I was introduced to kveik—or yeast derived from traditional Norwegian farmhouse breweries—by Lance Shaner of Omega Yeast Labs. Kveik has qualities that immediately set it apart from the various ale and lager yeasts to which American craft brewers are accustomed. It ferments very rapidly at high temperatures without giving off undesirable phenolics or other flavors we would normally associate with hot fermentations. Relatively small pitches of kveik can ferment fairly big beers in 48 hours. These characteristics make it convenient for brewers to use.
However, many of us are drawn to kveik for other reasons.
Burnt City’s brewing team became infatuated with kveik because it lends a balance of flavors to beer unlike any other yeasts we’ve encountered. Voss kveik adds a low-key citrus-pith note, while Hornindal gives more tropical-pineapple character. That said, both are clean enough that we’ve brewed everything from simple saison-type beers to double hazy IPAs and imperial stouts with these yeasts. Getting that extra little bit of fruitiness into hoppy beers—while maintaining an otherwise clean fermentation character—is something we’ve had a lot of fun with.