With the summer months closing out, I wanted to do a final kveik batch. I targeted a 3 gallon yield, because I didn’t want to have a ton of higher-abv beer. Additionally, I made this a “quicker brew” session, by reducing the boil time to 45 minutes. I have no particular reason for the name, other than that it sounded cool.

Byzantium IPA

• 8.25 lb. 2-row malt (California Select, Great Western)
• 0.25 lb. 10L caramel malt (Briess)
• 0.55 oz. CTZ (Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus) hop pellets (15.8% alpha), first wort hop
• 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellet (12.7% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 0.65 oz. Centennial hop pellet (8.1% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 1 tsp. yeast nutrient (WLN1000, White Labs), 5 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
• 1 pkg. Voss Kveik Ale Yeast (Lallemand)
• 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 2 day dry hop
• 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.7% alpha), 2 day dry hop

Target Parameters

• 1.067 s.g., 1.013 f.g., 7.2% abv, 66 IBU, 5 SRM
• 149° mash, 60 minutes, with 10 minute mash-out at 168°, and 1 gallon sparge
• Claremont tap water with 3 g gypsum and 2 g epsom salt added at boil, to hit add 3 g gypsum, 2 g epsom salt to water just before boil, to hit 71 Ca, 21 Mg, 93 Na, 180 SO4, 105 Cl, 156 HC03, 65 RA, 128 ppm Alkalinity

Procedure

• I mashed in with 4 gallons of water at 156°, adding 5 mL of 88% lactic acid. This hit a target mash temperature of 149°, and I held it here (with recirculation) for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes, I mashed out to 168°. I pulled the grain basket, and sparged with just under a gallon of hot water.
• In total, I collected 4 gallons of runnings at a gravity of 1.057, for 73% mash efficiency. Nice!
• I added gypsum, epsom salt, and the CTZ pellets, brought the wort to a boil, and added hops and such per the schedule. After 45 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to ~90°.
• I transferred ~3.25 gallons of wort at a starting gravity of 1.064 into the fermenter, and pitched the yeast.
• I brewed the beer on 21 August 2021, letting it sit at ambient, which was around 85°.
• Fermentation took off quickly, overflowing the airlock (oops). I added the dry hops directly to the fermenter (with no bag) on 1 September 2021, and then kegged on 3 September 2021.
• I kegged the beer using a semi-closed transfer, and the hops were quite a pain. I had some issues with clogged lines, etc. I probably should have cold-crashed to drop the hops out of the beer, or else bagged them in the first place. Ah well.
• Final gravity was 1.014, for 6.6% abv.
• To help clear the beer and hurry it towards serving, I added 0.5 tsp of gelatin in 0.75 cups water on 4 September 2021. At this time, I also agitated keg to finish carbonation.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • This is a gold-colored beer with a slight haze; it pours with a quite persistent white head that leaves nice lacing on the side of the glass.
• Aroma
  • The beer has a light citrus character for hops and a slight caramel malt aroma. There is no major yeast character, so the overall aroma is pretty clean. I would say it could use a little more hop character.
• Flavor
  • The flavor is has a high level of bitterness, with a citrus pith character and a little bit of orange. The malt is in the background, with a slightly grainy aspect. There is a light…tartness?…in the yeast profile, that adds a bit of interest.
• Mouthfeel
  • The beer has a medium-light body, moderate carbonation, and a dry finish.
• Would I brew this again?
  • This is a worthy experiment…definitely better than the other kveik IPA I did, which suffered from clashing hops, malt, and yeast in initial tastings, and never quite came together even as it matured. I think the hop selection works better here, although as before I probably should use a more character-rich base malt such as Maris Otter. My hop handling also wasn’t great on this one, which I think dinged it a bit also. I should probably just add the hops in a bag next time. I lost volume as well as introduced a bit of O2 while messing around trying to clear clogs. That aside, it is a pretty beer.
• Overall
  • 6.5/10