I have an old pouch of OYL Voss Kveik and am wondering if it'd be a good move to make make a starter, then drying. The date on the pouch is June 25, 2019, so the 5-month 'expiration' date was reached in late November 2019. Searching the forum returned limited hits about drying Kveik. @deadwolfbones used parchment paper and a dehydrator set at 95° (~ 12 hours) for drying Opshaug. I remember reading dried Kveik can last for years in the freezer. Have you used any of those chips? @chavinparty mentioned wanting to try drying. Anyone here have experience with other methods that are suitable without a dehydrator? Can this be done in an oven? If air-drying at ambient temps, are there elevated concerns about stray, undesirable bugs? Any and all input is appreciated.
I can't help you, but know someone that might. Justin at Mainiacal Yeast might be able to lend you some advice. He is a local yeast lab here in Maine, who is currently shut down... Not sure how much he checks the lab stuff, but it might be worth a shot. I have only bought Kveik yeast from him, and he is a good guy to just chat with. https://www.mainiacalyeast.com/contact-us I could also poke him on facebook for you if you need it.
@Granitebeard an older post of yours referencing Mainiacal came up in my search, and I was poking around his website when you relied. Thanks for that. I'll check him out further.
I’ve tried kviek with success. I would just make your starter and smear it on a baking sheet with parchment paper and put it some place high up on a shelf and let it naturally dry. I never noticed any off flavors that would lead me to think of any contamination.
Read the whole thing or scroll down to gong dried on cloth. It's a close kveik. http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/409.html
I sent a message using the Mainiacal Contact page. So that’d be good if you would give him a heads up….thanks.
I’m glad you started this thread. I just purchased some Oslo Kveik yeast from Bootleg Biology and never would have thought to dry it out for future use. May try it after I brew with it first
