[erockrph]

I recently got this announcement in my inbox: https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/canada/lona/

I'm very curious to see how well this one works. Even in the best NA beers I've tried, there is a level of wortiness and/or thin body that has kept me from trying it out for myself. This strain seems to check a lot of boxes that has me intrigued. It is a Sacc strain with a supposed clean ale flavor profile. It doesn't ferment maltose or maltotriose. It's POF-. And it supposedly reduces aldehydes responsible for "worty" flavors.

I haven't got an answer on when/if they plan on releasing this in homebrew-sized packs. This would seem like a great option for homebrewers, given that we generally don't have access to things like membrane filtration or vacuum distillation that the big boys use to produce NA beers. I'm curious to hear some real world results from this.

[Megary]

Very interesting indeed.  Thanks for sharing.

I would love to give this a shot if it was available in standard packs.

Following...

[KellerBrauer]

Very interesting indeed.  Thanks for sharing.

I would love to give this a shot if it was available in standard packs.

Following...

I’ll second that!

[Megary]

Doing a little more research, I found this on Lallemand's web-site.

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/united-states/product-details/lalbrew-lona/

Pasteurization is required when brewing with LalBrew® LoNa™ to avoid fermentation after packaging and ensure beer stability.


Hmm.  Sounds complicated.

[denny]

Doing a little more research, I found this on Lallemand's web-site.

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/united-states/product-details/lalbrew-lona/

Pasteurization is required when brewing with LalBrew® LoNa™ to avoid fermentation after packaging and ensure beer stability.


Hmm.  Sounds complicated.

That's true of almost any NA beer AFAIK. Not to mention spoilage,  since without fermentation there's no pH drop. That's why Athletic and others acidity their beers.

[erockrph]

Doing a little more research, I found this on Lallemand's web-site.

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/united-states/product-details/lalbrew-lona/

Pasteurization is required when brewing with LalBrew® LoNa™ to avoid fermentation after packaging and ensure beer stability.


Hmm.  Sounds complicated.

That's true of almost any NA beer AFAIK. Not to mention spoilage,  since without fermentation there's no pH drop. That's why Athletic and others acidity their beers.

Yes, they also mention other things in the LoNa spec sheet such as acidifying to a pH of 4.6, and not repitching (because there's not enough yeast biomass growth during fermentation). It also looks like open packs should be stored cold and used within 3 days of opening, so that kills the idea to do a group buy and share of a brick.

Keep in mind that their data sheet is aimed at commercial brewers. If I were brewing with this at home I'd definitely acidify the finished beer, and I'd feel OK with keeping it kegged and cold. I'm not sure how I'd feel about natural carbonation in the bottle with so much residual fermentables left behind.

[MDL]

How would you approach a recipe using this yeast? OG of 1.020?

The best attempt at Low ABV beer I brewed was OG 1.020. 50/50 marris otter/Briess carapils.
Hot mash at 162. Low pitch rate no oxygen WYeast 1968. Heavy dry hop. I did not check or adjust final beer ph. It finished at 1.010 so not NA but it was low enough ABV that it seemed impossible to drink enough to feel anything. Wasn’t too bad and definitely not worty in taste. Thin if anything.

[erockrph]

How would you approach a recipe using this yeast? OG of 1.020?

The best attempt at Low ABV beer I brewed was OG 1.020. 50/50 marris otter/Briess carapils.
Hot mash at 162. Low pitch rate no oxygen WYeast 1968. Heavy dry hop. I did not check or adjust final beer ph. It finished at 1.010 so not NA but it was low enough ABV that it seemed impossible to drink enough to feel anything. Wasn’t too bad and definitely not worty in taste. Thin if anything.

Because of the low attenuation, i think one of the advantages of this yeast is that you might be able to push your OG a bit higher to get a bit more malt flavor without increasing ABV. My main concern with that is that if the yeast doesn't ferment maltose then you may end up with a sweet beer. I'd probably mash way at the upper end of alpha amylase's temp range (like 168-170ish), so that you get minimal beta amylase activity and end up with mostly dextrins rather than maltose. The experimentation will be to find the sweet spot (or maybe not-sweet spot in this case ) of mash temp, OG and FG where your beer isn't too sweet or thick, but with a good malt character.