Kveik: what is the deal and why it is the "thing"

[Frankie4Fingers]

43 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Thanks mate for all your help, appreciated very much.  Would I be better off to ditch the Lager idea for the time being?

3 key things with brewing in general are Cleaning, Sanitation and Temp Control.  If you get to grips with all those then you will have a very good chance of producing decent beer.

Keep an eye out for a second hand fridge if you can as that will go a long way to taking care of temp control.  I built my own STC-1000 for ~$30 and since doing that have managed to keep temps where they need to be for the respective yeast and the results have been good.

[Shamus O'Sean]

4 hours ago, Mickep said:

Thanks mate for all your help, appreciated very much.  Would I be better off to ditch the Lager idea for the time being?

Maybe, maybe not.  You can get the brew done now.  Keeping it cool for the next three months, to properly lager it, might be trickier.  I did the European Lager (which comes with a lager yeast) in March in Melbourne (no temperature control).  Only lagered in the top cupboard in the kitchen but left it until July, other than a taste-tester each month.  This still turned out a nice beer.  Even the earliest taste testers were quite good.  Will it be the best lager you have ever drank?  Probably not.  Will it be a nice beer to drink? Yes, it will.

It would be better with cool fermentation temperature and cool to cold lagering.  But at the stage you are at, I would give it a crack.

[Tricky Micky]

5 hours ago, Frankie4Fingers said:

3 key things with brewing in general are Cleaning, Sanitation and Temp Control.  If you get to grips with all those then you will have a very good chance of producing decent beer.

Keep an eye out for a second hand fridge if you can as that will go a long way to taking care of temp control.  I built my own STC-1000 for ~$30 and since doing that have managed to keep temps where they need to be for the respective yeast and the results have been good.

Thanks heaps for your help Frankie

[Tricky Micky]

9 hours ago, Mickep said:

Cheers Shamus

 

11 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Maybe, maybe not.  You can get the brew done now.  Keeping it cool for the next three months, to properly lager it, might be trickier.  I did the European Lager (which comes with a lager yeast) in March in Melbourne (no temperature control).  Only lagered in the top cupboard in the kitchen but left it until July, other than a taste-tester each month.  This still turned out a nice beer.  Even the earliest taste testers were quite good.  Will it be the best lager you have ever drank?  Probably not.  Will it be a nice beer to drink? Yes, it will.

It would be better with cool fermentation temperature and cool to cold lagering.  But at the stage you are at, I would give it a crack.

Hey Shamus,

You reckon I can still give the Saflager 34/70 a go? The temp range on the packet suggests it'll do its thing between 9 and 22 deg c. I'm not for a minute suggesting that's ideal but like you said this'll be my first brew I should have a crack-No?

[Frankie4Fingers]

1 hour ago, Mickep said:

You reckon I can still give the Saflager 34/70 a go? The temp range on the packet suggests it'll do its thing between 9 and 22 deg c. I'm not for a minute suggesting that's ideal but like you said this'll be my first brew I should have a crack-No?

If you can find somewhere that offers stable temps then that is a good start.  Do you have a dark cupboard, under stairs maybe, that doesn't have varied temp swings and is on the cooler side?

[Tricky Micky]

30 minutes ago, Frankie4Fingers said:

If you can find somewhere that offers stable temps then that is a good start.  Do you have a dark cupboard, under stairs maybe, that doesn't have varied temp swings and is on the cooler side?

I have a cupboard in the garage which is pretty stable with temps.  The laundry is the next best thing. 

[Frankie4Fingers]

38 minutes ago, Mickep said:

I have a cupboard in the garage which is pretty stable with temps.  The laundry is the next best thing. 

Just need to have a look at which would give the cooler, stable offering.  Despite the temp range quoted,  if you can keep 34/70 at around 12-15c continually then you will have happy little yeast who will go off on their merry way.

[Tricky Micky]

2 hours ago, Frankie4Fingers said:

Just need to have a look at which would give the cooler, stable offering.  Despite the temp range quoted,  if you can keep 34/70 at around 12-15c continually then you will have happy little yeast who will go off on their merry way.

Thanks Frankie,

Been searching  the net for Temperature Controller ITC-308 | INKBIRD and a second hand fridge.  (Thoughts?) I'm going to have a crack at the lager with the 34/70 yeast without these items and try and keep it on the cool side somehow. As a general rule after I've CC'ed the lager and ready for bottling where is the best place for conditioning the brew in the bottles.  

[Frankie4Fingers]

If you are priming (carbonating) in the bottles then you need them to be somewhere where the temperatures will rise to a similar 12-15C as the ferment.  This will allow the yeast to wake up after the CC and then start to devour the sugars and create the CO2 you are after.

Just try to keep them out of direct light (so a cupboard or box would work)....I am assuming you have brown PET bottles that the light could infiltrate.

[Tricky Micky]

1 hour ago, Frankie4Fingers said:

If you are priming (carbonating) in the bottles then you need them to be somewhere where the temperatures will rise to a similar 12-15C as the ferment.  This will allow the yeast to wake up after the CC and then start to devour the sugars and create the CO2 you are after.

Just try to keep them out of direct light (so a cupboard or box would work)....I am assuming you have brown PET bottles that the light could infiltrate.

Yep PET bottles. And thanks for all your input here. Appreciated much Ta.

[Pezzza]

9 hours ago, Mickep said:

Thanks Frankie,  Been searching  the net for Temperature Controller ITC-308 | INKBIRD and a second hand fridge.  (Thoughts?) I'm going to have a crack at the lager with the 34/70 yeast without these items and try and keep it on the cool side somehow. As a general rule after I've CC'ed the lager and ready for bottling where is the best place for conditioning the brew in the bottles.  

