not seem to matter from prior experiences either. I do think something crazy hoppy and bitter might work with this strain. I often wonder if the "lager like" feature of this strain is that it's crisp? Regardless I'm not the biggest fan of the strain. With that said I've heard it is cleaner under pressure so that might be worth trying. Outside of that I can't really justify a use for it in my home brewery

 

[Jackson Akson]

Not at all! If anything you've described the experiences I've had, ester wise, using that strain to a T! Have it in a cream ale right now. It was once "clean" but now the Lutra is rearing it's ugly grape/citrus head again Pretty much done with that yeast strain tbh. Pitch rate and ferment temp really do not seem to matter from prior experiences either. I do think something crazy hoppy and bitter might work with this strain. I often wonder if the "lager like" feature of this strain is that it's crisp? Regardless I'm not the biggest fan of the strain. With that said I've heard it is cleaner under pressure so that might be worth trying. Outside of that I can't really justify a use for it in my home brewery

Thanks for the quick reply. I recently broke down and bought a chest freezer large enough to handle 3 primaries. I had high hopes for Lutra during the summer months in Alabama but now I can set the temp to whatever any other yeast wants. I hope the Lutra doesn't ruin my compost. I need to eat too.

 

[BongoYodeler]

@Jackson Akson

I'm not crazy about any of the Kveik yeasts I've used where the yeast has to stand on its own. But it does have a place in my brewing as long as I can hide it behind grains, hops, or in my case flavorings. Here's an Apricot Wheat I fermented with Lutra because I needed a quicker turnaround. Transferred to the fermenter at 85° and kegged 5 days later. Dropped absolutely clear in a couple weeks. It scored a respectable 30 at a BJCP-judged contest, and the BMC crowd seemed to love it.

 

[Brooothru]

I tend to agree. Had my "fling" with Kveik yeasts. Not so impressed. Moved on.