Kveik

[Zephyr259]

I'm not an expert as I'm on my first kveik, but I chose Opshaug for a strong pre-war bitter recipe because of the characteristics mentioned in the blurb:

Sourced from our friend Lars Marius Garshol, this kveik strain was isolated from a mixed culture which belonged to Harald Opshaug, a farmhouse brewer in Stranda, Norway. This strain was originally used in the 1990s to produce several kornøl-style beers. It is a clean fermenting yeast and has tolerated temperatures up to 91°F (33°C) while finishing fermentation within three to four days. The hop-forward, clean characteristics of this strain make it ideal for IPAs and pale ales.

The Malt Miller appears to have it in stock. Fermentation is going strong in its fourth day, by the way, but the average temperature in my kitchen is less than 20C. No nasty smells from the FV.

Thanks, I previously had a sample of Opshaug from the farm, I didn't get on with it as it was slow to ferment and had poor attenuation. Now that I know more I think I stressed it out with a high gravity fermentation when I forgot to add a bit of nutrients and the other batch was co-pitched with Roeselare blend and I'm suspicious that the acids it produced have made my refractometer reading unreliable.

Oh, I should mention that I have Voss, Hornindal, Saure, Ebbegarden and Espe available, the last 2 are still in a vial/dry and I haven't used them before.

 

[BeerCat]

I'm planning on a hoppy brew with some NZ hops and I'm concerned that some strains of kviek mute the hop character. Most of my experience has been with malty styles so I'm not well versed on how they do in an IPA. Hornindal seems to be the go to kveik for NEIPA but they rely on a heap of dry hopping which would mask any muting of the hot-side additions and I wan't planning on dry hopping.

Anyone done much IPA with kviek, @BeerCat has done most things I haven't, how did the hops fare?

Loads of people use Hornindal for hoppy beers, the Omega strain I think. Normally I use Voss and Framgarden is also good. Ideal for hoppy beer imho. I am doing another Amarillo and Citra soon.

 

[Zephyr259]

Loads of people use Hornindal for hoppy beers, the Omega strain I think. Normally I use Voss and Framgarden is also good. Ideal for hoppy beer imho. I am doing another Amarillo and Citra soon.

Think it's the Omega strain I have that was sent to me. Voss is reliable but mine gives a very characteristic earthy flavour which I think would clash with the fruity hops, the only beer where it didn't appear was my raw wheat with citra.

 

[BeerCat]

Think it's the Omega strain I have that was sent to me. Voss is reliable but mine gives a very characteristic earthy flavour which I think would clash with the fruity hops, the only beer where it didn't appear was my raw wheat with citra.

i have no idea mate. Perhaps your yeast has mutated or something. I never get anything like the flavours you and others describe.
My last batch was off. Had a tcp flavour which I transfered to the next beer via top cropping. I am going to have to go back to an older jar and see what happens.
Homebrewtalk has some good threads on Hornindal so that is what I would go for in your situation. I am also going to keg hop mine. Was the best I have made so far.

 

[BeerCat]

@Zephyr259 I got some of the Hornindal from ebay, the farmhouse stuff and free fermented in my cold house and that seemed neutral. Once i get my act together i have some others to share with you. Only been brewing lager recently. Could do with an enormous keezer.

 

[Zephyr259]

i have no idea mate. Perhaps your yeast has mutated or something. I never get anything like the flavours you and others describe.
My last batch was off. Had a tcp flavour which I transfered to the next beer via top cropping. I am going to have to go back to an older jar and see what happens.
Homebrewtalk has some good threads on Hornindal so that is what I would go for in your situation. I am also going to keg hop mine. Was the best I have made so far.

No worries, I do seem to be in the minority on this one and if my Saure makes good beer then I was thinking of retiring my Voss. I still have 2 frozen vials just in case. I'll do some trawling on HBT and see what I can find beyond the "Hornindal blows my mind" thread. I may just use something more standard in the end.

Your 2nd post just appeared, that sounds very cool, thanks. I can send you some Saure in exchange.

