Omega Lutra yeast?

[BongoYodeler]

From what I understand, the point of under pitching Kveik is to stress the yeast and encourage the production of esters, etc. So what i did was make a small starter for an 8 gallon batch and it came out great. I still fermented hot.

I second this. The whole point of Lutra is that it’s “shockingly clean.” The whole point of intentionally underpitching is to the stress the yeast and encourage ester development. Seems counterintuitive. I really, really like the one beer I made with Lutra. I pitched the whole pack, no starter, and doubled the yeast nutrient. Pitched it at 85 and fermented the whole time between 84-86. Zero complaints, just a perfectly fermented beer with little contribution from the yeast that was done in 3 days.

Makes sense as I'm not interested in encouraging esters, I just want a nice, clean schwarzbier. I'll pitch the full pack. Just interested, what did you each brew?

 

[HopsAreGood]

Makes sense as I'm not interested in encouraging esters, I just want a nice, clean schwarzbier. I'll pitch the full pack. Just interested, what did you each brew?

Scroll up to post #25

 

[BongoYodeler]

Looks great!!
I just emptied my keg of New England style ipa brewed with Voss Kveik. Hopped with Nugget, Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, and a little bit of Azacca.

Another one planned for later this fall, hopped with Strata and Mosaic and using some saved Voss.

 

[gonefishin2]

Makes sense as I'm not interested in encouraging esters, I just want a nice, clean schwarzbier. I'll pitch the full pack. Just interested, what did you each brew?

I brewed a west coast style IPL type of thing. Next up is a Marzen w Lutra—im really excited for this one.

 

[beersk]

I brewed a west coast style IPL type of thing. Next up is a Marzen w Lutra—im really excited for this one.

It will be good. My Oktoberfest bier turned out amazing. Everyone who's had it says it's great and doesn't even question whether it's a lager or not. I'm thinking about brewing another one before the weather turns cooler...

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Will be brewing the Lutra Kveik Helles Pseudo Lager recipe from Omega Yeast's webpage in a bit. I was originally going to go with Dr Hans recipe, but budget constraints prompted me to find a simpler, less expensive grain and hops bill. I'll report back on this thread soon with overall impressions.

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Update. Had a brew day from Hell. First time it's ever happened to me, but I wound up with a stuck sparge. Took forever to get the grain bed properly draining and reach my pre-boil wort volume. But, I persevered and got 5 gallons of wort goodness into the fermenter and pitched the Lutra Kveik at 80 degrees. This morning when I went to check on things.... WHOA!!!!!!!!! The airlock was already chugging away! I've never had a fermentation kick off this fast! Lutra is a beast!

 

[beersk]

Update. Had a brew day from Hell. First time it's ever happened to me, but I wound up with a stuck sparge. Took forever to get the grain bed properly draining and reach my pre-boil wort volume. But, I persevered and got 5 gallons of wort goodness into the fermenter and pitched the Lutra Kveik at 80 degrees. This morning when I went to check on things.... WHOA!!!!!!!!! The airlock was already chugging away! I've never had a fermentation kick off this fast! Lutra is a beast!

Great. Every beer I've made with Lutra has taken off within an hour. I am absolutely floored by how fast of a starter it is.

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Great. Every beer I've made with Lutra has taken off within an hour. I am absolutely floored by how fast of a starter it is.

I was really wanting to ferment this batch in my carboy so I could watch just how vigorous of a yeast Lutra is, but I couldn't find any of my drilled stoppers. Guess I know what I'll be adding to my shopping list next time I hit up the homebrew shop.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I'm about to kill the 90 minute boil on my "Schwartzbier." Going to see how Lutra does on this batch.

 

[BongoYodeler]

So yesterday I forgot to take the Lutra yeast out of the fridge until I was ready to pitch. I tried to warm it by holding the bag between my hands for a while, but ended up pitching it a bit cooler than the advised room temperature. I don't bother with an airlock, I only use a blow-off with Kveik yeasts. It took a while for fermentation (at 78°) to really get going, I assume because of the cooler pitching temperature. About 90 minutes in I heard a bubble. Six hours later when I was heading to bed it was only bubbling at a rate of one per 15 seconds. When I got up at 5am this morning (around 14 hours after pitching) it actually sounded violent. I couldn't even begin to count the bubbles, although if pressed I'd guess 10+ per second, constantly. Never seen anything like this before, I didn't even see it this crazy in the Voss Kveik I recently fermented a neipa with at 94°. Oh, and I didn't even add any yeast nutrient to the boil, I just hit it with an oxygen stone for 30 seconds or so prior to pitching the Lutra. By the time I got home from work today, 25 hours after pitching, it's slowed to about one bubble every second or two. It may be done by tomorrow. Crazy.

 

[rallenhall]

I've used Lutra several times with an adjunct lager recipe. It's a beast. I have temp control, but fermented at ambient basement temp in the low 70's. Airlock starts to bubble before I'm done with clean-up, which I'm sure greatly reduces odds of infection. Fermentation is fast, yeast is chunky and drops clear. Took 1.048 lager to 1.007. Crisp, clean. Nice beer on tap in a couple of weeks, and could speed that up with warmer temperatures. I'm a fan.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I've used Lutra several times with an adjunct lager recipe. It's a beast. I have temp control, but fermented at ambient basement temp in the low 70's. Airlock starts to bubble before I'm done with clean-up, which I'm sure greatly reduces odds of infection. Fermentation is fast, yeast is chunky and drops clear. Took 1.048 lager to 1.007. Crisp, clean. Nice beer on tap in a couple of weeks, and could speed that up with warmer temperatures. I'm a fan.View attachment 697747

I love that glass!

