NovaLager vs. W-34/70 vs. Lutra Kveik Dry Yeast Comparison! 

Excellent taste test! I loved that Mike was just going to town on the beer while John talked and talked. lol After Mike described each of them, I guessed correctly just from his own descriptions of the flavor and aroma. I think I would have identified them correctly if I were there. So close to getting them right!! Good video guys.

I'm glad the test confirmed your bias. I brew a lot of lagers and I brew a mexican psuedo lager with Lutra that finishes very dry and not in the least fruity. I pitch Lutra at 85-90 and hold it there for about a week even though it's done in 2 days. I'm not a kveik brewer at all I have tried and disliked 4-5 other strains but I keep a packet of the dry Lutra in the fridge because I really like the results it produces. I'm never replacing my lager yeasts with Lutra but I have brewed a half dozen psuedo lagers with it and it's far from garbage.

I've done four batches using Nova lager at optimum temperatures under pressure, very pleased with the results. Next year I will trying 34/70 for the first time. 🍻

Love your yeasts experiments! Hope to see more of those. I had great results brewing fruity IPA with Voss. Also, in the pseudolager world, I love Krispy from Escarpment Lab (Canada). Keep up the good work!

Really appreciate your videos Brew Dudes. A lot of time and effort for our entertainment and a valuble resource for us home brewers🍺

Great vibes today gents. Thanks for the comparison

NovaLager is my new go to lager yeast. I’ve used it a few times and I like it.

Thanks for doing this! Personally, I swear by Lutra for lagers, with the following caveats: I always build a starter for a 5 gallon batch (if i'm making a high gravity lager, like a dopple bock, I do a double starter) and I always add yeast nutrient, at 3 times the manufacturer's recommendation (the WYeast nutrient works really well). I noticed you do not mention adding nutrient to any of the beers, and I had read a lot about kviek needing a ton of nutrient to work well (I also do this when I'm fermenting kveik hot for IPA's & stouts).

Love Voss dry and use it a lot. Lutra on the other hand, I have used it several times but never was totally thrilled with it. Once I used Lutra liquid yeast and while most people thought it was good, I didn't care for it. That 5 gallons lasted a bit...

I wish I had three glasses and was part of the tasting! Love these side by side videos.

So glad you did this! Haven't used Nova yet. I'll have to give it a try!

I’ve had very similar experiences with those yeasts. I’ve tried Voss Kveik at least 7 times now. It always gives me a sour citrus twang that i cant palate. No matter which Lallemand yeast I try, it never ferments past 1.024. 34/70 works like Kveik, without the off flavours. One if my favourite yeasts.

Nice! Thanks dudes.

Great video. Love yeast comparisons. I have used a kveik once and was not too happy with it. Luckily more share my view. W34-70 has served me well. I’ll skip the lutra and will try nova lager next

Thanks for a great video. I would appreciate more info about the fermentation temperature. "Cooler basement temperature" probably means something completely different in yours state than where I live in Poland.

good comparison

Thanks for the video, I just had a Lutra beer that I was not happy with at all because it was too fruity. I'm currently fermenting a German Export Lager using NovaLager. Based on your review, I have a feeling I'll be much happier with the NovaLager. Especially since I won't be having a 34/70 beer right beside it to compare against.

Thx for these comparison videos guys very valuable resource cheers

Another excellent experiment!

Have used Nova a couple of times but not yet used it cold. I think I’ll use it again. W34/70 has always been good for me. It’s a little more expensive here than most other ADY packs. I’ve used Diamond as a substitute and have been very happy with it, although I think it made more sulphur than I’ve had with W34/70. Wasn’t really a big deal though. Where I am, with all the yeast which is available, it’s not easy to envisage a situation where I’m likely to choose a kveik to make a beer.

I've used Novalager all summer last year. Very best fermentation temp right at 16c. Very fruity anything lower then 14c. Unbelievable perfect at 16to18c.

Don't hold back your feelings Mike. haha. I love it

I like the yeast comparisons! thx

Lutra comes out closer to a kolsch then a lager. I definitely prefer and have had my best lagers with 34/70. Novalager is ok but if i was going to use a yeast from their range it's diamond.

A couple of years ago, when the Kveik fashion exploded, I bought ten or so farm strains of Kveik, ranging from the pseudolager to the more fruity variants. all the beers I fermented with Kveik had an farmyard off-flavour that some might like or not notice, but I can taste. I have later tried the commercial variants, and again, also those have that Kveik flavour, that eventually dissipates, but takes months to go. I guess that when you cover it with tons of hops it can't be noticed, but as I don't do hop bombs, I will. 34/70 is usually in my yeast stash, as it never fails, but I have also had very good experiences with Diamond, which has a slight residual sulphur note that really fits a good pilsner. I will try S23 on my next brew, so that I can add it to my weapons of choice.

Lutra is great for mead, retains honey character and a preceived residual sweetness. Which is great for a mead but I can see how that could throw off a beer. I have used it a lot for different meads and beer and like it a lot, buy ferment at a higher temperature. I feel like the warmer you ferment it the cleaner it is.

I'm with double A Arn Anderson on this one - not a fan of kviek yeasts and love the novalager.

Great video and comparisons. I would love to see a comparison of the lager strains at different temperature. I always debate if it is worth the effort to keep the temp down when brewing with Novalager or 34/70.

Yeah I tried Lutra and did not like. To put it mildly. Looking at the comments below, and Mike's reaction LOL, looks like I'm not alone I need to try 34/70. Thanks again guys. I used a dry. Maybe it's about which particular strain?

Not a fan of kveik in general. It is not clean IME and it usually has an acidic bite and slick/weird mouthfeel. 34/70 is solid! Gonna give novalager a try...

I think Lutra has a green watermelon rind smell, and flavor. Great comparison

I'll have to see if my homebrew shop has nova lager. I've done a few 34/70s that have turned out great but it might be nice to try something different

The most telling part of the video is how much more quickly you drank the 34/70 compared to the others, with the NovaLager following slightly behind.

Love you videos guys , but the big guy constantly sniffing the beers about 50 times a minute is incredibly distracting 😂

Great stuff! I've had a "helles" made with Lutra at my lhbs. Neither they nor I was impressed. I thought Novalager is supposed to be a lager yeast without the wonderful "off" flavors like sulphur. Whatever. Does anyone worry that the traditional yeasts that taste so great will be pushed out by yeasts that ferment faster and are resistant to abuse? What do you guys think about s-23 vs 34/70?

I was planning to brew an IPL with the Lutra this week.. Should I go for it, or pass?

Not a fan of Litra Kveik either. Its a clean ale kveik and that's it. It's NOT a near lager. Your glass levels is a tell all.

It’s hard to beat 34/70

From " Not really unpleasant", to, " Garbage". He did not get it also! 2angry of a beer taster ; )

Sounds funny when people pronounce kveik as 'ka-vike'. Like a child learning to read. It's simply pronounced 'kvike'. Yeah, it's rubbish regardless. Just don't tell the Norwegians. They can't handle truth. Why food and beer is so 'great' in Norway, right? 😬

Judging beer for 23 years. I can say that those glasses are too full for any good consideration of aroma.