The Kveik Ring Archive

Stranda

Stranda (Stein Langlo's kveik) is very flocculent, with clean aromatics. Stranda accentuates both malt and hop flavours and can sub in for most English and American strains. Stranda is unique in being a relatively "simple" kveik culture dominated by one strain. Here, we are offering the single-strain. The ideal pitch temperature is 30ºC.

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Lærdal Kveik

This single-strain isolate from the Lærdal Kveik (sourced from Dagfinn Wendelbo) ferments fast (like most kveik), flocculates well, and adds pineapple and orchard fruit aroma to beer. Ferments fast and is likely suited to hazy IPAs or English ales.

Skare Kveik

Sourced from Gunnar Skare, and pronounced "scar-uh"; has gained a reputation in homebrew circles for quick and somewhat more neutral flavour profile. Our blend of four isolates from Skare selects the best of the bunch and this blend can be used to produce clean beers quickly, including the recently popular "kveik lagers". 

Halvorsgard

Bjarne Halvorsgard's yeast hails from Ål, which is quite geographically separated from the farmhouse brewing epicentres in Voss and Hornindal. So much so that in Ål, the term for yeast is not 'kveik' but rather 'gong'. Unfortunately, The Gong Ring is a little less catchy. 

Tormodgarden Kveik

This kveik was sourced from Sigurd Johan Saure, who is the founder of Kveik Training, which offers an authentic Norwegian farmhouse brewing experience to guests. This is a unique opportunity to learn about traditional farmhouse brewing in Norway and to experience some of the unique cultural elements like Oppskåk, the convivial tasting of the still-fermenting beer. 

Marina Russian Farmhouse

While not technically kveik, this S. cerevisiae strain from deep in Chuvashia in Russia is quite unique, and we thought it was worth sharing in the Kveik Ring program.

Marina displays notes of white wine, baking spice, and light vanilla. It is closest in profile to Belgian ale strains and would be at home in Belgian styles or as the primary strain in a mixed culture ferment. Traditionally, it is used in a rye-heavy boiled-mash beer. 

Lærdal Strikes Back

For February, we brought back this single-strain isolate from the Lærdal Kveik (sourced from Dagfinn Wendelbo) ferments fast (like most kveik), flocculates well, and adds pineapple and orchard fruit aroma to beer. Ferments fast and our intrepid Kveik Ring participants responded favourably to the strain. 

Stalljen Kveik

The original Stalljen is the dry kveik we pull out of the freezer whenever someone doesn't believe us about how amazingly fast kveik is. They go silent when it starts fermenting after 30 minutes.

We are offering a blend of four isolates from the original culture. This was our fastest propagation ever. 

KRISPY

This is a special blend of kveik yeasts selected by our lab wizards for optimal crispiness and crushability in beer. It can be used to make clean, lager-like beers in a fraction of the time since fermentations can be performed in the 20-30ºC range. 

Practically speaking, KRISPY is a selection of two strains from the Skare kveik, and is a bit different from the Kveik Ring: Skare we previously released. 

Framgarden Kveik

The next-door neighbour to the popular Stordal Ebbegarden kveik, Framgarden offers similar properties with a twist. To us, Framgarden offers less guava and more melon and mango notes, which we think would pair perfectly with hops like Cashmere, Sabro, Huell Melon and Galaxy. In terms of beer styles, we think it works great in quick sours and low-ABV pale ales.

Framgarden is sourced from Petter Bøvrebust, and collected by the late and great William Holden. 

Hornindal Farm Kveik

What we've done here is devised a strategy to replicate the original Hornindal Farm Kveik (Terje Raftevold #5) as best as we possibly can. We grew as many yeast strains as we could, using our standard yeast production method, and blended it with a custom propagation of the Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus paracasei found in the original culture. 

The L. paracasei strain is hop tolerant and this culture may sour low IBU beers.

Simonaitis / Simonaitis + Lacto

In our continued effort to push the limits of the Kveik Ring program, here we offer an exciting Lithuanian landrace yeast culture, offered both with the resident Lactobacillus and without (as a pure culture). The Kveik Ring: Simonaitis + Lacto can be used as a mixed culture for no-hop sours, where it attenuates and acidifies to make quick turnaround, clean sour beers.

