We're getting ready to start Encounter at Blackwall Keep. It seems like this adventure really starts the PCs on their path to destiny with Kyuss that they will follow the remainder of the path.
So far my characters know about "strange green worms and unkillable zombies". They also know the Ebon Triad has interest in these worms. Otherwise they don't know much - They have no idea who Kyuss is.
But soon they will be encountering a creature called a "Spawn of Kyuss". Certainly one of them will have a high enough knowledge to identify it. But if you know a monster is called a "Spawn of Kyuss", I would think that implies you can easily find out about Kyuss.
I'm wondering how/when you introduced Kyuss as the BBEG of the campaign. How in the dark did you keep them? Did you have the "Spawn of Kyuss" be something nobody has ever heard of, or are they pretty common?
My PCs first way the name way back in their first adventure—they captured Filge and questioned him, and when they asked about the worm he explained it was from a spawn of Kyuss, per the adventure's section on speaking with him. They didn't, however, ask who Kyuss was, and in Encounter at Blackwall Keep, they didn't really question it either. They knew they'd be facing "unkillable" zombies, so it wasn't seen as a great mystery.
It wasn't until the Spire of Long Shadows (and the conversation with Tenser/Manzorian which preceded it) that it really became clear to them that Kyuss was central to the plot, as I recall. They missed the entire under area of the arena, and assumed everything was just related to the Ebon Triad.
In retrospect (just started on Dawn of a New Age last weekend), I'm pretty happy with how it worked out. I've kept it pretty focused on stopping Dragotha from freeing Kyuss, which means up until now, they didn't even realize they'd end up fighting him. That said, I can see how someone might want to focus more. My players weren't too interested in his history and were more concerned with Dragotha and the Ebon Triad, so Kyuss took a back seat. Really, Dragotha was the BBEG in my campaign, with Lashonna being a last minute twist villain and Kyuss as the plot device they have to stop, and the climactic fight.
As for a knowledge check, I'd let them know it's called a spawn of Kyuss, and make it easy to deduce that it's worms are the same as Filge's. He's an obscure god, but not unheard of, and a decent (25+, I'd say) knowledge: religion check should be sufficient to know the basics, that he's a god of undeath with a focus on worms.
In my experience, players will miss out on plenty of information of their own accord, so intentionally keeping them in the dark can just lead to a complete lack of knowledge.
I'd say a DC 20 Knowledge (religion) would be sufficient--after all, most gods require a 5-10 to know about.
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I've been pretty liberal with Kyuss as some mythical being from the time they met the Ebon Triad, but I've treated all his monsters as unique and don't allow knowledge rolls. There's just no way they "researched" or "know" about something that hasn't been seen for millenia and then only in a lost civilization. It heightens the suspense facing a monster and not knowing what it can or will do.
With the Spawn, it'd be enough to make a DC 15 check to perhaps recognize it as undead, but anything else would be trial and error (e.g. watching it fast heal).