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Took a quick hydrometer reading of my Pseudo Helles, and it's showing a gravity of 1.010. OG was around 1.048, FG per recipe says 1.008. Not seeing any visible signs of active fermentation and hydrometer sample was pretty clear. Did this stuff finish out just a few points off recipe OG, or should I wait a bit just to make sure?

 

[BongoYodeler]

Probably done, this stuff is a beast. Bottling or kegging?

I just filled a keg with Star San in preparation of kegging my Schwartzbier. Haven’t taken a gravity reading yet, but it’s been quiet since yesterday. I’ll take a reading first but I can’t imagine it’s not done. I’ll update in a bit.

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Probably done, this stuff is a beast. Bottling or kegging?

I just filled a keg with Star San in preparation of kegging my Schwartzbier. Haven’t taken a gravity reading yet, but it’s been quiet since yesterday. I’ll take a reading first but I can’t imagine it’s not done. I’ll update in a bit.

Bottling for now. I'm saving up some green to get the set up for kegging eventually.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I’ve never bottled using Kveik so I have no experience to draw from. But if I were you I’d hold off and take another reading tomorrow or Sunday and if it’s still reading 1.010 then go ahead and bottle. Basically look for two identical readings a day or two apart before bottling. Better to be safe.

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

I’ve never bottled using Kveik so I have no experience to draw from. But if I were you I’d hold off and take another reading tomorrow or Sunday and if it’s still reading 1.010 then go ahead and bottle. Basically look for two identical readings a day or two apart before bottling. Better to be safe.

That's what I was thinking. Better safe than sorry.

 

[porterguy]

I'll be interested in how that comes out. I'm planning on trying a dark lager with it. Maybe a dunkel.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Well my gravity is a bit higher than I hoped, though I shouldn't be surprised. My mash temperature got away from me as I was a bit distracted. Should have mashed at 152° but it topped off around 156° So I'm looking for a FG of 1.012 per BS3, but it measured around 1.018 this evening. Warm and un-carbed the sample still tasted quite good, though a little sweet. I decided to let it ride until Sunday in hopes it may give up a couple more points, unlikely though. I'll keg on Sunday since we're heading to the lake tomorrow.

 

[jcav]

I may try this yeast in the future for beer but my wife wants me to make a perry (pear cider) as I usually make ciders for her several times a year. I was wondering how Lutra would be if I made a perry with it? Anyone do this yet on a perry or other cider? Very interested in how it would turn out. Since it is very clean will it just leave the taste of the fruit or does it add or bring something else to the table. Or is Lutra not good to use in ciders. Any wisdom is appreciated.


John

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I may try this yeast in the future for beer but my wife wants me to make a perry (pear cider) as I usually make ciders for her several times a year. I was wondering how Lutra would be if I made a perry with it? Anyone do this yet on a perry or other cider?

No idea on Lutra specifically, but in general clean yeasts like US-05 and lager yeasts are OK-ish but not first choice for ciders, in general an English ale yeast is your best bet.

Also I imagine that just from an infection control POV, holding fruit juice at kveik temperatures is not ideal - don't forget you don't have the anti-bacterial effect of hops.

But no doubt in Norway there are plenty of people using kveiks for ciders, it's just that there may be better options to the average non-Norwegian homebrewer - there's a big thread in the cider forum about that sort of thing.

 

[jcav]

Excellent tips there Northern Brewer I will keep that in mind. I may go the English yeast route then. I have had great results with Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead/Cider in the past as well. Thanks again!

John

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Bottled up my Lutra Kveik pseudo-lager on Sunday. Cracked open a bottle tonight after chilling it in the fridge for a bit. The flavor is terrific, but the carbonation is still a little lacking. Going to give the rest of the batch a couple more days to see what happens.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I kegged my schwartzbier on Tuesday. Going to let it slowly carb at 12 psi until the end of the month, and then hit it. The hydrometer sample tasted quite good, so I have hope for this batch brewed with Lutra.

 

[shoreman]

Just picked up a pouch of this and looking forward to checking it out. I've never seen an Omega pouch expand quite this much, I guess I'll have to get on a brew very soon.

What's the range on this yeast stylewise? Just anything clean? Seems like a good chico replacement.

 

[gonefishin2]

It will be good. My Oktoberfest bier turned out amazing. Everyone who's had it says it's great and doesn't even question whether it's a lager or not. I'm thinking about brewing another one before the weather turns cooler...

You were correct beersk. I even fermented at 80* and it finished in a couple days. Grain to glass in 7 days. No obvious esters, a little bit of that lager bite. Not perfect compared to the real thing, but 95% there... good enough for me!

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Just picked up a pouch of this and looking forward to checking it out. I've never seen an Omega pouch expand quite this much, I guess I'll have to get on a brew very soon.

What's the range on this yeast stylewise? Just anything clean? Seems like a good chico replacement.

Lutra is supposed to ferment very clean, so I would think it'd be good for either an ale or a lager-ish beer with a straight forward grain bill, nothing too outrageous.

 

[dmtaylor]

Yeah, it's not absolutely clean like many lagers yeasts. It does have a light fruit ester. But it's very pleasant. I'd put it more in a kolsch category than a lager.

Definitely checks that box for me since I now have no ferm temp control.

^^^ This. It's not perfectly clean like a lager, but Lutra is the closest I've come across in kveik. I'll be using it for my next batch, schwarzbier.

 

[jcav]

^
Make sure to report back on how it turned out! I ordered some Lutra to ferment a pear cider (perry) for my wife. I am using Musselman's Apple Cider to ferment with the Lutra and will back sweeten with 100% pear juice to see what the Lutra does to it. Should be a cool experiment. If I like the results I will try it in a beer recipe later.

John