White Labs 518 Opshaug

[Halfakneecap]

Due to recent issues with my fermentation fridge not getting lower than 15c, i'm trying another Kviek strain. I'm not fan of Voss or Lutra. I don't dislike them but haven't been super impressed. Trying Opshaug as it seems to be another "clean" strain. Though Lutra is apparently clean but i didn't think so.

Anyway, i had 100% Heidelberg malt and Chinook IPLish beer, so i've just pitched into that, at 28c, with a teaspoon of Nutrients and the pouch, no starter. Beer is 1.032, so i'm not overly worried about pitch rate.

I intend on dry hopping after fermentation and bottling.

Will update as it progresses

 

[DuncB]

I've used opshaug a lot.
I dried out the slurry from my first batch and have kept it in the freezer. Works well.
Double dose of yeast nutrients lots of oxygen and have used temps from 24 upwards.
I think it's very clean and has also coped well with fermenting under pressure and spunding at the end of ferment.

 

[Halfakneecap]

Sitting at 1.020 today, not that i care about fast ferment times. I added a flat teaspoon of Yeast Nutrient. Next time ill add it when brewing, not at fermentation

 

[DuncB]

Sitting at 1.020 today, not that i care about fast ferment times. I added a flat teaspoon of Yeast Nutrient. Next time ill add it when brewing, not at fermentation

Perfectly okay to add the nutrients on cold side provided you dissolve it in wort or water and boil it to get it sterile.
Are you measuring gravity with an in vessel floating device?

 

[Halfakneecap]

Perfectly okay to add the nutrients on cold side provided you dissolve it in wort or water and boil it to get it sterile.
Are you measuring gravity with an in vessel floating device?

It got dissolved as i poured the cube on top of it haha. Not ideal, though given how fast its taken off i'm not worried. In future planned brews ill just add extra when brewing hot side.

Nah, i took a sample. It was fizzy and going crazy. Ill probably give it 3-4 days of stable FG, let cool to ambient, dry hop 24 hours then bottle. I prefer to dry hop cooler, but, it should be ok. Might not even dry hop, the beer had a hopstand so should be enough hop flavour.

Actually i think i will leave as is, so i can see if i can pick up any weird/kvieky flavours etc.



So far the aromas coming out of the fermenter seem like any other ale. Still seems weird to be fermenting in a garage in February ambient temp ( 30c today )

 

[DuncB]

It tends to drop temp without support as ferment finishes.
The yeast drops fast.
I dry hop cooler as well.
However some hop creep might provide some more sugars and drive the gravity down.

 

[Halfakneecap]

I have a "bucket buddy", basically a robo brew but the control panel is just a temp readout and it has 36W element to keep it at temp.

 

[DuncB]

Sounds ideal.

 

[Halfakneecap]

3 days 1.007. Fairly bitter, but, i had some mill gap issues when i brewed this, so instead of being 1.037 and 37IBU, i ended up with 1.032 and 37 IBU, so the bitterness is understandable. Will bottle on friday ( 4 days from now ).

Cant taste any odd or unusual flavours.

 

[Halfakneecap]

Bottled today ( friday ) after pitching Sunday. Very clear for so young. Excited to try this, as i didn't really pick up any kind of twang i have with other kviek strains

 

[Halfakneecap]

3 days 1.007. Fairly bitter, but, i had some mill gap issues when i brewed this, so instead of being 1.037 and 37IBU, i ended up with 1.032 and 37 IBU, so the bitterness is understandable. Will bottle on friday ( 4 days from now ).

Cant taste any odd or unusual flavours.

8 days bottled but i wanted a sneak peek. Clean and on the bitter side. More importantly, its quite clean and i can't pick up anything "kviekish" flavour wise. Nothing at all. Could be US05 or similar. I will do another beer with this at least.


I tried Lutra thinking it was clean, but i could pick up a distinct flavour from it. I can't pick anything from this.

100% pils malt and Chinook.

I'll brew again with this. Its "Autumn" here, 29c right now ( 5pm ), so conditions are right haha.

I have a 10 minute US amber ale i do regularly which i really enjoy, so will try out with it.

 

[DuncB]

We never get 29 in the summer here, heading into autumn now.
I've used opshaug for all my recipes that say US05 or WLYP001,

I just use the opshaug get it warm and pressure ferment.
I've been very happy with the results.

 

[Halfakneecap]

We never get 29 in the summer here, heading into autumn now.
I've used opshaug for all my recipes that say US05 or WLYP001,

I just use the opshaug get it warm and pressure ferment.
I've been very happy with the results.

The summer heat normally goes this time of year but it’s still hanging around. Mid 30’s tomorrow, at least the humidity isn’t high, thank god!

Interesting, I’ll treat it the same and see how it goes.

 

[Halfakneecap]

3 weeks in the bottle. Clears out nicely, and is still, quite a clean beer. I'm brewing lagers at the moment, but i have a few cubes of hoppy ales and dark ales that i'll ferment with this yeast. Pretty happy. My favourite Kviek strain by far.