Educating Consumers on Kveik Yeast Usage

Editor’s Note: Jon Sicotte spoke with many breweries about the Kveik yeast strains. This is a multiple-part series.

At one point, many consumers knew nothing of how hops affected their beer. The education of craft breweries greatly increased that knowledge base, and now many general consumers at least have an understanding of how flavors are derived from the plant.

With many breweries finding similar flavors in the Norwegian yeast strains of Kveik, being able to help share that knowledge to consumers can be on a similar plateau with how a brewery educated consumers on hops.

“We like to give our customers a ‘why’ behind the beer,” said John Trogner, co-founder of Tröegs. The brewery has worked on various beers with Kveik, including a Brut IPA and a Chocolate Orange Stout in its Scratch Series. “We want to prep them for what they are about to try to help them translate to what they are tasting and where it came from. And with the Brut IPA, it’s a pretty big component of that.”

Tröegs also used hops that reflected the same flavors.

“We’ve already started talking about what the yeast brings to the beer and what it adds to the mix,” Trogner said. “[We] give them the history of how we used the yeast. We’re pretty open with pretty much everything on how and why we do it.”

General consumer response has been positive for Mustang Sally Brewing. Head brewer Ryan Murphy isn’t sure how many people realize what Kveik is yet, or even notice a difference between that and an English Ale yeast.

The brewery intentionally made two very different beers with the same strain to see the range for themselves and help customers learn about it.

“I do believe it is a sustainable new option for breweries due to its durability, fermentation speed, and ability to store for longer periods than typical Saccharomyces strains,” Murphy said.

Bell’s Brewery worked with Norwegian brewery Lervig for a CBC collaboration project.

Like Tröegs, using the flexible strain outside of its norm as a Farmhouse Ale yeast and instead fermenting high for a Juicy IPA helps translate to the juicy hop love that consumers have right now.

“That’s helpful right now because people are interested in those beers,” said Andy Farrell, Innovation Manager for Bell’s Brewery. “You put those beers up on your board and people are going to order them anyway.

“There is an intimidation factor without [that style of] beer. Because it was part of a Juicy IPA people were definitely interested.”

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