There is a concept in the business world of the “disruptive technology.” This can either refer to innovations that upend the way entire industries function, or robots that are programmed to issue blood-curdling screams at random intervals. It’s more commonly the former. Such technologies are understandably rare, but when they appear, early adoption can mean the difference between existence and extinction.
The beer industry is long overdue for such a disruption. Similarly, as a modern “journalist,” I am likewise overdue to misidentify and needlessly hype one. So when tales of a new and exotic Scandinavian yeast with mystical properties recently came to my attention, I knew what I needed to do.
The first thing I learned about “kveik” (which means “yeast” in one Norwegian dialect) was that it is neither new or exotic, so admittedly this exposé is off to a pretty rocky start. There’s been a surge of attention on kveik among beer academics and the homebrewing community of late, but this blend of related yeasts has been a mainstay of Norwegian farmhouse brewing for generations. Studies have identified kveik “yeast logs” (a dried lump of previously pitched yeast) dating back to 1621, indicating their use must predate even that timestamp. Furthermore, kveik has been genetically confirmed as only containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains, which is the same taxonomic designation as most common brewer’s yeasts.
Kveik may not represent some bizarre cryptozoological discovery, but it turns out the moniker of “mystical” still applies. Despite its ubiquity in the Norwegian brewing tradition, kveik’s unique capabilities are only now coming into broader recognition.
To appreciate kveik’s mutant powers, we must first understand how its peers operate. Think of most ale yeasts as an entitled multi-platinum rock band. They will show up and play all the hits to the delight of their fans, so long as all the terms in their contract rider are met. Should a deviation in something like peak fermentation temperature occur, the allegorical equivalent of failing to remove brown M&Ms from the backstage candy bowl, tantrums will ensue. This usually takes the shape of unpleasant solvent-y notes and unexpected fruity flavors that fundamentally alter the brew. Comparatively, kveik is a hungry up-and-coming band, eager to please its burgeoning fanbase at any cost. No matter what you throw at it, it just works harder.
To detail the benefits of kveik without further leveraging rockumentary tropes, I spoke with Joe Kurowski, technical brewing manager for White Labs San Diego. Over the last few months Kurowski has been working with different isolated kveik strains to build a more complete understanding of its behavior. He has witnessed how exposure to elevated fermentation temperatures that would make most brewer’s yeasts squeal allow kveik yeasts to fully attenuate (read: convert all fermentable sugars to alcohol) days quicker than other S. cerevisiae strains, without introducing any off flavors. “It very much acts like California Ale Yeast, just much faster,” he shared.
This time delta is not necessarily a game-changer, since the duration required on the back end to dry hop and condition the beer hasn’t been brought in, but it’s not insignificant either. In a consumer ecosystem that is constantly demanding the newest of the new, a theoretical 15 percent bump in fermentation capacity turnover certainly couldn’t hurt. Further, if wort doesn’t necessitate chilling below 90℉ before pitching yeast, there’s some potential energy savings to consider as well.
There are other dimensions of kveik that make it an alluring option. A particularly striking one is its low production of diacetyl, a fermentation by-product recognized by its “movie popcorn” aroma and flavor. Most yeasts will break it down given a sufficient rest time, but that isn’t a requirement with kveik. “The flavor threshold for diacetyl is somewhere between 80 and 100 [parts per million], so if we’re down at 30 at peak, you basically never need to worry about it,” Kurowski noted.
Even if those characteristics of kveik yeasts don’t turn the industry on its ear, there’s simply no denying they are pure beastmode in the brewhouse. Kveik yeasts generally show great tolerance of high alcohol levels, and rather than needing to be stored in liquid form like most pitches, kveik can be skimmed off the foam of a fermenting beer, dried, and stored in bricks for later use. There are multiple anecdotal reports that IPAs brewed with kveik strains maintain freshness months after typically fermented ones start to fall off. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.
(Okay, that last bit was actually a quote from The Terminator, but it’s weirdly apt here, right?)
It should be noted that kveik’s association with “farmhouse” brewing is strictly colloquial. Kveik doesn’t generate the peppery/spicy phenolic compounds associated with farmhouse saison styles. It does contribute some slightly fruity and tropical ester compounds, but their intensity nests quite comfortably into the standards of many modern IPA and British styles. More importantly, kveik is fully domesticated, so there’s none of the potential for contamination that accompanies a wild yeast.
Today, the most reliable way to experience what different kveik strains conjure are the “Kveik IPA” variants in White Labs’ tasting room. However, newly kveik-woke consumers like yourself will no doubt start to notice more options about town as brewers experiment with them. Mikkeller San Diego has already brewed three different kveik beers (two IPAs and one strong ale) and Modern Times Beer included it in two different recent hazy IPA collaborations.
Kveik yeasts may not pan out to be the disruptive influence on brewing I was banking on, but if Modern Times Beer Commissioner of Flavor (a.k.a. brewer) Andrew Schwartz’s experience is echoed elsewhere, we can expect to see kveik making more of a splash soon. “It’s a super unique yeast with many possibilities still yet to be explored,” he said.