After the last, not very successful experiment with Kveik fermented lager, this time I decided to prepare myself better. Unfortunately, despite finding a lot of information, it turned out that the procedure depends on the Kveik strain.
As I still couldn’t find information about the origin of the strain (Ubbe Kveik) to which I had access, I decided to follow the tips that made the most sense to me.
Here are the tips I followed during this brewing:
- Maintain the fermentation at room temperature, contrary to the advice of the manufacturer who writes about body temperature
- prepare a yeast starter suitable for top-fermented beers rather than underpitching
- add a significant dose of yeast nutrient
- Transfer the beer immediately after fermentation is complete and bottle it as quickly as possible.
For this batch, I used the recipe of an exceptionally successful lager, which I brewed earlier with a slight change in bitterness hopping.
RECIPE DETAILS
Batch size: 25L (6.5 gal)
Mash water: 18L filtered water + 3ml Phosphoric Acid 75%
Sparge water: 16.5L filtered water + 1ml Phosphoric Acid 75%
Pre-boil gravity: 1.046 (11.4 BLG)
Boil time: 60 min
OG: 1.052 (12.9 BLG)
FG: 1.014 (3.6 BLG)
IBU*=42.8 EBC*=7.5 SRM=3.8 ABV=…%
BH Efficiency*=5% Est Mash Eff*=88.6%
* – EST by Beer Smith3
FERMENTABLES:
| Amt | Name | % |
| 3.4 kg | Pilsner Malt (Weyermann) | 67.5% |
| 1 kg | Pale Ale (Bestmalz) | 19.8% |
| 0.3 kg | CaraPils (Weyermann) | 6% |
| 0.3 kg | Munich I (Weyermann) | 6% |
| 0.04kg | Melanoidin (Weyermann) | 0.8% |
HOPS:
| Time | Name | Amount | Alpha | Use | Form |
| 60 min | Styrian Goldings | 25g | 4% | First Fort | Pellet |
| 60 min | Saaz | 25g | 3.3% | Boil | Pellet |
| 30 min | Styrian Goldings | 25g | 4% | Boil | Pellet |
| 30 min | Saaz | 25g | 3.3% | Boil | Pellet |
| 15 min | Styrian Goldings | 25g | 4% | Boil | Pellet |
| 15 min | Saaz | 25g | 3.3% | Boil | Pellet |
| 5 min | Saaz | 25g | 3.3% | Boil | Pellet |
| 1 min | Styrian Goldings | 25g | 4% | Boil | Pellet |
Extrass:
- 0.5tsp Yeast Nutrient (yeast starter 1L)
- 0.5tsp Yeast Nutrient (10min boil)
- 1 Whirfloc (10min boil)
Yeast:
Ubbe Kveik (WHC-Lab)
Mash:
| Temp | Name | Time |
| 69°C (156°F) | Mash Step | 60 min |
| 72°C (161°F) | Mash Step | 15 min |
| 76°C (168°F) | Mash Out | 15 min |
YEAST STARTER – 05/10/2020
BREW DAY– 06/10/2020
At first glance, you can see that after 24 hours the amount of yeast in the starter has increased significantly.
Time to brew…
Fermentation temp.: 21°C(70°F) – 24°C(75°F)
15/10/2020 Racking to a bottling bucket
19/10/2020 Bottling
I bottled the beer with about 3g of glucose added per bottle. I dissolved 156g of glucose in 600ml of water, which I boiled for about 10 minutes. After cooling down, I received 500ml of glucose solution, which I dosed 10ml per bottle.
01/12/2020
For a long time, I could not get myself to evaluate this beer, it did not develop like my other brews. However, I found it a success. Again, at the time of bottling, the beer was excellent, and most likely with kegging, I would have no doubts about it.
Re-fermentation always forces longer aging to let the yeast remove unwanted aromas, but with kveik strain, these aromas are completely different from other yeast strains, which is very confusing. With kveik, we expect very quick results which are not so quick. Summing up, re-fermentation even with kveik requires about a month of aging, and earlier tests may only stress us because the aromas suggest infections more than fermenting beer.
In the end, however, I received a beer that I would more describe as a Kellerbier than a Pilsner because the beer is slightly cloudy. In addition, I purposely used Styrian Goldings hops in this batch because of the intense aroma that may well play any yeast-derived esters. It only remains to check how this procedure will work in more subtle German or Czech hops.