I'd love to make more lagers but the starter sizes were too much hassle with a 2L flask and I don't have the means to lager as my fridge only really gets to 3c and that would prevent me brewing during lagering. A keezer seems the best plan but I don't have space for a keg set-up.

 

[BeerCat]

Creamsupplies sell 5l flasks for about £12 I think and I use the wort left in the kettle for starters. Taking the thermostat out of the fridge is easy enough but not everyone crashes at zero. Apparently it can strip flavours but never tried a test.
I already have some Saure but thanks for the offer. Most kind. Have you thought about trying David Heath's Xmas beer?

 

[Zephyr259]

Creamsupplies sell 5l flasks for about £12 I think and I use the wort left in the kettle for starters. Taking the thermostat out of the fridge is easy enough but not everyone crashes at zero. Apparently it can strip flavours but never tried a test.
I already have some Saure but thanks for the offer. Most kind. Have you thought about trying David Heath's Xmas beer?

Thanks for the tip on Cream Supplies, that's a fraction of what I've seen elsewhere. Wonder if my stir plate will be able to cope with that...

I've seen that you can remove the thermostat but I'm not very handy and it sounded complicated. However, I've now had the fridge for a while so I don't need to worry about voiding any warranty so I might have a look into it again.

 

[BeerCat]

Thanks for the tip on Cream Supplies, that's a fraction of what I've seen elsewhere. Wonder if my stir plate will be able to cope with that...

I've seen that you can remove the thermostat but I'm not very handy and it sounded complicated. However, I've now had the fridge for a while so I don't need to worry about voiding any warranty so I might have a look into it again.

When i first looked at flasks they were about £50, ridiculous. These 5l flasks work on my ghetto (LEGO) stir plate so all good really. I have done all 3 of my fridges, its really easy. Will check my bookmarks later and send your way.

Have you anything special planned for Chrimbo? I should get in the festive spirit and make something suitable.

 

[Zephyr259]

When i first looked at flasks they were about £50, ridiculous. These 5l flasks work on my ghetto (LEGO) stir plate so all good really. I have done all 3 of my fridges, its really easy. Will check my bookmarks later and send your way.

Have you anything special planned for Chrimbo? I should get in the festive spirit and make something suitable.

My DIY stir plate does well with 1.5L in my 2L flask, the magnets aren't the strongest so sometimes takes a bit to get the magnet to catch.

I'm going to be brewing a "Belgian" Dark Strong ale with Saure once I'm home which is hopefully my Christmas brew, then a split batch of hoppy bitter / saison which may only just be ready for new year. I've been stocking up on lower abv beers recently after I ran out of anything below 6% while the weather was too hot / buggy for brewing.

 

[Clint]

WHC Bjorn kviek... available from malt miller ..has anyone used this? I'm probably placing an order tomorrow and fancy trying it in a Brewdog Slot machine clone as I want the brew finished quickly.

 

[Zephyr259]

WHC Bjorn kviek... available from malt miller ..has anyone used this? I'm probably placing an order tomorrow and fancy trying it in a Brewdog Slot machine clone as I want the brew finished quickly.

Not used that specific isolate but it's from the Hornindal region so it's one of the Hornindal isolates like Omega. Hornindal is one of the more common strains so there's plenty of info out there on it, seems to be favoured for NEIPA on homebrew talk.

 

[Clint]

Cheers Z...

 

[An Ankoù]

Thanks, I previously had a sample of Opshaug from the farm, I didn't get on with it as it was slow to ferment and had poor attenuation. Now that I know more I think I stressed it out with a high gravity fermentation when I forgot to add a bit of nutrients and the other batch was co-pitched with Roeselare blend and I'm suspicious that the acids it produced have made my refractometer reading unreliable.

Oh, I should mention that I have Voss, Hornindal, Saure, Ebbegarden and Espe available, the last 2 are still in a vial/dry and I haven't used them before.

