Kveik

[RoomWithABrew]

For info my Belgian Golden strong is in ferment fridge with heat belt 35w and it is at 26.5 celsius and been on 30 percent of the time.
It is outside the fridge and dropped to 3 degrees overnight and only got to 12 degrees at 1300.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

My Imperial Stout is at day 5 today and planning to take a gravity reading later to see how it's getting on. It's in a temp controlled brew fridge with a tube heater and set to 28c. The heater has been on a bit (the fridge is in the garage) but not that often, and in the first day of the ferment the freezer was triggered as the yeast was producing so much heat.
I upped the temp to 30c last night to help it finish up just in case its not quite reached the expected gravity yet.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Okay, so the gravity reading is showing 1018 @ 30c. It's a bit higher than the expected FG of 1014 based on the Brewer friend recipe calculator. I'll leave it a bit longer but not sure its going to drop any further - the krausen has dropped from the top and no activity from in the air lock.

In terms of taste: Not getting any orange from the yeast but there is an acidy sharpness which could be what others describe as citrusy. Then i get the roasty smokey flavours you'd expect from a RIS. It's not bad, but its also not the typical flavour profile for this type of beer.

Do you think the acid bitterness will mellow with conditioning? I have some leftover lactose sugar from a milk stout, so wondering if this could help balance sharpness from the yeast?

 

[starseeker]

Dont forget that a Imperial stout should be left to condition for several months ,so the flavour profile now will really bare little resemblance to the finished article .

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Okay, so the gravity reading is showing 1018 @ 30c. It's a bit higher than the expected FG of 1014 based on the Brewer friend recipe calculator.

That 1.018 at 30 celsius is actually 1.021 temperature corrected to 20 celsius, so a little higher again than you thought.

The imperial stout is a next year beer.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Dont forget that a Imperial stout should be left to condition for several months ,so the flavour profile now will really bare little resemblance to the finished article .

That's a very good point. Although I'm hoping the miracle properties of Kveik can cut down the conditioning time. In David Heath's 'Super Fast Imperial Stout' video he suggests it can be shortened to 4 weeks.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

That 1.018 at 30 celsius is actually 1.021 temperature corrected to 20 celsius, so a little higher again than you thought.

The imperial stout is a next year beer.

Yes, i did a did temp conversion after posting (hoping it would go the other way) and was saddened to see the result.

I'll be amazed if it drops any further. It's either finished (but seems quite high - altho I've seen some pretty high FGs for RIS) or it's not, but the times I've had a stuck ferment previously it's never started again.

But will it be safe to bottle...?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

When you've seen gravity stable at that temp for a couple of days, I'd turn the heat off and a lot of the yeast will drop out. No need to fridge cold crash just let it fall in its own time. Then bottle it, worth a look at the David Heath bottling kveik video I suppose.
FYI my Russian Imperial Stout finished at about 1.020 which was target gravity. So I think you are in the correct ball park.
You aren't trying to make dry stout and a big beer needs some backbone, otherwise you might as well just put a shot of vodka in a guinness.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

When you've seen gravity stable at that temp for a couple of days, I'd turn the heat off and a lot of the yeast will drop out. No need to fridge cold crash just let it fall in its own time. Then bottle it, worth a look at the David Heath bottling kveik video I suppose.
FYI my Russian Imperial Stout finished at about 1.020 which was target gravity. So I think you are in the correct ball park.
You aren't trying to make dry stout and a big beer needs some backbone, otherwise you might as well just put a shot of vodka in a guinness.

Thanks for the video tip. I wasn't aware of the extra bottling complexity with Kveik. I don't have any of the CBC1 bottling yeast David recommends or other dry yeast that will tolerate the high ABV, except another packet of Kveik Voss. Do you think some fresh Voss would work? Seems a shame to use it just for bottling though. I might just wing it and hope it carbonates eventually. I'm planning to leave it a long time in the bottles in any event.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

There will be yeast when you transfer, if you prime expect you'll be fine.

 

[Alan_Reginato]

The acidity probably won't mellow. That's what I dislike in this yeast. It drops the pH perceptibly more than others. Even Saisons doesn't taste that acid.

Don't forget to keep us updated!

 

[prog99]

My kveik imperial stout is a year or
so old and you can still taste the acidity

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Took another hydro reading today and it's exactly the same (both gravity and taste), so I've turned off the heater in my brew freezer and will let the FV drop down to garage temps over the next couple of days and then bottle it.