Midtbust Kveik

Hailing from Stordal, the Midtbust Kveik is well suited to a variety of beer styles. Here, we’ve blended 5 isolates from the original farmhouse culture. Like most kveik, the temperature can be pushed high to obtain more aroma expression or dialled down for a more neutral result.

Jordal Kveik

Sourced from Hallvor Måge likely originates in Odda, nearby to Skare (where KRISPY was sourced from). This Kveik Ring release contains all 4 strains. In a test fermentation, we found that it produced a remarkably clean ferment and attenuated to 86%.

This might be the dream kveik for brewers looking for clean, crisp, dry ferments.

Rivenes Kveik

"The Other Voss Kveik", Rivenes (from Svein Rivenes) presents a similar character to Sigmund's Voss. We recommend pitching/fermenting hot (37ºC) and think this yeast could work great in West Coast IPAs and Stouts.

Espe Kveik

Hailing from the raw ale epicentre in Grodås, Espe presents bright tropical fruit and warming cognac/rum character. Expect similar fermentation performance to other yeasts from the area like Hornindal Kveik Blend. Our version of Espe contains the 4 strains from the original, grown as a blend. 

Ideal for IPA, raw ales & strong ales.

Sahti Yeast

Sahti is a style of Finnish traditional beer which is brewed with juniper and traditionally lautered in a trough called a kuurna. While the traditional yeast has died out in Finland, we are offering here a strain of baking yeast commonly used in the Nordic countries for both baking and for brewing. Expect high attenuation, light phenols, and a strong banana aroma. Suitable for BOTH beer and bread! 

Lactobacillus paracasei

This is our first pure bacteria Kveik Ring release. This is Lactobacillus paracasei isolated from Terje Raftevold's Hornindal Kveik. In a sensory experiment, this Lacto strain produced light to moderate acidity along with unique white wine and vanilla aromatics. We think this strain helps showcase all the different things Lacto can do for beer flavour!

Works well in kettle/quick souring. Use in unhopped wort only, this strain is hop sensitive. If co-pitching with yeast, give the Lacto a 24 hour head start.

KRUSHER

Clean kveik with a dryer finish. KRUSHER is a single strain isolate from Jordal Kveik, which was selected for high attenuation and medium flocculation. KRUSHER can be used anywhere you want clean flavour results at a wide range of temperatures as well as a dry finish. While it is not quite as lager-like as KRISPY, we think KRUSHER can sub-in on pseudolagers, or ferment super clean ales faster than American ale strains.

Espe Kveik

Espe is back! Hailing from the raw ale epicentre in Grodås, Espe presents bright tropical fruit and warming cognac/rum character. Expect similar fermentation performance to other yeasts from the area like Hornindal Kveik Blend. Our version of Espe contains the 4 strains from the original, grown as a blend. 

Ideal for IPA, raw ales & strong ales.

Granvin

Granvin likes it hot, perfect for the late summer heat. We have found a pitch temperature of 30-40ºC to be best for flavour expression with notes of tropical fruit and citrus. Avoid cooler temperatures with Granvin. Pairs well with hops, sours, or as a new twist on your Voss ferments.

We picked a high-performance single strain from the original mix for this release. The kveik culture originates from Tor Ølver Helland in Granvin near Voss in Norway.

KRISPY 2.0

Update, November 2021: 
Based on positive customer feedback, "KRISPY 2.0" is now KRISPY and we are phasing out the original blend. KRISPY is now a single strain of lab-evolved kveik that produces drier, clearer, and more consistent beers. 

KRISPY 2.0 is a variant of KRISPY that we lab-evolved* to get better at fermenting maltotriose. This means it produces dryer beers than the original. It's a high attenuating single, flocculent strain, which should remedy the occasional "hazy-KRISPY" problem.

Marina Russian Farmhouse (re-release)

While not technically Kveik, this S. cerevisiae strain from deep in Chuvashia in Russia is quite unique, and we thought it was worth sharing in the Kveik Ring program.

Marina displays notes of white wine, baking spice, and light vanilla. It is closest in profile to Belgian ale strains and would be at home in Belgian styles or as the primary strain in a mixed culture ferment. Traditionally, it is used in a rye-heavy boiled-mash beer.