Conan Yeast Experiences

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YG001 From Yeast Geek - Purchased about 10/25

I think the only way I'd use this yeast again is if I am wanting a High FG. This yeast is just so unpredictable its not worth the headache.
Batch #1 - Porter 1.054 - 1.014 Mashed 154º Ferment 63º - WIERD THIS FINISHED THE LOWEST WITH THE HIGHEST MASH TEMP AND CRYSTAL MALTS
Batch #2 - Citra IPA 1.070 - 1.020 Mashed 151º Ferment 65º Raised to 70º down to 1.015 - TOO MALTY
Batch #3 - Black Burst Ale 1.050 - 1.020 Mashed 152º Ferment 65º Raised to 70º down to 1.014 - TOO MALTY

:confused:

I AM NOT IMPRESSED - THIS YEAST IS TOO UNPREDICTABLE - WILL STICK WITH PACMAN!:rockin:
 
zippybasher said:
YG001 From Yeast Geek - Purchased about 10/25

I think the only way I'd use this yeast again is if I am wanting a High FG. This yeast is just so unpredictable its not worth the headache.
Batch #1 - Porter 1.054 - 1.014 Mashed 154º Ferment 63º - WIERD THIS FINISHED THE LOWEST WITH THE HIGHEST MASH TEMP AND CRYSTAL MALTS
Batch #2 - Citra IPA 1.070 - 1.020 Mashed 151º Ferment 65º Raised to 70º down to 1.015 - TOO MALTY
Batch #3 - Black Burst Ale 1.050 - 1.020 Mashed 152º Ferment 65º Raised to 70º down to 1.014 - TOO MALTY

:confused:

I AM NOT IMPRESSED - THIS YEAST IS TOO UNPREDICTABLE - WILL STICK WITH PACMAN!:rockin:
Click to expand...

What are you doing for aeration?

I'm about to have a go at this yeast.
 
loctones said:
Yeah, I don't think I'll be using the ECY variant again. There are a bunch of other smaller providers culturing the same strain.

I haven't emailed ECY, but I should. I upped the temp to 75 and still got no further activity. The yeast was completely finished at about 65% AA.
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I contacted them after having similar stalling problems around 1.022 (OG 1.070), and it was kind of brushed off as a wort production problem, i.e., I didn't aerate enough (I used 90sec of pure O2), or I had too many unfermentables (95% base malt + sugar), or I mashed too high (148F). Their suggestion was that I rouse the yeast and raise the temperature. Duh, I never thought of that...:rolleyes:

After another week of zero movement, I had to resort to cal ale yeast to get it down into the teens. Suffice to say I won't be using this strain again.
 
Wow... I hope the sample I'm getting in the mail next week does well enough. I'm trading a guy some beer stickers for a vial to grow up a starter. His strain is from a friend's HT clone.

...If nothing else, I'm gonna make sure I aereate the bejeezus out of the thing going into the fermenter and keep a close eye on it for the first few days.
 
You guys might want to reserve judgement until yeast bay gets their strain going. They're going to have white labs do the production for them, so it will definitely be high quality sample.
 
I did the HT clone in a BIAB session. Mashed pretty high (not totally intended) and fermented at 64-66F. There was a lot of activity just a few hours later and it kept going for 36 hours. 5 days later it's down 1.019 from 1.071 (74%). I think it's finished. But I will ramp it to 70F and keep it there for a week.
 
tagz said:
You guys might want to reserve judgement until yeast bay gets their strain going. They're going to have white labs do the production for them, so it will definitely be high quality sample.
Click to expand...
white won't be able to solve the problem, if the problem is the yeast itself.

it's less about the facility processing the yeast, and much more about the original source. taking that low-attenuating version of Conan over to WL isn't going to all of a sudden turn it into a maltose-munching monster.
 
The guy propagating it at white is saying that it will only yield high 70%s if you keep it around 66 or so, then raise to around 72. He went on to say that 64 degrees is enough to drop attenuation to the low 70s.
 
sweetcell said:
white won't be able to solve the problem, if the problem is the yeast itself.

it's less about the facility processing the yeast, and much more about the original source. taking that low-attenuating version of Conan over to WL isn't going to all of a sudden turn it into a maltose-munching monster.
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You may be right but White might be more discriminating about the original sample. He can also use processes that ensure low stress and high viability. These other home style labs like yeast geek aren't likely to have the same capability.

As for me, I've had nothing but great experiences with Conan. I've only brewed three beers with my sample but all came in where I expected.
 
My Conan Bell's 2 hearted clone just finished keg conditioning and then chilling today. (OG/FG 1.54/1.010) I dropped a tea ball with 1 oz of Galaxy for a final dry hop in the keg. The first taste was interesting. Prior to the keg condition, the flavor was close to Bell's- clean and hoppy with Centennial. Now I realize the bottom of the keg is going to taste yeasty, but what I didn't expect was the clove like Belgian overtones that hint at Conan's origins. Very Belgian tasting now, we'll have to see if that holds true for the beer drawn from the middle of the keg. I'm very happy with the character added by keg conditioning though. The flavor seems much deeper than when I force carb.
 
I had the same experience. I had to us some WLP01 to get mine down to 1.014 target from low teens. I would do again as the flavor profile is great and really sets the brew apart from our standard when using WLP01 or US 05.
 
I've used the ECY29 vial several times. Perhaps I was lucky as I got expected AA with beers finishing 1.012ish, however, IMO I will be abandoning the yeast because all of the beers taste too similar. The yeast has such a signature flavor that(again, in this very novice brewer's opinion) it was hard to discern the impact of different ingredients on the final product. However, I may just be a dummy.
 
