Omega Lutra yeast?

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Going to give this yeast a go in a couple weeks, with this Psuedo-Oktoberfest recipe:

Brewfather Link

Lutrafest Pseudo Lager
Märzen
5.9% / 14.2 °P
All Grain

69% efficiency
Batch Volume: 5.15 gal
Boil Time: 75 min
Mash Water: 7.48 gal
Sparge Water: 0.79 gal
Total Water: 8.27 gal
Boil Volume: 6.4 gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.053

Vitals
Original Gravity: 1.058
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU (Tinseth): 21
Color: 11.5 SRM

Mash
Strike Temp — 154.9 °F
Temperature — 150 °F90 min
Temperature — 168 °F15 min

Malts (11 lb 12 oz)
4 lb (34%) — Avangard Pilsner Malt — Grain — 1.8 °L
3 lb 8 oz (29.8%) — Viking Malt Munich Light — Grain — 6.6 °L
3 lb (25.5%) — Avangard Vienna Malt — Grain — 2.8 °L
1 lb (8.5%) — Caramunich Malt — Grain — 41.9 °L
4 oz (2.1%) — Weyermann Melanoidin — Grain — 22.7 °L

Hops (2 oz)
1 oz (17 IBU) — Mount Hood 5.7% — First Wort
0.5 oz (4 IBU) — Mount Hood 5.7% — Boil — 15 min
0.5 oz
— Mount Hood 5.7% — Boil — 0 min

Miscs
2.7 g — Baking Soda (NaHCO3) — Mash
5.3 g
— Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Mash
1.5 g
— Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Mash
1.6 g
— Gypsum (CaSO4) — Mash
4 ml
— Phosphoric Acid 80% — Mash
1 g
— Servomyces — Boil15 min
1 items
— Whirlfloc — Boil15 min

Yeast
1 pkg — Omega Lutra OYL-071 78%
2 L starter
6.95 oz DME / 8.47 oz LME
324 billion yeast cells
1.19 million cells / ml / °P

Fermentation
Primary — 72 °F10 PSI7 days
Conditioning — 38 °F10 PSI14 days
Carbonation: 2.4 CO2-vol

Water Profile
Ca2+
59Mg2+
5Na+
32Cl-
86SO42-
48HCO3-
77

Any thoughts on the recipe and/or the need for a starter?
Why baking soda and acid? Those dk opposite things, you shouldn’t need both.
I think you’re fine with the 3 base malts, but I’d drop the caramunich to like half that. I just did a 4.5 gallon batch of octoberfest, mostly 10L Munich (7lbs) and a little Pilsner (2lbs), with 8oz caramunich. It’s not quite as crisp as I’d like it but perhaps it was my ferm temp which got up to 67 ( oly-106, not lutra) due to a power outage. Notes for my next batch would be to replace some Munich with Vienna, and reduce the cara. Haven’t tried melanoidin before, considering that too
 
This stuff is incredible. Pitched at 90° at 5:00 this evening. By 11:00 fermenting at 83°. Had 2+ inches of krausen and the air lock was bubbling non stop.
 

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Btw, this one is a pseudo Imperial lager. OG was 1.088, it's down to 1.044 after 24 hours. Not as fast as my Baltic Porter but I'm doing this in a 10 G Torpedo keg with the SPUNDit set on 22psi right now. Fermenting at 90.
 
I had two of my low og pseudo lagers yesterday and I am not impressed.

This strain tastes like a kveik strain, not like a lager.

The specific kveik flavor is not as strong as with Voss for example, but everything is there. Slight tartness, a little bit of this kveik specific ester flavor and nothing which reminds me of a lager.

The good thing is, it is one of my most flavorful low og beers I ever made, although it started with only an 1.03 og and with only pilsener and wheat flour. The bad thing is, I do not actually like this specific flavour.

I don't know if everybody else is just throwing hops in like crazy, hiding everything else behind the hops, I couldn't otherwise explain how someone could call this lager-like. My brew here has 25 ibus, bittering only, nowhere to hide.

I had warm fermented lagers that were lager-like, this one is certainly not.