Hey there Mickep..... sounds yer like on the way fwd.......Conditioning.... a warm dark place... 15-18 deg C?

And post-lager ferment then 3 degC for three months under pressure.......

 

[Tricky Micky]

8 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey there Mickep..... sounds yer like on the way fwd.......Conditioning.... a warm dark place... 15-18 deg C?

And post-lager ferment then 3 degC for three months under pressure.......

 

 

 

Thanks BB much appreciated.

[Marty_G]

20 hours ago, Mickep said:

I've CC'ed the lager and ready for bottling where is the best place for conditioning the brew in the bottles.  

As mentioned the carbonation of the secondary fermentation takes about 2 weeks at 18c then after that the darkest coldest place you can find for about 3 months. 

[Tricky Micky]

1 hour ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

As mentioned the carbonation of the secondary fermentation takes about 2 weeks at 18c then after that the darkest coldest place you can find for about 3 months. 

Cheers Marty.

[Guvna]

On 8/31/2020 at 7:29 AM, Guvna said:

Down to 1.012 last night, still a little bit of action which may drop to the predicted 1.009   brewed friday/crash monday? how unreal?

Sample tasted pretty good. Should be crashing this brew today. This yeast could be very handy come summer time in Adelaide, specially given my ferment fridge is in the tin shed.

Might try and harvest and dry the bottom yeast too!

CC for 3 days now at 3c.  Kviek cake looks way solid. Hoping it taste good!

[Frankie4Fingers]

For those that have re-harvested this yeast, what steps did you follow to do so?

I have a fermzilla all rounder so it's a bit harder to get the yeast cake out of but probably not impossible.  What do you do with it afterwards and what is needed when using it the next time?

[Guvna]

22 minutes ago, Frankie4Fingers said:

For those that have re-harvested this yeast, what steps did you follow to do so?

Im thinking the same too. Anyone able to give us the steps to harvest Kviek.  Im particually interested in learning how to dry it and then how much to use per batch?

 

[Marty_G]

On 9/4/2020 at 8:39 AM, Guvna said:

Im thinking the same too. Anyone able to give us the steps to harvest Kviek.  Im particually interested in learning how to dry it and then how much to use per batch?

 

I have dried it and not sure it was a success. Now,  I always harvest from the slurry. I pressure ferment so once my keg is full I shake the daylights out of the FV and use a party gun to fill some mason jars.  When brewing i use 1 jar per batch am still using generations from the same pack I bought in Feb when I started the thread.  

[Guvna]

On 8/29/2020 at 10:19 AM, Guvna said:

howdy all,

Yesterday I made an extract ale with a small hop boil using cascade and amarillo and my first try of the Kviek Yeast - Lalbrew Voss

21 ltrs - @  1.050  - 31.5 ish pitch and hold in fermenting fridge. I think the Heat wrap will struggle to get the brew much higher.

Within 3 hours the s airlock was dry. Topped it up, loosed the lid a little, seemed ok.  Nearly dried again this morning, going beserk.  will be keeping an eye on it today.

How surreal its was to be out in the shed with the over night temp of approx 7c (did have the pot belly raging) and opening the fridge door was like a heater.  

Hopefully it comes out tasty.  

 

Tasting pretty good,!   It's different looking from my standard US05 blend, yet similar taste despite no dry hopping with this Kviek brew.  Hazy even with solid CC ?

[James Lao]

The flavour in mine is spot on I reckon, loads of orange and mango coming through, but  its so bloody hazy!

Has been in the keg for about 4-5 weeks, also had gelatin added during cold crash before being Kegged.

Bloody nice though!

Cheers

James

[Potatoes]

On 8/25/2020 at 8:26 AM, MartyG1525230263 said:

I have used at at 22c for a lager and it fermented through that Ok albeit slower.  So I would suspect that as long as the ambient is in the 20's you are fine. 

Thanks for the post MartyG.  Answered a lot of questions which I was asking.  I am thinking about brewing with no temp control this summer.  So my room temp will be 26 - 30c.  At this temp, would Kviek Voss still make good APAs/IPAs?  Or do you need to raise temp to 35c to get the yeast to perform?

[Marty_G]

56 minutes ago, Potatoes said:

Thanks for the post MartyG.  Answered a lot of questions which I was asking.  I am thinking about brewing with no temp control this summer.  So my room temp will be 26 - 30c.  At this temp, would Kviek Voss still make good APAs/IPAs?  Or do you need to raise temp to 35c to get the yeast to perform?

It will be fine it will just alter the ferment time.  At that sort of temp the ester production will be lower so I think it is the best option for the sort of situation you describe.  It is a very versatile yeast with a huge temperature range and ideal for no temperature control. 

[BlackSands]

Pitched Mangove Jacks's M12 Kveik yeast into a 1.036 wort 28 hours ago set @32ºC.   It's now reading 1.004   

Edited October 7, 2020 by BlackSands

[Marty_G]

10 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

Pitched Mangove Jacks's M12 Kveik yeast into a 1.036 wort 28 hours ago set @32ºC.   It's now reading 1.004   

Yep it is a monster of a yeast. 

 

[BlackSands]

2 hours ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

Yep it is a monster of a yeast. 

I'll give it another day to settle/clean up then I guess a cold crash for a few days, and then into bottles.  All in about the same time that I would normally expect to just ferment a brew using conventional yeasts.  Quite remarkable.  Of course I had to have a taste of the sample...  apart from the fact that it was very warm it tasted pretty much like any other brew does at this stage of the process.  It's too early to tell yet of course, but I could well be convert!