bubble gum ester from Conan Yeast?

[amcclai7]

I've used Conan Yeast (The Heady Topper strain) in several beers before with spectacular results. It has this slight peachiness that pairs perfectly with, and accentuates hop flavors.

However, this time I got bubblegum. Its not unpleasant but instead of mixing perfectly with the hops, it kind of overwhelms them. Has anyone ever gotten this? The only thing I can think is ferm temps. Conan is a slow fermenter. It often takes up to 2 weeks for fermentation to cease. I think on this last beer I followed my normal schedule of 5-6 days in my temp controlled chamber and then another week or so at room temp to clean up. perhaps b/c the yeast was still actively fermenting, it got too hot.


thoughts?

 

[Bamsdealer]

I haven't but I've fermented cool. Low 60s. This was yeast I harvested from a can. Not the commercial stuff. I get a ton of sweet and fruity esters, but none I would call bubblegum.

thought maybe I had some diacetyl in one of the pale ales I did, but it seemed to disappear after a few days in the keg.

 

[kzoostout]

Are you reusing your yeast? This happened to me with WLP002 that I had reused for a bunch of batches. The yeast took forever to flocculate (very weird for 002) and had a bubblegum/hefewiezen quality. I can only assume that the yeast genetically drifted or mutated over the batches until it hit a tipping point and became really pronounced.

I used it in a Union Jack clone. It was OK, but I'll be getting some new 002 for my next batch.

 

[amcclai7]

I haven't but I've fermented cool. Low 60s. This was yeast I harvested from a can. Not the commercial stuff. I get a ton of sweet and fruity esters, but none I would call bubblegum.

thought maybe I had some diacetyl in one of the pale ales I did, but it seemed to disappear after a few days in the keg.

Did you ferment in the low 60's for the duration of fermentation? I used to do that with most of my ales and then I learned about how its generally good to let it get up to 70 right at the end of fermentation to clean up anything. Since I've started doing that I've noticed that my beers have become even cleaner than they were before with no off flavors of any kind. However, I think this rule must not apply to Conan.

 

[amcclai7]

Are you reusing your yeast? This happened to me with WLP002 that I had reused for a bunch of batches. The yeast took forever to flocculate (very weird for 002) and had a bubblegum/hefewiezen quality. I can only assume that the yeast genetically drifted or mutated over the batches until it hit a tipping point and became really pronounced.

I used it in a Union Jack clone. It was OK, but I'll be getting some new 002 for my next batch.

Nope, it was the giga yeast Vermont IPA strain straight out of the bag. I did reuse it for a SIPA that's in the fermentor now and I don't taste any bubblegum.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Did you ferment in the low 60's for the duration of fermentation? I used to do that with most of my ales and then I learned about how its generally good to let it get up to 70 right at the end of fermentation to clean up anything. Since I've started doing that I've noticed that my beers have become even cleaner than they were before with no off flavors of any kind. However, I think this rule must not apply to Conan.

Typically I bring it upstairs to a 70 degree house when the airlock slows and leave it alone for a Week or two. I've been leaving my conan beers in the basement longer though. They seem to chug away for a week or two. At first I thought maybe I was underpitching, but even a big starter of Conan takes a while. regardless of the performance i love the end result!

 

[amcclai7]

Typically I bring it upstairs to a 70 degree house when the airlock slows and leave it alone for a Week or two. I've been leaving my conan beers in the basement longer though. They seem to chug away for a week or two. At first I thought maybe I was underpitching, but even a big starter of Conan takes a while. regardless of the performance i love the end result!

Ok, glad to know we're experiencing the same things. With conan, my airlock will bubble for up to 2 weeks which I have never had happen with any yeast. This last IPA i did was at 1.018 after 10 days and still finished at 1.012. Crazy, but I'm glad I learned my lesson.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Ok, glad to know we're experiencing the same things. With conan, my airlock will bubble for up to 2 weeks which I have never had happen with any yeast. This last IPA i did was at 1.018 after 10 days and still finished at 1.012. Crazy, but I'm glad I learned my lesson.

Yeah. Mine's on day 11 and still bubbling every 10 to 15 seconds. I haven't seen any of my conan beers get below 1.014 and I had some pretty dry recipes. Not complaining one bit as the mouthful sweetness and body has been Exactly what I was looking for from it.

 

[Bamsdealer]

What sort of lag times are people seeing with conan? I'm seeing an average of 24 to 36 hours even with appropriate sized starters.

 

[robopp]

What sort of lag times are people seeing with conan? I'm seeing an average of 24 to 36 hours even with appropriate sized starters.

I just pitched a harvested slug of Conan from 5/16 (roughly a month old) and it was ripping away within 12 hours without doing a starter. Hopefully, I get better attenuation with this go around since I haven't been able to get below 1.014 in my previous batches.

 

[uncleleon]

I got bubblegum once from Conan in a wheat that finished @ 1.011, it seemed to mellow quickly into that peachy people talk about.

Yeasts can vary greatly from generations, especially when stepping up from very small or less viable samples. Keep those generations going and the esters should level off.

 

[Brettomomyces]

What sort of lag times are people seeing with conan? I'm seeing an average of 24 to 36 hours even with appropriate sized starters.

My gigayeast conan had a pretty quick lag...only about 2 hours before activity in my starter and I'd guess less than 12 for the actual beer. Yeast was about 3-4 weeks from packaging.