It is not a bad yeast, clean fermentation at room temperature, great flocculation, and a typical kveik flavour, in a muted way, compared to Voss. But that's about it! I simply don't like this kveik taste that much.
 
I had two of my low og pseudo lagers yesterday and I am not impressed.

This strain tastes like a kveik strain, not like a lager.

The specific kveik flavor is not as strong as with Voss for example, but everything is there. Slight tartness, a little bit of this kveik specific ester flavor and nothing which reminds me of a lager.

The good thing is, it is one of my most flavorful low og beers I ever made, although it started with only an 1.03 og and with only pilsener and wheat flour. The bad thing is, I do not actually like this specific flavour.

I don't know if everybody else is just throwing hops in like crazy, hiding everything else behind the hops, I couldn't otherwise explain how someone could call this lager-like. My brew here has 25 ibus, bittering only, nowhere to hide.

I had warm fermented lagers that were lager-like, this one is certainly not.

It is not a bad yeast, clean fermentation at room temperature, great flocculation, and a typical kveik flavour, in a muted way, compared to Voss. But that's about it! I simply don't like this kveik taste that much.
I agree, it’s good, very temperature tolerant but I don’t find it clean, certainly not lager like. I prefer to use 029 German ale instead. Much cleaner. Actually for a lager I prefer lager yeast fermented cold.

I don’t regret trying it out though
 
I don't brew lagers so I don't have much to add in that regard. But in my limited experience I do think it's clean enough to allow for brewing a bunch of different styles where you're not looking for much yeast-expression. Additionally, I'm limited in what I can do with fermentation temperatures, so for me Lutra is a nice alternative allowing me additional flexibility.
 
Just kegged a Lutra Pale Ale fermented at 90 and finished in 48 hours, although I left it on for a few more days. It's a hoppy beer so I'm not sure what Lutra contributed to taste, but it tastes great.

FWIW, I underpitch this the same as I do Hornindal and Voss -- pour the packet into a sterile ball jar along with a stir bar. After it's stirred well, I take some oxygenated wort from the fermenter and mix together: 3 tsp of yeast slurry / 4 tsp of nutrient / 5 tsp of energizer. Then pour it back in. That's for 10 gallons. The ball jar goes into the refrigerator until the next batch. Call it an anti-starter. Using this method has given me the most accurate result of any yeast I've ever tried my FG is always dead-on balls accurate. Plus at that rate, I'm guessing a single pack of Omega kveik will ferment maybe 50 gallons.
 
This stuff is incredible. Pitched at 90° at 5:00 this evening. By 11:00 fermenting at 83°. Had 2+ inches of krausen and the air lock was bubbling non stop.

So here’s the results after 48 hrs. OG 1.050. It’s just a simple blond ale. Has a pretty clean taste considering it’s only been 48 hrs. Airlock still bubbling every 10-15 seconds. Gonna give it another day or so before raking to secondary. So far pretty promising
355672E7-6FF6-4D1D-B1C5-AFD3E7CC45DC.jpeg
 
So here’s the results after 48 hrs. OG 1.050. It’s just a simple blond ale. Has a pretty clean taste considering it’s only been 48 hrs. Airlock still bubbling every 10-15 seconds. Gonna give it another day or so before raking to secondary. So far pretty promising View attachment 712716
Looks good. Curious though, why the secondary?
 
Mine has gone slower than past times using Lutra. High OG (1.088), dropped 40 points the first 24 hours but has slowed. I am fermenting under pressure this time, so maybe that's why. It's currently at 1.026 and still fermenting fairly strongly. Hoping it gets to 1.015 or a bit lower.
 
I’ll add another-
I just tapped a keg of Bell’s Two Hearted ale inspired beer fermented w Lutra.
I’ve never had the real Bell’s and this is the first time brewing it so I can’t compare mine with the real thing or a clone w regular yeast.....But damn it’s tasty! I had to use some serious will power last night. As of now it’s about 2 weeks since brewing.
I fermented at about 70f ambient temp so prob 75f.
I’ll get a pic soon.
 
