Using Kveik to make Quick "Lagers"

At least someone had some good sense to minimize the charade.

 

Those "Kolsch" look horrible. Appearance shouldn't be above 1. How can they be ranked so high. The real Koln Kolschs are not near high ranked. Oh well.

 

People typically don't rate to style, and rate to taste.

Most people prefer a New England IPA over a Kölsch.

 

On the topic of Kölsch, I was recently engaged in a NBW thread discussion with @Roguer regarding where people draw the line between "Kölsch" and "not a Kölsch." Continuing off of the quotes above, this post isn't aimed at anything anyone has said here.

Beers that people like to think of as hybrids (cream ale, Kölsch, steam, etc.) are a good illustration (in my eyes) of a practice related to the yeast discussion in this thread. In some ways, these beers illustrate a certain lack of rigidity of categorizing by yeast/fermentation, but because we want rigidity and don't want to embrace the lack of it, we view such beers as “hybrids.” (Personally, I do not.)

The byproduct of this viewpoint is that such beers become defined by this hybrid process more than anything else. Rather than ignoring culture and giving weight to a single ingredient, some have ignored culture and given weight to a single ingredient/process dynamic. Look at all of the crazy "is Kölsch a lager or ale?" arguments. (BTW, I do not feel that something like Kölsch is set in stone, but I do think that the people of Köln are the ones who can decide how open things can be rather than a US brewer.)

The thinking that some employ is that a slightly colder fermentation temperature with a top fermenting yeast is the key aspect of Kölsch and therefore employing such a practice results in a beer that can be associated with Kölsch. Such a beer does not have to feel like it belongs to any other tradition of Kölsch. Because of its protected status, some people tend to treat Kölsch with more reverence than other styles, so it's always a common but tricky choice in an argument... but look at how flexible people are with the cream ale label.

It's not a leap to imagine that this was in the mind of the folks at Trillium with Sprang. I'm not a fan of this way of thinking... but I also think that the consumer is part of the issue. Trillium does not actually claim that it's a Kölsch or Kölsch-style beer. They claim that it is a "Kölsch inspired ale." While I am not a fan of this marketing, I do think it gives them much more leeway than some people here give them. The issue, once again, is one of rigidity. We tend to take style categorizations on BA far too literally.

Sprang actually is a Kölsch inspired ale... just as they claim. Does that mean that people here will categorize it as a Kölsch? Well, that's how we tend to do things. Then once it's in that category here, people will often pick one of these reactions: "This is a bad Kölsch," "This is a bad brewer because this isn't like a Kölsch," "This is a Kölsch," OR "I don't usually like Kölsch but this is the best one I've ever had... I guess I now like Kölsch." (Not to mention the, "We need a Kölsch-inspired-ale category on BA" reaction.)

Frankly, all of those reactions leave a lot to be desired... and I see variations on them frequently (and I would never claim to be guiltless in any of my ramblings). Why not go back to what the brewer claims rather than taking an outside categorization as gospel? I'm really amazed by how little this happens on BA. Is Trillium just using this language because of the protected status of the style... and do they refer to it as a Kölsch internally? I don't know. They do use the "inspired" terminology in their taproom on their board. Did people on Untappd get it right when they put it in the "New England Pale Ale" category? I don't know. Perhaps it's a better approach. Perhaps not (even though I think it's more respectful and perhaps more accurate). I'm less concerned with what's "right" and more concerned with the starkness of viewing something as "right."

 

Based upon the reviews I have read on this beer, IMO Untappd did "get it right".

Cheers!

 

There are many varieties/strains of Kveik yeast. I used the Lultra in a Kölsch style ale, which I know isn't a lager, but it came out fantastic! Very clean and a little bit of fruit, but perfect for that style. I plan on using different strains for different beers in the future.

 

My local Waconia Brewing Company has been doing their lagers with Kviek yeast for a few years now. Not a fan of them doing that but at least it is not hazy, sweet, BS.

 

Rumor has it that many brewers are switching to Kviek yeast for IPAs and other ale styles as well….primarily for brewing time efficiency (5-7 days?) and to free up equipment for their next batch. Not sure if it will still result in a tasty beer but if you are catering to a customer base primarily showing up at your brewery due to location / taproom outdoor seating vibe and can offer decent enough beers, most customers won’t care.

 

Hopefully these brewery owners learned some brewing history so they won’t make the same mistakes as Schlitz:

“The Downfall of a brewery

In the late 50s, Anheuser-Busch pulled ahead in the competition, and Schlitz, now managed by the Uihlein family who was related to the brewery's original founder August Krug, made a series of decisions that would lead to the gradual downfall of the Schlitz brewery.

First, the brewery cut costs by starting to swap in cheaper ingredients including corn syrup for malted barley and hop pellets for fresh hops. The hope was that if they did it slow enough, drinkers wouldn't notice.”

https://www.wideopeneats.com/whatever-happened-to-schlitz-beer/

If enough customers perceive a ‘cheapening’ aspect to the beer that news will spread and that could have dire consequences for the brewery.

Cheers!

 

Definitely would be an issue if a brewery is tinkering with existing beers that patrons love. But I think the intent is using the yeast for new beers, not baiting and switching existing beers on existing customers. And these would be small local brewers. Not really cheapening the beer, just saving brewing time, but perhaps maximizing efficiency of small scale equipment to have more beer taps going at a given time and quicker turnover when kegs are kicked to replace the tap.

 

Yes, that would be a differing 'strategy'.

I have not seen any beers at my small, local craft breweries fermenting with Kviek yeasts (yet) but if they think this would represent a 'shiny new thing' for their ticking customers I have little doubt they would try it for one (or two) brands. Reducing production time would likely just be viewed as being a bonus here.

Today's craft beer scene has to be quite challenging for small, craft breweries where they likely hear on a regular (daily?) basis customers asking in the taproom: "What do you have that is new?".

Cheers!

 

I've not used Kveik yeast for a 'lager', but have had decent success fermenting lager yeasts in the low 60s.

 

Boulevard Kviek IPA is pretty tasty.

 

Boulevard Kviek IPA is so good my wife likes it as a regular…she’s picky. Smooth, crisp, tropical without being acidic. Hell, even I like it, and you might know I’m not a yellow beer type.