Thoughts on Voss/Nova Lager fermentation temps

[Bigbre04]

Hey yall,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with fermenting Voss at lower temps(towards the bottom of its range). 77-104 is the full range, with 95-104 being the optimal? I am currently fermenting out a medium ABV IPA(around 6.5% target) and it has been killing it.

I knocked out last night at 5pm at about 96f with my glycol set to kick on at around 100f. The starting grav was 15.5p and this morning(930am) it was down to 6.1p which is pretty kick ass. the temp this morning was around 98f(i dont know if my glycol kicked it down over night but generally when it kicks on, it over shoots by -2C so i dont think it did).

I like the ester production in my IPAs and dont mind it in other Ales, but I was wondering if Fermenting it down around 85-90F would make a big difference with ester production. It would be nice for some variety from the same yeasties.

The same question applies to Nova lager, i brewed a Red lager and a Big Vienna/marzen in the same week with a split second generation pitch. Hindsight, i should have upped the IBUs on the Red and or DHed it. They both ended around 76 Attenuation. I find them very similar with the red being a little more red and slightly hoppier.

I was wondering if a colder fermentation temp on the Nova would make a difference on the flavor?

 

[GFHomebrew]

Hey yall,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with fermenting Voss at lower temps(towards the bottom of its range). 77-104 is the full range, with 95-104 being the optimal? I am currently fermenting out a medium ABV IPA(around 6.5% target) and it has been killing it.

I knocked out last night at 5pm at about 96f with my glycol set to kick on at around 100f. The starting grav was 15.5p and this morning(930am) it was down to 6.1p which is pretty kick ass. the temp this morning was around 98f(i dont know if my glycol kicked it down over night but generally when it kicks on, it over shoots by -2C so i dont think it did).

I like the ester production in my IPAs and dont mind it in other Ales, but I was wondering if Fermenting it down around 85-90F would make a big difference with ester production. It would be nice for some variety from the same yeasties.

The same question applies to Nova lager, i brewed a Red lager and a Big Vienna/marzen in the same week with a split second generation pitch. Hindsight, i should have upped the IBUs on the Red and or DHed it. They both ended around 76 Attenuation. I find them very similar with the red being a little more red and slightly hoppier.

I was wondering if a colder fermentation temp on the Nova would make a difference on the flavor?

Nova lager is a hybrid yeast its able to produce clean crisp lager "like" results when fermented at ale pitch temperatures.

I fermented this yeast over 10 generations most this year and found similar results fermenting cold to warm in my GF rice base lagers I made.

One of the key things I remember on Nova is it can't produce sulphur.

I found its a great versatile yeast I made pale ales lagers and brown ales with it.
It will stay out the way and let the other ingredients shine.

@Zambezi Special. Has some opinions when fermenting Voss cold I'll let her chime in on that one as I've only used Voss a couple of times 4 or so years ago.

 

[Bigbre04]

Nova lager is a hybrid yeast its able to produce clean crisp lager "like" results when fermented at ale pitch temperatures.

I fermented this yeast over 10 generations most this year and found similar results fermenting cold to warm in my GF rice base lagers I made.

One of the key things I remember on Nova is it can't produce sulphur.

I found its a great versatile yeast I made pale ales lagers and brown ales with it.
It will stay out the way and let the other ingredients shine.

@Zambezi Special. Has some opinions when fermenting Voss cold I'll let her chime in on that one as I've only used Voss a couple of times 4 or so years ago.

For sure, It does have a noticable flavor to me, i enjoy it. I was just wondering if there would be a difference flavor wise if i used it at lower temps vs its higher recommended temp. Just looking to separate two similar beers that happened to go on draft at the same time.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Hey yall,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with fermenting Voss at lower temps(towards the bottom of its range). 77-104 is the full range, with 95-104 being the optimal? I am currently fermenting out a medium ABV IPA(around 6.5% target) and it has been killing it.

I knocked out last night at 5pm at about 96f with my glycol set to kick on at around 100f. The starting grav was 15.5p and this morning(930am) it was down to 6.1p which is pretty kick ass. the temp this morning was around 98f(i dont know if my glycol kicked it down over night but generally when it kicks on, it over shoots by -2C so i dont think it did).

I like the ester production in my IPAs and dont mind it in other Ales, but I was wondering if Fermenting it down around 85-90F would make a big difference with ester production. It would be nice for some variety from the same yeasties.

The same question applies to Nova lager, i brewed a Red lager and a Big Vienna/marzen in the same week with a split second generation pitch. Hindsight, i should have upped the IBUs on the Red and or DHed it. They both ended around 76 Attenuation. I find them very similar with the red being a little more red and slightly hoppier.

I was wondering if a colder fermentation temp on the Nova would make a difference on the flavor?

I've used it just like a normal ale yeast at 65f and it did come out cleaner but took much longer to finish and I thought it stalled a few times so I just stirred it up and raised the temp to 70 and finally after 2 weeks it finished

 

[Craigerrr]

I found with VOSS when fermenting around 30C that it gave of a tangy, or zippy flavor.
At 39C it ferments much cleaner.
Your mileage may vary.

 

[Bigbre04]

I found with VOSS when fermenting around 30C that it gave of a tangy, or zippy flavor.
At 39C it ferments much cleaner.
Your mileage may vary.

I generally will set my glycol somewhere between 38 and 39c. Just depends on the mood lol. Also on how well I regulated the Temps during knockout!

I have never tried it down at 30C. When you say tangy and zippy are you getting flavors that might work well with a wheat beer or a beer with orange peel?