As expected it fermented like a beast! I had a large lag time. My wort fell to about 75 deg before pitching. No big deal it got rolling and is working well soon I will have taste results.
 
After some time in the bottle, the beer got a bit better. But there is still this background kveik tartness which I don't like. This beer was a low og beer, 1.031 only pilsener with a bit of wheat, so there is not much residual sweetness to hide the tartness. Maybe this yeast works better with higher gravity and some residual sweetness, in this case here, it's just not what I wanted. There is a little bit of lager taste now, but the slight tartness really ruins it for me. That was also what put me off when using Voss... How unfortunate
 
Yeah you are probably on to something- just look at the history of these kveik strains - they are generally 7-12%abv quick farmhouse ales brewed over decades of saving yeast. That’s where they thrive.

I’ve given up on Lutra, it’s cold here and lager yeast is where I’m focusing. Probably won’t buy it again, I’d rather use an expressive kveik in an ipa than try to do something clean, much better yeasts for that.
 
So far I really like the yeast. I can ferment ales in the winter by placing my fermentor in the house. The ambient temp is about 70f so fermentation temps are about 75f. A little high for most regular ale strains.

My garage is too cold for ales at upper 40’s. Normally I just brew lagers this time of year so it’s nice to have that option.

I lost my keezer to covid freezer duty but find it relaxing to brew with the seasons.
 
I’ve never used temp control (except for a seed mat with my Belgian yeasts) and also like to brew with the seasons as well. Kveik is an excellent option for me in the summer and people in year round warm temps.

Where I am in New England it’s prime brewing weather right now, so many options.

I’ll be back to brewing with kveik soon but this one won’t make the cut. I do have Opshaug which is also supposed to produce clean beers, will update once I get to it.
 
I’ve never used temp control (except for a seed mat with my Belgian yeasts) and also like to brew with the seasons as well. Kveik is an excellent option for me in the summer and people in year round warm temps.

Where I am in New England it’s prime brewing weather right now, so many options.

I’ll be back to brewing with kveik soon but this one won’t make the cut. I do have Opshaug which is also supposed to produce clean beers, will update once I get to it.
Yes, please let us know. Especially if this yeast also has this kveik tartness.
 
Mine has gone slower than past times using Lutra. High OG (1.088), dropped 40 points the first 24 hours but has slowed. I am fermenting under pressure this time, so maybe that's why. It's currently at 1.026 and still fermenting fairly strongly. Hoping it gets to 1.015 or a bit lower.
It actually dropped to 1.010! Very potent brew but I don't think I would confuse it with a lager. But then again, I don't know if I ever had a 10% + lager outside of a Samiclaus I had 20 years ago to compare it to. I would just say it's a very clean ale that will knock your pants off!
 
Little update, the tartness actually faded a bit so that the beer is now quite enjoyable.

It is a nice low abv beer. A little dry hop addition would have been good, but as it is, I like drinking it. It is actually very clean a slight tartness is still there, but not as in your face as it was at the beginning.

So this yeast needs about 4 weeks in the bottle to shine.
 
Yesterday I pitched a packet of Lutra in a 5 gallon batch of Irish Red Ale. The blow off container is happily bubbling away. I pitched at 75° F and am letting it ferment at room temperature.
 
Yesterday I pitched a packet of Lutra in a 5 gallon batch of Irish Red Ale. The blow off container is happily bubbling away. I pitched at 75° F and am letting it ferment at room temperature.
This should actually work quite well. The only thing which might disturb the bigger picture a bit is the tartness, but I don't know if it will show itself in a normal gravity beer.

When I look at my beer now it is really clean. Nothing that makes you think "oh that's an ale!" Or "oh that's a lager". Even the kveik typical flavour which was quite direct at the beginning has vanished almost completely, together with the tartness. Overall, a good yeast to work with. I will try it again in a stronger beer at one point.
 
My final thoughts on Lutra...
Meant to post this last week but life got busy. My blond ale turned out beautifully. Clear, clean, and quick. No doubt it could have gone grain to glass in 10 days. Took me 14 as I had to wait for a keg.
I didn’t get any tart taste as others have mentioned; however, my OG was 1.050 and my palate may not be as developed as others.

