what yeast should I use for a wheat IPA

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Pdaigle

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Im creating a wheat IPA but not sure what yeast I should use. Should I go with belgian strain? I have a IPA fermenting right now and I used The Yeast Bay - Vermont Ale (WLP4000). Should I harvest that yeast and pitch in for this wheat IPA.

The Yeast Bay - Vermont Ale (WLP4000)

Isolated from a uniquely crafted double IPA out of the Northeastern United States, this yeast produces a balanced fruity ester profile of peaches and light citrus that complements any aggressively hopped beer. Expect this strain to take off fast and ferment wort quickly, though elevating the temperature following the bulk of fermentation may be required to raise the attenuation.
 
If you're going for an American style wheat IPA like Little Sumpin Sumpin then the Conan you have would be good, or one of the chico strains if you want something cleaner. If you want a Belgian style white IPA like Deschutes Chainbreaker then go with the Belgian wit yeast. I'm personally not a big fan of the latter, the hops seem to clash with the yeast too much for me.
 
I'd second using Conan. I use 20-30% wheat in all my IPAs. Id brings out a juicy fruity flavor from the hops. It also helps with body since IPAs are supposed to be dry to showcase the hops. It will already be somewheat cloudy from the wheat. Conan is a poor flocculator so why not embrace it? It also has higher attenuation than most typical American yeasts
 
If you're going for an American style wheat IPA like Little Sumpin Sumpin then the Conan you have would be good, or one of the chico strains if you want something cleaner. If you want a Belgian style white IPA like Deschutes Chainbreaker then go with the Belgian wit yeast. I'm personally not a big fan of the latter, the hops seem to clash with the yeast too much for me.

any reason why you guys call it CONAN?
 
That's the name of the strain, the Alchemist's strain from Heady Topper. Sorry I have trouble inserting links on my phone but you can look it up.
 
so what you are saying WLP4000 is from the Alchemist's Heady Topper?

http://www.bear-flavored.com/2012/09/culturing-conan-aka-alchemists-heady.html

WLP 400 (I can't find 4000) is a Belgian wit strain, not the Vermont (Conan) strain. AFAIK you can only get Conan from Yeast Bay and GigaYeast. Which one you use really depends on what your going for. If you want a Belgian IPA, go with that strain, if you want an American IPA go with the Conan. I don't think the fact that you're using wheat in the grist should change anything about what yeast to use, but I could be wrong.
 
I know yeast bay is a division of white labs but didnt know they use WL #'s. Anyway yes, Yeast bay Vermont ale (as well as Giga Yeast Vermont IPA) are the conan strain. On the Yeast bay description they say isolated from a double IPA out of the Northeast, they are talking about Heady Topper.
 
Question about the visible activity of the Giga yeast Vermont IPA strain. I brewed an American IPA yesterday and pitched this yeast at 9pm, nearly 24 hrs ago. This morning I saw a slight bubbling action in the air lock and that there was a lighter color liquid on the top 2-3" of wort. The lower 5.5 gallons looked dark as normal. I figured that the yeast had just settled at the top and hadn't worked its way through the wort, so I lifted it out of my chamber and slightly rocked it. When I did that instantly a 3-4" layer of co2 formed and the pressure blew so hard that I got sprayed from what was released out of the air lock. It didn't blow it off but it definitely showed me that it was active. The co2 bubbles have cleared and there is still no visible krausen forming. It doesn't even appear to be as active as any other yeast that I've used. Basically it looks like it did this morning, calm with a few bubbles on top and a light haze in the first 1-2". Does this normally happen with this yeast, or does it sound like something is wrong? This is my first time using it and the package was made just 20 days ago. Obviously it's doing something just like like the 001 that I pitched in my Porter yesterday.
 
Question about the visible activity of the Giga yeast Vermont IPA strain. I brewed an American IPA yesterday and pitched this yeast at 9pm, nearly 24 hrs ago. This morning I saw a slight bubbling action in the air lock and that there was a lighter color liquid on the top 2-3" of wort. The lower 5.5 gallons looked dark as normal. I figured that the yeast had just settled at the top and hadn't worked its way through the wort, so I lifted it out of my chamber and slightly rocked it. When I did that instantly a 3-4" layer of co2 formed and the pressure blew so hard that I got sprayed from what was released out of the air lock. It didn't blow it off but it definitely showed me that it was active. The co2 bubbles have cleared and there is still no visible krausen forming. It doesn't even appear to be as active as any other yeast that I've used. Basically it looks like it did this morning, calm with a few bubbles on top and a light haze in the first 1-2". Does this normally happen with this yeast, or does it sound like something is wrong? This is my first time using it and the package was made just 20 days ago. Obviously it's doing something just like like the 001 that I pitched in my Porter yesterday.

Hard to say. Did a ipa few months ago with it and it fermented as normal and did a yeast starter so. What was the room temp?
 
Hard to say. Did a ipa few months ago with it and it fermented as normal and did a yeast starter so. What was the room temp?

I didn't make a starter, I just pitched straight from the package considering there are 200 billion cells in each packet. The fermentation chamber temp is set to 65, and goes as high as 66.9 before cooling again. About two hours after I posted this I got a massive head that caused me to install a blow off tube instead of the airlock. It appears that all is good now, just took 24hr to really get going.
 
I didn't make a starter, I just pitched straight from the package considering there are 200 billion cells in each packet. The fermentation chamber temp is set to 65, and goes as high as 66.9 before cooling again. About two hours after I posted this I got a massive head that caused me to install a blow off tube instead of the airlock. It appears that all is good now, just took 24hr to really get going.

I never had to use a blow off tube but I guess it all depend on your equipment and the quantity of your batch.

Good luck and hopefully it will turn out good. mine turned out great. It was my first IPA and my first time using that yeast but I was really impressed. So hopefully you will get that too.

Cheers!
 
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