 

[Bigbre04]

I've used it just like a normal ale yeast at 65f and it did come out cleaner but took much longer to finish and I thought it stalled a few times so I just stirred it up and raised the temp to 70 and finally after 2 weeks it finished

Thats interesting! I generally shoot to knock it out at 64f and then set my glycol at 67. I thought that it's recommended Temps were like 54 to 68? I generally end up with about 10 day fermentation times at 67.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I generally will set my glycol somewhere between 38 and 39c. Just depends on the mood lol. Also on how well I regulated the Temps during knockout!

I have never tried it down at 30C. When you say tangy and zippy are you getting flavors that might work well with a wheat beer or a beer with orange peel?

This is what Zambezi was saying the other day on the Zoom meeting.

 

[Bigbre04]

This is what Zambezi was saying the other day on the Zoom meeting.

I meant to join in on that but life and my significant other took priority.

Hmmm. I am excited to see if he can give more clarification on the flavors! Might be fun to play with spices and some funky hops.

 

[Zambi]

I like Voss better at the higher temperature range.
Like Craig, I find it tangy if the temperatures are lower, although that tang seems to reduce with age (of the beer ) and a higher carbonation.
My brews had minimal temperature control though

 

[Bigbre04]

I like Voss better at the higher temperature range.
Like Craig, I find it tangy if the temperatures are lower, although that tang seems to reduce with age (of the beer ) and a higher carbonation.
My brews had minimal temperature control though

Gotcha so not a desirable tang. I wish I could make smaller batches with the same gear to see the difference.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Well, there is always the 10 gallon pilot system to play around with. If you had something small you could play around with some stuff, take your time, and not worry about taking up space in the big fermenters that you are making money from.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Gotcha so not a desirable tang. I wish I could make smaller batches with the same gear to see the difference.

Easy just purchase and alrounder or similar and do a mini batch but ferment at the temperature or with the yeast you wanna do your comparrisons with the main batch .

I could only imagine 20lt on your scale wouldn't be lost.

 

[Bigbre04]

Easy just purchase and alrounder or similar and do a mini batch but ferment at the temperature or with the yeast you wanna do your comparrisons with the main batch .

I could only imagine 20lt on your scale wouldn't be lost.

Lol it would be! I'm pushing 2bbls out of a 2 hl brewhouse. I get exactly 4 half barrels(15.5gal kegs) out of each batch. The only batches that I have extra beer on are the fruit sours but that is only because there are not hops and I throw like 10+ gal of fruit.

I'm milking this brewhouse for everything that it has!

In the winter I have time to fuck around but once Jan/Feb arrive I'm going to have to ramp up and keep my tanks full!

 

[Bigbre04]

Well, there is always the 10 gallon pilot system to play around with. If you had something small you could play around with some stuff, take your time, and not worry about taking up space in the big fermenters that you are making money from.

This is true, but it's hard and pricey to replicate bigger gear on a homebrew scale.

And let's be honest I am using an extra large home brew system right now. It's a Speidel 200L.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Lol it would be! I'm pushing 2bbls out of a 2 hl brewhouse. I get exactly 4 half barrels(15.5gal kegs) out of each batch. The only batches that I have extra beer on are the fruit sours but that is only because there are not hops and I throw like 10+ gal of fruit.

I'm milking this brewhouse for everything that it has!

In the winter I have time to fuck around but once Jan/Feb arrive I'm going to have to ramp up and keep my tanks full!

Well time to brew now fuck around come summer for you perfect I'll still be here "God willing" nagging you to make it happen.

Hey if I can do test batches on my scale you can work it into your brewery...

 

[Craigerrr]

I generally will set my glycol somewhere between 38 and 39c. Just depends on the mood lol. Also on how well I regulated the Temps during knockout!

I have never tried it down at 30C. When you say tangy and zippy are you getting flavors that might work well with a wheat beer or a beer with orange peel?

As Zambie mentioned the tangy flavor does settle out. I once brewed a coffee porter with it, kegged 5 gallons, bottled the other 5. Didn't care much for it at first, but the second half of the keg, and the bottles I stored for a few months were great.
The tangy flavor works okay in a hazy/juicy, but I prefer the cleaner flavor from fermenting higher. Just pit he'd VOSS into a Hazy around noon today, will probably be serving it by next weekend.

 

[Bigbre04]

As Zambie mentioned the tangy flavor does settle out. I once brewed a coffee porter with it, kegged 5 gallons, bottled the other 5. Didn't care much for it at first, but the second half of the keg, and the bottles I stored for a few months were great.
The tangy flavor works okay in a hazy/juicy, but I prefer the cleaner flavor from fermenting higher. Just pit he'd VOSS into a Hazy around noon today, will probably be serving it by next weekend.

Dude I have brewed 7% ipa on a Monday and packed it the following Monday with several days of dryhop. I love voss so much.

 

[Craigerrr]

Dude I have brewed 7% ipa on a Monday and packed it the following Monday with several days of dryhop. I love voss so much.

Monday! Noooooooo, you can't pitch VOSS on a Monday!!!!!
Kidding, yeah, I have pitched on a Saturday, packaged and served on a Friday with a massive dry hop, and a one day cold crash

 

[Bigbre04]

Monday! Noooooooo, you can't pitch VOSS on a Monday!!!!!
Kidding, yeah, I have pitched on a Saturday, packaged and served on a Friday with a massive dry hop, and a one day cold crash

Lol.

I brewed a batch on Thursday last week. 15.5og and it is done today. Cooling(60f) it down today so that I can collect yeast tomorrow and dryhop tomorrow to pack on Friday.

If I didn't need the yeast I could have dryhopped it today and packed it on Thursday!

I let it warm back up to room temp (77f) as soon as I toss the hops. And then I will crash it down the day before I carb and pack it.