Not a farce, while both Shaun Hill & John Kimmich have been granted access to Conan yeast before Greg's passing (which was Greg Noonan's baby), neither John nor Shaun actually are using that strain any longer (if Shaun ever used it was not clear). Neither disclosed the exact route from Conan to their current strain, but both made it clear that what is used by VT Pub & Brewery is not the strain they are using in their house ales...aka, not Conan, but rather most likely a derivation of Conan.
As most already know, a can of Heady Topper is the best way to get the Alchemist's strain. Since cans of Heady Topper are so limited in distribution, a yeast of similar origins was needed for the recipe since BYO has worldwide distribution. Hence the Worthington's strain was recommended for it's clean profile and strong attenuation. Similar results were seen from chico fermented at bottom of the recommended temp range. In side-by-side comparison, the chico fermented at 62F was chosen by tasters, but Worthington's performed admirably and since their house strain is most likely english derived, opted for Worthington's in this recipe.
As for the base malt, if you can tell the difference in your HT clone when comparing Pearl vs. Halycon vs. Optic, well then more power to you. Using any quality british pale malt will get you close to their malt profile. Caramalt is known as the caramalt of HT, caravienne was a leftover from the original version and not updated to reflect. Caravienne was the cara-malt used in all my clone versions and did the trick though.
