Conan Yeast Experiences

[powermd]

Did an all Citra IPA yesterday that's chugging at 64 as well as a Blonde ale that's just getting started at 62. Tried to pitch roughly 1 mill cells/ml wort/degree Plato for both, but surprised the 2 degree warmer IPA took off so much quicker.

What method/formula do you use to estimate your cell count? I'm familiar with MrMalty, and the Wyeast web page gives some advice, but I'd like to hear what others do.

 

[PseudoChef]

I count with a hemocytometer and microscope.

The thing here was, was that I had one starter full of yeast, and two beers of different gravities to pitch it in, thus the estimate.

 

[terrapinj]

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.010
Mash Temp & Time: 152° for 60min
Mash Efficiency: 75%
Did you use any simple sugars in the recipe (if so how much in %?): No
Underpitched, Overpitched, or Pitched Appropriate Amount?: Proper amount
Method of Aeration before pitching yeast: pure o2, 2 micron stone, 60sec
Apparent Attenuation (in %): 80%
Flocculation Level (low, med, high): High after cold crash
Fermentation Temperature (in F): start 62° end 68°
Diacetyl Rest (if yes, what temperature and how long): left at 68° for a week
Grain to Glass (in how many days): 14 days grain to keg
Hop varieties used: Galaxy 14.8%
Total hop amount per 5 gallon batch: 4oz
Late boil & dryhop amount per 5 gallon batch: 1oz flameout, 1oz 30min hop stand below 160°; 1.25oz dry hop
Can you distinguish the hop flavor/aroma from the yeast flavor/aroma?: not yet
Yeast aromas smell of: general aroma of mango and some pineapple - can't tell if yeast or hops yet, hydro sample
Yeast flavors taste like:

 

[sweetcell]

About a week ago I began a culture from a few ounces of HT following the usual protocol of adding to 250 mL of 1.02 on a stir plate. After 2 days, 20 hours I had visible yeast settling on the bottom. I stepped up to 500 mL, then 1.5L. I didn't see a ton more activity, plus my tiny 1 inch stir bar just wasn't up to the job anymore. So I crashed in the fridge for 48 hrs, but didn't get a lot more settled yeast. I decanted off, and repitched into 1L of fresh 1.04 wort, but now with a much better 2.5 inch stir bar. The yeast smelled a little vinegary.. very concerning... so I looked that up here on the board and apparently some starters can smell that way and NOT be infected.

What should I look for at this point to confirm/deny infection?

i'd be a little concerned about the vinegar smell. some yeast might throw that, but not conan. to date my starter has smelled peachy/fruity at every step. vinegar smell could be a sign of acetobacter.

anyone else here know more about starters that smell like vinegar but aren't infected?

 

[FATC1TY]

No vinegar in mine. I get massive peach and fruit notes, even a little belgian-y clove when it's warm.

Also- I'm carbing up my DIPA. I took a taste from the top of the keg while I swapped out the dry hops. Holy. Hell. That beer is so good.

Also tossed off a bit of the cake from the DIPA in with a little pinch of US05 into a small hoppy blonde ale.. Finished it from 52 to 09. Tossing some amazingly light peach/apricot notes into the blonde. Loving it.

 

[powermd]

No vinegar in mine. I get massive peach and fruit notes, even a little belgian-y clove when it's warm.

Also- I'm carbing up my DIPA. I took a taste from the top of the keg while I swapped out the dry hops. Holy. Hell. That beer is so good.

Also tossed off a bit of the cake from the DIPA in with a little pinch of US05 into a small hoppy blonde ale.. Finished it from 52 to 09. Tossing some amazingly light peach/apricot notes into the blonde. Loving it.

Is your DIPA recipe in this thread somewhere? I looked and couldn't find it.

I decided to ditch my Conan harvest and start again from the beginning, this time with pressure-cooker sterilized gear. I will also be completely set up to freeze glycerol stabilized samples. I'm out of town next week and wouldn't have been able to brew with my Conan starter anyway.

I did taste it first, and it had a slightly acidic taste, but not all that unpleasant. It definitely did NOT have the peachy aromas that wafted from the flask in the beginning though. Since I'm a doctor I briefly thought of prescribing my wife some penicillin and adding it to the starter to see if the patient could be saved.. then I saw the case of HT sitting in my garage and came to my senses!