So...
Is it fast? Heck yeah.
Does it ferment clean? Yep.
Is it lager like? Kinda.
Will I use it again? Absolutely
Would I recommend it? Yep

Cheers !!

06071578-A5B2-442C-BC41-188E3688B98F.jpeg
 
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Yeah you are probably on to something- just look at the history of these kveik strains - they are generally 7-12%abv quick farmhouse ales brewed over decades of saving yeast. That’s where they thrive.

I’ve given up on Lutra, it’s cold here and lager yeast is where I’m focusing. Probably won’t buy it again, I’d rather use an expressive kveik in an ipa than try to do something clean, much better yeasts for that.
If you add enough nutrients, including DAP, the kveik ferments whatever you want, I've fully fermented (with a common attenuation for that strain, so no stalling) as lower as 1.040 OG
 
If you add enough nutrients, including DAP, the kveik ferments whatever you want, I've fully fermented (with a common attenuation for that strain, so no stalling) as lower as 1.040 OG
It wasn't about the fermentation ability, but about the perceived tartness with a lower og beer. The beer in question was actually even below 1.04, full attenuation without additional nutrients.
 
My final thoughts on Lutra...
Meant to post this last week but life got busy. My blond ale turned out beautifully. Clear, clean, and quick. No doubt it could have gone grain to glass in 10 days. Took me 14 as I had to wait for a keg.
I didn’t get any tart taste as others have mentioned; however, my OG was 1.050 and my palate may not be as developed as others.

So...
Is it fast? Heck yeah.
Does it ferment clean? Yep.
Is it lager like? Kinda.
Will I use it again? Absolutely
Would I recommend it? Yep

Cheers !!

View attachment 715285
How tart it goes is something that isn't fully studied
It wasn't about the fermentation ability, but about the perceived tartness with a lower og beer. The beer in question was actually even below 1.04, full attenuation without additional nutrients.
In my experience it has nothing to do as I have different beers with the same yeast and some are more tart than others, I add the same amount if nutrients. It's probably more related to yeast health, the grist, initial pH and so on. The only thing that nutrients seem to avoid is stalling and sulphur production in high nutrient demanding strains, for example WLP521 seems to need more nutrients than other kveik strains and cultures
 
Yesterday I pitched a packet of Lutra in a 5 gallon batch of Irish Red Ale. The blow off container is happily bubbling away. I pitched at 75° F and am letting it ferment at room temperature.
Update - I've kept this fermenting at room temperature since pitching Lutra on Monday. This time of year room temperature is around 63° at night and 67° during the day. Definitely a longer, slower fermentation than the first time I used Lutra, (that one fully fermented in 36-48 hrs at 85°). When fermentation bubbling slowed to crawl last night I put the fermenter on a heat mat in an attempt to coax out the last couple gravity points. There was no bubbling in the blow off pitcher this morning when I checked it, so I pulled a sample to check gravity - 1.016 (Beersmith estimated 1.012). Sample tasted quite good, the Mrs. really liked it. But I decided to rouse the yeast and put it back on the heat mat, wrapped it tight with a heating pad and moving blanket. It's now bubbling away again so we'll see how much further I can get it to drop. I'll probably keg it tomorrow regardless.
 
Update - I've kept this fermenting at room temperature since pitching Lutra on Monday. This time of year room temperature is around 63° at night and 67° during the day. Definitely a longer, slower fermentation than the first time I used Lutra, (that one fully fermented in 36-48 hrs at 85°). When fermentation bubbling slowed to crawl last night I put the fermenter on a heat mat in an attempt to coax out the last couple gravity points. There was no bubbling in the blow off pitcher this morning when I checked it, so I pulled a sample to check gravity - 1.016 (Beersmith estimated 1.012). Sample tasted quite good, the Mrs. really liked it. But I decided to rouse the yeast and put it back on the heat mat, wrapped it tight with a heating pad and moving blanket. It's now bubbling away again so we'll see how much further I can get it to drop. I'll probably keg it tomorrow regardless.

