Which Kveik Yeast is best?

[Dr_Jeff]

There are several varieties of Kveik yeast.
To those that have used Kveik, which strain is best and why do you think so?

 

[brownni5]

I've only used 2 - Hornindal from Omega and Oslo from Bootleg Biology. I didn't like Hornindal - I got from it an ester that reminded me of orange creamscicles - I hate orange creamscicles. I haven't yet used Oslo in a beer, only in hard Seltzer's/alco-pops, but it performs admirably there. Bootleg offers it as a gluten-free option which is why I picked it up ( my wife has limited tolerance for gluten).

Lots of threads here dedicated to the Kveik strains - you might read through those to get a sense of what others think.

 

[Beer-lord]

I've used Omega Hornindal a number of times at different temps. Love them all. I'm always amazed how beer can taste so good and clean when fermented at 95. And to get a beer to keg in less than 6 days, I don't know why I don't use it more often. With summer here, I will do so more but I like the orange it gives off.
I understand Voss is orangey too. I do suggest sticking with the tried and true American hops such as the C's and others like Simcoe and Amarillo. I've never gone bad with those.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

The answer depends on what result you want. Follow the link for details for each identified kveik and a couple other farmhouse strains.
http://www.garshol.priv.no/download/farmhouse/kveik.html

 

[duelerx]

I find Oslo ans Skare the most impressive, cleaner than Chico strains on higher temperature and higher gravities. Oslo is sold as bottom-fermenting but some genecic study found out it is a top-fermenting as other Kveik strains.

 

[luckybeagle]

I've only used Imperial's Loki (it's a Voss strain). Made my best beer to date with it - a "Belgian" Golden Strong (without the Belgian yeast so... a Norwegian Golden Strong?)

It was a very simple smash recipe brewed to OG 1.081. Pitched at 85F and held it around 90F for 3ish days, then crashed, kegged, and burst carbonated it. Grain to glass in 5 days with no off flavors, though it did get better after under pressure and at keezer temps over the course of a week. Pineapple and citrus-heavy, with a very light tang. Delicious.

 

[seatazzz]

So far I've only used Imperial Kveiking, which is a blend of three Kveik strains (Imperial doesn't say which ones). I used it in a hazy IPA that went grain to glass in 6 days, and I'm very happy with it. After a week in the keg, beer is still hazy, juicy, and I can't tell if I got any esters from the yeast; beer was fermented for 2 days at 90 then allowed to drop down to room temperature for dry hopping. Straight out of the still-cold package I had high krausen in less than 4 hours after pitching. Scared the poopy out of me to ferment that hot, since back in my beginner days I ruined a few beers doing the same thing; but this one turned out better than the same beer done on Notty earlier this year. Using it again tomorrow in a Galaxy/Citra IPA and have high hopes for it.

 

[LuckyBeagleBrewing]

Voss is good but I like the characteristics of Hornindal especially with Amarillo/Cascade mix. Used it on my clone of Old Horizontal and it was very good. Fermented at about 95° but I think I could have taken it to 100° with even better results.

 

[luckybeagle]

Voss is good but I like the characteristics of Hornindal especially with Amarillo/Cascade mix. Used it on my clone of Old Horizontal and it was very good. Fermented at about 95° but I think I could have taken it to 100° with even better results.

Nice name.

 

[Yesfan]

I've only used Imperial's Loki (it's a Voss strain). Made my best beer to date with it - a "Belgian" Golden Strong (without the Belgian yeast so... a Norwegian Golden Strong?)

It was a very simple smash recipe brewed to OG 1.081. Pitched at 85F and held it around 90F for 3ish days, then crashed, kegged, and burst carbonated it. Grain to glass in 5 days with no off flavors, though it did get better after under pressure and at keezer temps over the course of a week. Pineapple and citrus-heavy, with a very light tang. Delicious.

View attachment 684816

Do you mind posting the recipe? I've wondered about trying a Kveik strain since it's so heat tolerant. That maybe a good recipe to use as the summer months approach here in Tennessee.