 

[Ben58]

You have a case sitting in your garage... BASTARD! I gotta make a road trip.

 

[FATC1TY]

Is your DIPA recipe in this thread somewhere? I looked and couldn't find it.

I decided to ditch my Conan harvest and start again from the beginning, this time with pressure-cooker sterilized gear. I will also be completely set up to freeze glycerol stabilized samples. I'm out of town next week and wouldn't have been able to brew with my Conan starter anyway.

I did taste it first, and it had a slightly acidic taste, but not all that unpleasant. It definitely did NOT have the peachy aromas that wafted from the flask in the beginning though. Since I'm a doctor I briefly thought of prescribing my wife some penicillin and adding it to the starter to see if the patient could be saved.. then I saw the case of HT sitting in my garage and came to my senses!

I haven't added it, I mentioned it, but didn't toss out any huge specifics.

It's the Kern River Citra DIPA. I subbed out the 2 row, and used Pearl, like HT does, and used Conan to do the dirty work instead of the average 1056 it called for. I somehow ended up with 1.082 OG, instead of 1.070 somehow, and with that my beer finished at 1.016 or 1.017 or something like that instead of 1.010.

Beer never seemed to want to 'clear' while in primary, although a cooler garage temp was enough to help it. Beer in the keg is pretty clear after a week in there though. Slightly murky.

Obviously the beer is choked full of Citra, and has Amarillo in the dryhop with Citra. Amarillo will toss some great peachy/orange notes, but there is a detectable different aroma from the yeast. I fermented mine slightly cool, at 64* I think it was. I'll have to post my notes.

 

[FATC1TY]

My DIPA is still young, and has an aroma and citrusy/apricot/peach flavor that is unmatched by anything I've done in the past.

However, the beer is still prett murky in the keg, granted I pulled about 2 pints off to get the crap out of the bottom, and the dip tube, then took a taster in to try.

Tastes really awesome, however, I am noting a slight belgian-ish clove ester to the beer once it's down the hatch. Slight after tastes, and comes through enough I notice it, because I noticed it in my starters....

It's faint for sure, but I know others have noted this as well.

 

[InityBrew]

My DIPA is still young, and has an aroma and citrusy/apricot/peach flavor that is unmatched by anything I've done in the past.

However, the beer is still prett murky in the keg, granted I pulled about 2 pints off to get the crap out of the bottom, and the dip tube, then took a taster in to try.

Tastes really awesome, however, I am noting a slight belgian-ish clove ester to the beer once it's down the hatch. Slight after tastes, and comes through enough I notice it, because I noticed it in my starters....

It's faint for sure, but I know others have noted this as well.

+1 on the Belgian ester. I noticed it in the aroma as well with my Dipa.

 

[Derp]

Man, I need to get my hands on some of this yeast because it sounds like it's just what I've been searching for. I'll be in northwestern Massachusetts in June and I'm willing to drive a few hours if need be. Anyone know where the closest Heady Topper retailer would be?

 

[sweetcell]

Anyone know where the closest Heady Topper retailer would be?

http://www.alchemistbeer.com/heady-topper-retail-map/

suggestion: call ahead. make sure you're there on the right day. most places sell out quickly.

 

[Derp]

http://www.alchemistbeer.com/heady-topper-retail-map/

suggestion: call ahead. make sure you're there on the right day. most places sell out quickly.

Thanks for the info. I'll be staying in Bennington but I guess I'll be making a trip to Burlington. There are worse parts of the country to drive through ...

 

[954surfer]

This is the first yeast Ive harvested. I almost always use S-05 so I don't make starters a whole lot. I grew up a 2-liter starter for a single hop (Belma) IPA im making for a competition. Anyway the 1-liter starter was really good, definitely peachy but just so clean. I don't get the cloudiness, rather I find it drops out pretty well (again, compared w s-05). The 2-liter was fermented pretty warm and I can taste banana. I will repost with attenuation numbers when I bottle the IPA.

 

[PseudoChef]

I'm having such weird experiences with this yeast. I did a 1.046 Blonde that only dropped to 1.017 after 8 days and an 1.061 IPA that is at 1.014. Both were mashed at 152 for an hour. The Blonde is all Pearl malt, though, and has a weird apple nose to it (cider-like - not green apple) and a moderate fruity flavor. It was fermented at 64.