In the meantime I'm also planning to add 100g of lactose sugar in 1 ltr of water (having given it a 10min boil and let it cool). I don't want it to be noticeably sweet, just to take the edge off the current acidity/ sharpness.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Update on my Kveik RIS:

Well, it's been ten days since bottling and despite knowing that it's far too early to drink, I was too curious to see if there's been any carbonation...

It's very lightly carbonated but I only added 1/4 tsp to each 330ml bottle. There was a definite hiss on opening so I'm happy to move them somewhere colder and let them condition.

In terms of taste, it's obviously very young, but surprisingly drinkable. There's still a little sharpness, but I think the lactose is helping to balance it.

I shall try and leave them alone now until Christmas, but there might be the odd taster along the way (just to see how they're maturing )

 

[MrJay83]

Any update on it? I've made a plan to do one in the next few weeks for Christmas. Going with Windsor yeast so I'm expecting a lot more time in the bucket.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Hey MrJay - update on my Kveik RIS:
I opened a bottle over Christmas and it's definitely improved but the sharpness from the yeast is still there. It perfectly drinkable, but for me the acidity that the Kveik has introduced doesn't suit a RIS and I didn't give any bottles out at Christmas. I'm still hoping it will continue improving and the flavours will round out, but I suspect the sharpness will always be there.

The Kveik is an impressive yeast for speed of ferment and being able to handle high alcohol levels, but if I brew with it again I'll look for a different strain and wouldn't use Voss.

Good luck with yours. I've used 2 packets of Nottingham in a previous RIS but it stalled at 1030. Windsor is a nice yeast but very low attenuation. It might leave it quite sweet and chewy.

 

[MrJay83]

Yeah mine is looking like it will come out at 1.025 with two packets and all things going well. I'm hoping that won't be too sweet but I'm happy to take onboard any other yeast suggestions.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Iv'e bottled RIS at 1.018 and no issues there. Also I've bottled higher

bulldog trappix yeast
1kg aromatic
500g cara red
500g choc
500g roasted barley
1kg dme light
1kg dme medium
500g dwe
1076og - 1022fg

500g of
dark crystal, smoked, choc & roasted barley
1.087 PITCHED AT 29 1.027 fg = 7.88%
500g dwe
2.5kg dme
500g dark candi sugar
454g can of gs
mangrove jacks m41 yeast used.
topped up to 21.5 litres.
20.37 litres bottled

Sometimes you may be near a particular strain of yeasts abv% limit so to get carbonation you need to add a second yeast to finish it off. Or it has just enought oomph to carbonate and then calls it a day so its not inevitable bottling with a high FG will give you bottle bombs.

also if the is sweetness left in the beer if you drink the sample before packaging you can prime at a lower rate. In fact because of their 'FG' some brewfferm kits don't require priming they take around 6 months+ to come good.

 

[MrJay83]

Interesting. I was was going to look into if I needed to prime it for bottling (only started looking at the recipe yesterday). I want it to be carbonated low (2.0 ish) and was thinking/hoping it might get there by itself after 9/10 months in the bottle.

Edit... Just to add, it's my first time trying something like this and have zero experience on conditioning something so long.

 

[dad_of_jon]

You could do a no prime, low prime and standard prime drinking them say around 6 months 18 months and 30 months. Thats what I do when I make a batch to be drunk over a few years... I always save 6 of a batch for xmas, if they are stronger beers that would stretch over a few xmas's

I have 6 risky business from march 2020 which will be gone before they reach 3 year old only got round to drinking 1 and one for son in law as I have quite a stock thesedays not easy to wade through 10% beers . they'd had 3 summers down the shed in temps up to 30 and have been fine.

My Wernher von Braun's Barley Wine - 11.42% I have 12 left and thats from march 2021 so those will be kept for xmas season 2023 and 2024. I had the last of them until xmas yesterday it was delicious.

So I have a couple of others in my sig that will be aged and you really get to taste and understand how aged you like certain beers.

I had 2 Kvieks at xmas only 6.5% something lighter but one was from July 2021 and the other from July 2022. As I have no temperature control I brew with yeast that suits the temperatures as various times of the year. Hence in sunny south wales I get one chance a year to brew kviek in 30+ temps.

Also the kviek voss does lose it's orange fruitiness when kept over a few months BUT it turns into a much more subtle beer. I like them both.

With RIS and Quads I find they go through a licorice phase I don't like so they are left for another 6 months and they start to turn plummy, then I start on them again.