 

[luckybeagle]

Do you mind posting the recipe? I've wondered about trying a Kveik strain since it's so heat tolerant. That maybe a good recipe to use as the summer months approach here in Tennessee.

Here you go! It's a simple one--I'll just include my brew notes for the day in case it is helpful:

Technicals - 5.5g batch
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.013 - Attenuation ~85%
ABV: 8.9%
SRM: 4.6
IBU: 33.8
BU:GU ratio: 0.42

Ingredients:
75% Brewhouse Efficiency
90% Floor malted Bohemian Pilsner (14.00 LBS)
10% Table sugar, added during lauter (1.5 LBS)
31 IBU worth of Nugget at 60 min
2.6 IBU worth of Styrian Golding at 15 min

Process
Single infusion mash at 149F for 75 min
Mash out at 170F for 15 min
90 Minute Boil

Fermentation and Packaging:
Chilled to 85F and pitched a 1200 mL starter of Imperial Yeast Loki Kveik at high krausen (approx 8 hours after building starter)
Held at 85F for 24 hours followed by quick rise to 92F.
Reached FG in ~60 hours, crashed at 72 hours post-pitch.
Burst carbonated at 45psi for 12 hours, reduced to serving pressure

 

[Yesfan]

Thanks man! May give this a shot.

 

[LuckyBeagleBrewing]

Do you mind posting the recipe? I've wondered about trying a Kveik strain since it's so heat tolerant. That maybe a good recipe to use as the summer months approach here in Tennessee.

Dont mind at all. This shows hothead but I used Omega Hornindal instead and only 2 packs with a starter. I also used 1 oz Cascade Cryo hops for the dry hop along with the regular dry hops.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - BeerSmith™ Home Brewing Software, Recipes, Podcast and Blog
Recipe: Victory Old Horizontal Clone V4
Brewer: DVD
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Barleywine
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (45.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 15.06 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.46 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.103 SG
Estimated Color: 15.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 85.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.5 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs 8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 3.8 %
25 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 63.3 %
5 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 12.7 %
3 lbs Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.6 %
2 lbs Dark Crystal Malt I - 85L (Thomas Fawcett) Grain 5 5.1 %
2 lbs Wheat, White (Cargill) (2.9 SRM) Grain 6 5.1 %
1 lbs Carapils (Hoepfner) (2.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.5 %
3.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 38.3 IBUs
3.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 9 21.3 IBUs
2.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 10 -
4.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 16.9 IBUs
2.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 5.7 IBUs
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 13 3.1 IBUs
4.0 pkg HotHead Ale (Omega #OYL-057) Yeast 14 -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 39 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 53.38 qt of water at 162.8 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 6.70gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
Took the best of the Hop Devil recipes and pumped it in to this Old Horizontal Clone

Created with BeerSmith 2 - BeerSmith™ Home Brewing Software, Recipes, Podcast and Blog
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Steven Barrett]

I’ve only used Hornindal once. Pitched at 100F and let it free ride at room temp. Turned out quite clean. I get a distinct lemon taste, like a summer shandy. I plan to try again and ferment it cool to see if it has more lager like characteristics.

Omega Yeast has some interesting Kveik recipes, including a 10 day Barleywine.

https://omegayeast.com/10-day-barleywine-recipe

 

[luckybeagle]

I’ve only used Hornindal once. Pitched at 100F and let it free ride at room temp. Turned out quite clean. I get a distinct lemon taste, like a summer shandy. I plan to try again and ferment it cool to see if it has more lager like characteristics.

Omega Yeast has some interesting Kveik recipes, including a 10 day Barleywine.

https://omegayeast.com/10-day-barleywine-recipe

This 10 day barleywine recipe is what initially got me fired up to experiment with Kveik, especially after having just brewed a traditional English Barleywine with Nottingham (that my wife made me pinky swear I wouldn't start drinking until Thanksgiving). I've yet to try a barleywine with Kveik, but I bet a semi-warm fermentation to keep the esters in check (but still add a little interest) would pair beautifully with a solid base of Maris Otter.