Anyone have much experience mixing Conan with other strains for primary fermentation like US05, 1056, or any of the other standard/non standard strains?
 
Boy don't forget your whirlfloc when you brew with Conan. I have a really great tasting pale ale on tap that looks like mud. Had no clearing issues with the previous two batches.
 
tagz said:
Boy don't forget your whirlfloc when you brew with Conan. I have a really great tasting pale ale on tap that looks like mud. Had no clearing issues with the previous two batches.
Click to expand...

One more data point :just pulled a sample of an ipa made with Conan a week ago. I used a single whirlfloc tab in 7.5 gallons and the beer has already dropped clear.
 
Piched a 24h starter of yeastgeek YG001 into a pale ale, and I'm 7 days into the ferment. Something is very wrong. I'm starting to get what I can only think is Brett funk. I have never used Brett in my brewhouse before, and my sanitation is spot-on so I don't think I introduced this myself. I can only think that this came in with the yeast. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep the beer yet, but I don't think a simcoe/amarillo pale is really the type to expect Brett/conan to shine.
 
BeerGrylls said:
Piched a 24h starter of yeastgeek YG001 into a pale ale, and I'm 7 days into the ferment. Something is very wrong. I'm starting to get what I can only think is Brett funk. I have never used Brett in my brewhouse before, and my sanitation is spot-on so I don't think I introduced this myself. I can only think that this came in with the yeast. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep the beer yet, but I don't think a simcoe/amarillo pale is really the type to expect Brett/conan to shine.
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I disagree. I used Conan on an all Citra IPA with nothing but 2 row and a little wheat that I have brewed with 001 at least a dozen times and have loved with 001. While the beer was definitely not the same, it was still very good.

I would like to hear how that beer tastes once you have tried it!

I am drinking a version of Janet's Brown with Conan as I type, and I have to say that the yeast is very, very much the center of the show. I dry hopped the hell out of it, too.

For better or worse this yeast's profile is going to steal the show every time.
 
DPlan00 said:
I disagree. I used Conan on an all Citra IPA with nothing but 2 row and a little wheat that I have brewed with 001 at least a dozen times and have loved with 001. While the beer was definitely not the same, it was still very good.

I would like to hear how that beer tastes once you have tried it!

I am drinking a version of Janet's Brown with Conan as I type, and I have to say that the yeast is very, very much the center of the show. I dry hopped the hell out of it, too.

For better or worse this yeast's profile is going to steal the show every time.
Click to expand...

I had to get rid of it, sadly. I don't know exactly what it was, but it wasn't pleasant. Like sucking on unwashed goat fur.

Glad to hear that citra and Conan go well together. I'll have to circle back around and try it again some time.
 
I just finished drinking a stout fermented with Conan that I cultured from a can of Heady. SG was 1.062, FG was 1.018, though it tasted much drier than that FG would indicate. Mash temp was ~154, 70% Muntons maris otter, then a mix of flaked barley, oats, caramel, and dark roasted malts. I fermented in the 60-63 range, and even at that temp it blew foam like crazy. Overflowed the airlock, and overflowed the blowoff growler. The flavor was very clean, along the lines of S-04 in the ballpark of 1.015.
 
Wow, I did a stout with conan and it was straight up horrible but my temps got a tad high so that may have ruined it
 
Conan can tend to smell a bit tart-fruitish while it's fermenting but usually comes out fine if you watch your temps. I noticed that scent recently when doing a Heady clone but when I kegged it? Just fine. No problems whatsoever. Tasted great btw!
 
I just kicked a keg of double citra IPA fermented with Conan. It really attenuated well, from about 1.065 down to 1.010. I mashed around 148, and fermented about 63 degrees. The beer turned out great - nice and fruity! I've got a keg of galaxy/citra IPA carbonating now, should be ready in a week. It tastes excellent so far! I also plan on using the conan for a citra/amarillo pale ale and a big dank double IPA with colombus/apollo/simcoe/chinook.
 
My Heady attempt turned out to be phenol city. Very peppery, enough so to mostly dominate all the hops. I fermented at 63/64.
 
Yeast Bay currently has Vermont Ale (Conan) available for anyone interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Gonna get conan another shot. Ordered some from yeast bay to give a go. It was phenol filled last time, attenuated so-so, and actually sucked, IMO.
 
Give it another try. The generation I harvested is a work horse. I just cranked out a beer for a competition, grain to glass in 10 days including dryhop. It's got peach and apricot and is well attenuated.
 
Yeah, I'm gonna give it a go. I've got a bit too many hops in the freezer I need to work through, and this will give me another reason to try it out.

Between bring up some sours, and trying to use hops, I'm busy at both ends of the brewing spectrum.
 
tagz said:
Give it another try. The generation I harvested is a work horse. I just cranked out a beer for a competition, grain to glass in 10 days including dryhop. It's got peach and apricot and is well attenuated.
Click to expand...
Really? Can u brak it down by days? My heady was 28 days g t g...
 
FATC1TY said:
Gonna get conan another shot. Ordered some from yeast bay to give a go. It was phenol filled last time, attenuated so-so, and actually sucked, IMO.
Click to expand...

My last conan beer was filled with a meaty, brothy off-flavor. Not sure if that was from over pitching, or what. It was a galaxy/citra IPA. I believe it attenuated all the way down to about 1.010. Had a ton of late hops.

After the meaty flavor faded, it was actually a decent beer, although most of my late hop additions had faded at that point, too.

I'm going to try to get some from an actual manufacturer rather than harvesting. Sucks, cause it cost me $50 to harvest that yeast. It worked well the first time, not so well the second. I suppose my harvesting technique could have had something to do with it as well.
 

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