Kveik and fermentation at high temperatures
Over the years, the art of brewing has evolved as we have gained access to better ingredients and equipment. And innovative brewers work tirelessly to raise the bar for artisanal products through unique fermentation practices.
With all this, we still find ourselves going back to the past and using traditional techniques from the time when making beer was still a mystery and the inputs were limited.
And why do we do this? With an increasingly competitive market, craft brewers are looking for a way to stand out and ride the wave of the moment and make money with the next trendy style.
And the trend at the moment is to make beer with kveik strains, which increases the ability to ferment at high temperatures without producing off-flavor while producing beer in short periods (between 2 and 4 days).
Kveik – What is it?
Kveik (read cueiquê) is an Old Norse word that loosely translates as alive and is used to describe yeast blends used in several local farmhouse breweries in Norway.
Local brewers have used this yeast for generations and pass the yeast from beer to beer using a traditional wooden disc called a witch’s ring to maintain the same flora in the beers.
When comparing the strains between these breweries, no kveik is the same as another, as are the unique microfloras of each brewery that works with spontaneous fermentation. And why do brewers like kveik?
Kveik yeasts are prized for their tolerance to high temperatures and extremely rapid fermentation. When we think of them being “alive”, the name makes a lot of sense. While most ale strains ferment at 18-21°C, kveik strains prefer temperatures closer to 32°C.
For most ales – apart from Belgian and wheat beers – this high temperature results in aromas and flavors in the beer.
Kveiks have a similar origin to other farmhouse ale yeasts, but unlike these strains, they result in a clean fermentation profile, compared to the fruity, esters and spices, cloves and phenolics characteristic of Saisons.
Although with kveiks yeast some esters and phenols are produced, they are much milder than those produced by saison strains.
Fermentation
High temperatures during fermentation serve to increase the metabolic activity of the yeast, meaning that the yeast will ferment at an exponentially faster rate. For kveik cultures the theory applies and many strains can reach final gravity within 48 hours. And that for breweries is wonderful! Any brewer will tell you that the time the beer sits in the tank is a very important factor and with kveik strains the tank turnover increases considerably.
This fact benefits breweries that try to keep a tight schedule and small breweries benefit as they do not have a large number of tanks. Due to the fact that kveik cultures are tolerant to high temperatures, ferment quickly and have a very clean fermentation profile, they end up being very versatile and being used in various styles of beer.
American breweries have used these strains in various styles such as NE IPA, hoppy Red Ale, Pale Ales, Brut IPAs and fermentation methods range from 4°C to 30°C with brewers noticing more aromas at high fermentation temperatures, but even thus, the end result being a clean profile.
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