Both are dropped completely clear after only 8 days.

 

[terrapinj]

I'm having such weird experiences with this yeast. I did a 1.046 Blonde that only dropped to 1.017 after 8 days and an 1.061 IPA that is at 1.014. Both were mashed at 152 for an hour. The Blonde is all Pearl malt, though, and has a weird apple nose to it (cider-like - not green apple) and a moderate fruity flavor. It was fermented at 64.

Both are dropped completely clear after only 8 days.

there was some discussion in the HT clone thread about this

later generations of Conan tend to attenuate less than other generations so it's possible the can you harvested from had a late generation in it

 

[afr0byte]

Thanks for the info. I'll be staying in Bennington but I guess I'll be making a trip to Burlington. There are worse parts of the country to drive through ...

You're better off going to Montpelier. It's a shorter drive (not much, but a bit shorter), and you can always go to Three Penny Taproom to buy a can ($8..not cheap...but it's a bar) if the Hunger Mountain COOP doesn't have it. Also the brewery is only ~15 minutes from Montpelier.

 

[Xpertskir]

Anyone tried conan on an imp stout or porter? I think I'm going to use it on an upcoming CDA or Black IPA.

 

[Knecht_Rupprecht]

Not to hijack, butis there anyone willing to sell or trade some harvested Conan? I know that veganbrewer was sending our vials on the hwady topper clone thread, but I was one back on the wait list. I am more than willing to pay it forward as well.

 

[Knecht_Rupprecht]

,

 

[954surfer]

I did two yeasts from the same (IPA) mash, conan and London ale 1028. The ambient ferm temp was 62. The conan yeast wort was slightly stronger, 1064 and the London was 1055. The London came out better (the hop flavor was nicer), but the conan attenuated slightly better. The conan beer is WAY clearer.

 

[954surfer]

Anyone tried conan on an imp stout or porter? I think I'm going to use it on an upcoming CDA or Black IPA.

I think one of my favorite beers, More Brown Than Black, a stone/alchemist/ninkasi collaboration, was fermented with conan. BIPA is not my strongest suit, but I hope one day to try and recreate this one.

 

[Coff]

I am suprised that people in this thread are reporting high flocculation. I've brewed 4 beers with Conan since December and each one I would consider to have low floc, and one of them was very low.

 

[max129]

I think one of my favorite beers, More Brown Than Black, a stone/alchemist/ninkasi collaboration, was fermented with conan. BIPA is not my strongest suit, but I hope one day to try and recreate this one.

I brewed the More Brown Than Black clone recipe from BYO with some harvested Conan. It turned out amazing - very fruity.

 

[theveganbrewer]

I am suprised that people in this thread are reporting high flocculation. I've brewed 4 beers with Conan since December and each one I would consider to have low floc, and one of them was very low.

I agree, Conan has some of the lowest floc I've ever seen in a yeast. Stays suspended for a long time.

 

[sddanc]

Oatmeal Stout

45min mash @ 158F

OG: 1.060 4/21/13

Most recent: 1.020 4/24/13

 

[FATC1TY]

I am suprised that people in this thread are reporting high flocculation. I've brewed 4 beers with Conan since December and each one I would consider to have low floc, and one of them was very low.

I agree. My DIPA has been in the keg for maybe 2 weeks? I pulled a pint last night and its finally clearing a but but it's far from crystal clear.

 

[FATC1TY]

Will also add, the clove-ish belgian taste has faded out. It was there when it was very green, but once dry hopped and in the keg, when it cleared the flavor has gone, and it's pure peach/orange now.

 

[dbennett78]

I just had one finish fermentation that I tasted right out of the fermenter that had a very clove-ish belgian taste to it. The last batch I did had that taste as well, but it seems to disappear once you let it dry hop/keg condition. It sure is a strange yeast, but works well in IPAs.

 

[954surfer]

nasty from no hops, and being from extract, it was extremely peachy. More of a warm sweet peach, where at the cooler temps, I find that more tart, semi sweet peach/apricot note.

This seems like the right way to test yeast, do multiple batches at different temps

I brewed the More Brown Than Black clone recipe from BYO with some harvested Conan. It turned out amazing - very fruity

Thank you very much, will Definitely be trying this sucker once I dial in the ferm temp.