It's june, and it's hot as hell in New York. Perfect time for drinking Pilsner, and fermenting at recklessly high temperatures with Kveik.
Volume: 2.5 gal
Yeast: Bootleg Biology OSLO Kveik
Fermentables:
- 5 lbs Bohemian Pilsner malt (floor malted)
- 5 oz Carapils
Hops:
- 1.5 oz Saaz
- 0.4 oz Hallertau
Schedule (60 minute boil):
- 60 min: 1 oz Saaz
- 15 min: 0.4 oz Hallertau
- 15 min: 0.5 oz Saaz
Predictions (Brewer's friend):
- OG: 1.056
- FG: 1.014
- ABV: 5.53%
- IBU: 39.98
- SRM: 3.85
Mashed at 152 F in 3 gal, with recirculation and a 1 gal sparge at 170 F. Got 3.4 gal post sparge. This came in at 1.036 at 114 F, which is 1.043 at 68F. The 3.4 was near boiling temperature, so taking thermal expansion into account it'd be closer to 3.2 at room temperature. Reducing this to 2.5 gal puts OG at 1.055.
Boiled according to schedule. Added Fermcap while heating, 1/2 tablet Whirlfloc and 1 tsp yeast nutrient at 15 min. Cooled to 75 F, whirlpooled by stirring, let sit for 1 hour, transferred to fermenter.
At this point I had 2.6 gal of wort in kettle. That's 0.6 gal lost, but precision isn't great so a boil off rate at 0.5 gal / hour seems plausible. Total in fermenter was around 1.9 gal.
- OG: (Hydrometer): 1.052
- OG: (Tilt): 1.056
Pitched only 1 (heaping) tsp yeast slurry from one of the jars I harvested from a cream ale in February. Would never do this small a pitch with a "regular" yeast, but they say Kveik handles it just fine.
Whole process was on the (6.5 gal) Foundry. Worked like a charm. Really glad I got this thing.
One thing that bugs me though is how I always seem to end up transferring a lot of kettle trub to hit my fermenter volume. Thanks to the Foundry's rotating racking arm, the first 1.5 gal was incredibly clear. To get the final 0.4 gal, I had to turn it below the trub line.
I could fix this by simply making a larger batch. A kettle volume of 3 gal would probably do the trick (but would waste malt and hops). Another option is to come up with a way of creating a better whirlpool than what I get by stirring (perhaps a whirlpool paddle?). Third option is to somehow reduce the amount of trub (start using hop bags?). Fourth is to use some a of trub filter when racking (although every time I've tried that in the past it just ended up getting clogged).
Should pick one of the above ideas and try it out next brew day.
A bit over 12 hours lag time before gravity started dropping. Fermenter lid doesn't seal tightly without teflon tape, and I had run out, so I saw no airlock activity. Took about 5 days for it to ferment out. Longer than I expected for this yeast, but makes sense given the very small pitch.
Primed with 39 g sugar in 1/2 cup of water for keg, and 2.2 g per bottle. Got 1.5 gal on keg and 2 bottles. Was able to use the fermentor faucet this time.
- FG: 1.009 (Tilt)
- FG: 1.007 (Hydrometer
- ABV: 5.9% (Hydrometer)
Sample was really tasty. Pretty bitter and a bit alcoholic. Hopefully that'll settle down until when it's carbonated.
This beer has been going through changes. I tried a bottle after 2-3 weeks, and it wasn't great. Keg went in to the fridge last Wednesday (the 15th), connected CO2 on Thursday and pour a few pints on Friday. Still not great. Very strong OSLO notes. Very bitter. Darker than I would've wanted it to be. So much so that I started suspecting I'd scorched the wort somehow during the boil. Not great.
Sunday night, I served a few pints to a friend, and I really enjoyed mine. It had cleared up a bit, the funky kveik notes were more mellow and the bitterness too.
I poured a pint today, and it was completely different. Those 3 days in the fridge really did something to it. It's very clear now. Feels brighter in color. Bitterness is much lower, but still very present in the aftertaste. The OSLO notes work well at this stage, and are also more subdued than before. It's really drinkable. Quaffable.
Perhaps still a bit bland? Mouthfeel is a bit too round I think. I'd like a bit more tartness, or dryness in there.
Anywho. Not the best beer I've made, but definitely ok. Or even good. Especially this last pint I had today.