So much for Opshaug finishing in 2-3 days, I pitched last Thursday, it was well away friday morning, so today, Wednesday, is the sixth day and it's still going strong. No complaints about the fermentation so far as it's slowed to just a tad less than one glug per second (technical term) in the airlock so I'd say that was a strong fermentation. OG was 1068 and ambient temperature fluctuates from 15C to 20C over 24 hours and the FV is well wrapped so I'd guess a constant 18C in there. No signs of abating yet. The beer I did the following day with Wyeast West Yorkshire is fermented out, but it was only a Boddington's clone. Still have high hopes for this kweik.

 

[Zephyr259]

So much for Opshaug finishing in 2-3 days, I pitched last Thursday, it was well away friday morning, so today, Wednesday, is the sixth day and it's still going strong. No complaints about the fermentation so far as it's slowed to just a tad less than one glug per second (technical term) in the airlock so I'd say that was a strong fermentation. OG was 1068 and ambient temperature fluctuates from 15C to 20C over 24 hours and the FV is well wrapped so I'd guess a constant 18C in there. No signs of abating yet. The beer I did the following day with Wyeast West Yorkshire is fermented out, but it was only a Boddington's clone. Still have high hopes for this kweik.

That's what it did for me, took about 3 weeks to ferment my wheatwine braggot but that's my fault, the wort was 1.065 and I bumped it up to 1.100 with honey and forgot to add nutrient. Then i co-pitched with Roeselare into 1.048 wort (again without nutrient) and it only got down to 1.019 before stopping, so only 60% apparent attenuation. The braggot did get to 10.5 % with about 70% attenuation when the honey was accounted for but it didn't bottle condition very well.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

That's what it did for me, took about 3 weeks to ferment my wheatwine braggot but that's my fault, the wort was 1.065 and I bumped it up to 1.100 with honey and forgot to add nutrient. Then i co-pitched with Roeselare into 1.048 wort (again without nutrient) and it only got down to 1.019 before stopping, so only 60% apparent attenuation. The braggot did get to 10.5 % with about 70% attenuation when the honey was accounted for but it didn't bottle condition very well.

Kveik doesn't finish fast at those temps. The thing about Kveik isn't really that it's faster, but that it allows you to ferment at higher temps without off flavours. If you'd pitch let's say US05 at 35 degrees it would most definitely finish in about 3 days also, the difference is that the beer would taste fenolic and probably a lot of other bad things and it would give you a baaaad headache. Kveik doesn't. Pitch it in hot wort, ca 35-40 degrees. Wrap it well in your hottest room and let it work. Use it right and you'll love it.

 

[Zephyr259]

Kveik doesn't finish fast at those temps. The thing about Kveik isn't really that it's faster, but that it allows you to ferment at higher temps without off flavours. If you'd pitch let's say US05 at 35 degrees it would most definitely finish in about 3 days also, the difference is that the beer would taste fenolic and probably a lot of other bad things and it would give you a baaaad headache. Kveik doesn't. Pitch it in hot wort, ca 35-40 degrees. Wrap it well in your hottest room and let it work. Use it right and you'll love it.

Likely true enough, although the reccomended pitching temp for Opshaug is 23.5c so it's going to be slower than Voss at 40c I guess, still, it was mostly the attenuation I didn't like.

 

[Clint]

So...at high temps does the kviek finish quicker without the off flavours etc? If it doesn't,for me the only advantage would be the in summer when ground water is warm and I'm struggling with pitch temp.

 

[samale]

So...at high temps does the kviek finish quicker without the off flavours etc? If it doesn't,for me the only advantage would be the in summer when ground water is warm and I'm struggling with pitch temp.

The best advantage for me is the quick turn round of beers that would normally take a while to mature. Using kviek on my stout means it's good to drink as soon as it's carbonated. The other main advantage is it can handle high gravity beers

 

[Clint]

But...does it ferment quicker with good results? I currently ferment until it's done,then dry hop then sometimes cold crash,then bottle,then at least a week carbing then off to the shed so a brew can take many weeks to be ready..