Why didn't you put it on the heating mat from start of fermentation?
 
Why didn't you put it on the heating mat from start of fermentation?
I wanted to see how cool I could push this yeast and still ferment with it. Since I pitched at 75° (24C) I'm guessing a bulk of fermentation occurred in the mid-upper 70's as I had visible signs within a couple hours. (I can see a Tilt Hydrometer in my future to better track this). With no temperature control it fell to the mid-upper 60's through the week, with slow and steady blow off activity. At the cooler temperature it never seemed anywhere near as vigorous a fermentation as when I first used Lutra to ferment a Schwarzbier. Even so for this one the krausen ring was still a good 3 inches above the beer. Tasting the hydro sample yesterday I got absolutely no hint of tartness. I asked my wife to describe the flavor and she didn't mention tartness either, even when I asked her about it specifically she said, "nope," just that it was delicious. I'm going to take one last gravity reading and keg it today.
 
Didn't have the same results as others reported. I didn't do the same recipe(Friend request. Oh yeah lets try it.) or expect it to be.
Octoberfest beer with 24oz of Whopper per 5 gals. True candy Whoppers with wax slick at boil and after fermentation. Ferment at 86 with a spike of 92 the next day. (probes need to be secured).
End result cloudy green apple at 1 month. Green apple dropped 6 weeks later. Cloudy still appears almost 2 months later and has good head even with the true chocolate added.

Next time I will try the lower temps to see if I get a better result.
 
Assuming you had a clean process and good brew day, the Whoppers are probably your issue in that beer, not the yeast. There’s probably a few chemicals or interactions going on that had effects on your beer.
 
From the Carnation Malted Milk Powder container...


Ingredients
WHEAT FLOUR AND MALTED BARLEY EXTRACTS, DRY WHOLE MILK, SALT, SODIUM BICARBONATE. MADE ON EQUIPMENT THAT ALSO PROCESSES SOY.
 
Been following this thread and I'm finally ready to experiment with Lutra. BUT....There are so many things this "Swiss Army Knife" yeast supposedly can do, I can't decide which one to do.

Prolly won't do a lager, but I might try Lutra in an Alt or maybe a Kolsch. A Blonde or a 'fruited' Blood Orange Pale Ale both show promise as well. Maybe a simple SMASH with 2-row and the new Trident hop I've been wanting to try.

My question to the Forum is what temperature, and pressure or no pressure? The Alt/Kolsch would be no pressure and ferment around 65-70F. The ales would be 'some' pressure and 75-80F. Curious to see how this works under different circumstances with a goal of reduced esters, brilliant clarity, quick turnaround, and fidelity to style.

Any suggestions or anecdotal experiences are welcome!

Brooo Brother
 
I just had a direct comparison, one blonde fermented with S04 at about 16 degrees and one blonde fermented with Lutra. Both similar Ibus. The Lutra definitely is a bit tart, compared to the S04. It would be too good if there wouldn't be a catch.
 
Been following this thread and I'm finally ready to experiment with Lutra. BUT....There are so many things this "Swiss Army Knife" yeast supposedly can do, I can't decide which one to do.

Prolly won't do a lager, but I might try Lutra in an Alt or maybe a Kolsch. A Blonde or a 'fruited' Blood Orange Pale Ale both show promise as well. Maybe a simple SMASH with 2-row and the new Trident hop I've been wanting to try.

My question to the Forum is what temperature, and pressure or no pressure? The Alt/Kolsch would be no pressure and ferment around 65-70F. The ales would be 'some' pressure and 75-80F. Curious to see how this works under different circumstances with a goal of reduced esters, brilliant clarity, quick turnaround, and fidelity to style.

Any suggestions or anecdotal experiences are welcome!

Brooo Brother
Kveiks are traditionally fermented without pressure nd have evolved under these circumstances. I read about nothing but trouble when somebody tries to do a pressurized fermentation with them.

There are nearly no esters without pressure, so nothing to reduce. Fruited blood orange pale should work fine, as this one would be a bit tart anyway.
 
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