Conan Yeast Experiences

[geoffey]

I'd just keep it at 68 and maybe do the gently rocking thing. I'm sure it'll start back up somehow. That stuff has always powered through everything I've thrown at it. Last week I was doing a batch Friday and Saturday and the Conan starter completely finished before the other starter despite being 24hrs behind.

If you still havent got anything, maybe try tossing a bit of sugar into it? You may not want to increase the gravity too much, but I doubt a quarter or half pound dissolved in like 200ml of water would hurt too much...

For what it's worth: The Conan (and I'm using The Yeast Bay version) didn't crap out on me at all. I discovered that the lid on my fermenter wasn't screwed down tight enough, so the lack of activity in the airlock was deceiving.

 

[m00ps]

For what it's worth: The Conan (and I'm using The Yeast Bay version) didn't crap out on me at all. I discovered that the lid on my fermenter wasn't screwed down tight enough, so the lack of activity in the airlock was deceiving.

Yay, go Conan! That's good news. I've had problems with a leaky lid on one of my buckets. I noticed airlock activity had stopped, but found if I pressed the lid down, it started back up. Cut to me drunkenly standing on top of the bucket while trying to duct tape the lid down tight. Needless to say, that bucket is now solely used to keep starsan/PBW in now

 

[jbaysurfer]

are folks happy with the GigaYeast version?

i've got a double-pitch pack coming my way. brewing an IPA with it next week.

I have a batch going right now. I will say a couple of good things for it.
A) it's the most delicious smelling yeast I've ever smelled. Both fresh form the pouch and form the starter. I actually drank the last few drops of starter because it smelled that good.
B) It holds up well. My pouch is at LEAST 6 weeks old, and after 18 hours on the stir plate in 1L of starter wort,it was alive and roaring. When pitched into 5G of 1.089 wort at 65F it was rolling within 12 hours.
C) I'll repost after samples and tasting.

 

[Sir-Brews-Alot]

I actually drank the last few drops of starter because it smelled that good.

Did you need a blow-off tube for your butt hole?

 

[Fermented_minds]

For what it's worth: The Conan (and I'm using The Yeast Bay version) didn't crap out on me at all. I discovered that the lid on my fermenter wasn't screwed down tight enough, so the lack of activity in the airlock was deceiving.

It's worked well for me too. Must have worked well for Northern Brewer too, as they're using Yeast Bay Vermont Ale in their Heady Topper clone, Off The Topper.


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[jbaysurfer]

Did you need a blow-off tube for your butt hole?

Requoted for emphasis, but I always appreciate a good potty joke. Point is it smelled and tasted clean and delicious, and I'm looking forward to the beer it makes.

it's the most delicious smelling yeast I've ever smelled. Both fresh form the pouch and form the starter. I actually drank the last few drops of starter because it smelled that good.

 

[youreanimpulse]

2nd pitch of Gigayeast Vermont IPA, 1/4 of the yeast cake (refrigerated for a week and a half) into 1.080 IPA style winter warmer (think Hopworks Abominable) and basically no lag. Full krausen the morning after (~8 hrs in). 60F ambient temp with the AC blowing on the bucket. Very happy yeasties.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Just an update. Fermenting a 1.079 beer (edit: in my OP I said it was 1.089, but it's 1.079) Used fermcap in the boil. This yeast is going gangbusters. Still smells great. Very aggressive. I added a bit more fermcap and didn't check it for 48 hours only to have it blowing over again when I did.

Part of my challenge is that I'm fermenting a full 5+ gallons in a 6G better bottle, so not much headspace, but there IS some and the amount of blowoff is pretty crazy. Cleaned the fermenter space twice now. LOL..

Added 1lb of Orange Blossom honey today. Giving it a 1.085 total OG. Will keep everyone posted. Fermenting right at 65F

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

I used conan one time cultured it little by little in 1020 wort once i had a decent ammount i raised the og of the wort to 1036 and built up a 2 liter starter..fermented at 63*F for 5 days then allowed it to slowly rise to 68*f i got decent attenuation around 75-80% beer had some peach/tropical notes but not quite like heady topper..IMO its not worth the trouble to culture conan cause you can buy vermont ale yeast and it produces a very similar beer to cultured conan dregs without all the work..my 2 cents

 

[user 190343]

I had originally cultured from 3 cans and made a 1gal "starter", which came out FANTASTIC. I used that for my next 5 gal, which is still aging, but harvested the yeast off of it and washed it, yielding 3 jars. I kept 1 and gave 2 to friends. My friend and I both brewed last week and pitched this 2nd gen harvested yeast jar. There was about a 36 hour lag in getting started on our 1.070 batches, but then it seemed to be going strong. My friend Tim told me that his stalled around 1.040, so I checked mine and sure enough, same thing. I'm very surprised and disappointed since the starter and subsequent batch both went super strong with 85% attenuation. I'm going to pitch some WY1028 to try to salvage this current batch, an Abner clone from BYO last Oct.

 

[beardown2489]

Anyone try Omega OYL-052 yet?

I just pitched my first slurry of DIPA last night. Haven't been back home since to see the activity. Hopefully good news coming.

Anyone else use Omega OYL-052 yeast yet?


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[m00ps]

I just pitched my first slurry of DIPA last night. Haven't been back home since to see the activity. Hopefully good news coming.

Anyone else use Omega OYL-052 yeast yet?


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I ordered some cause I'm on my 8th generation of the gigayeast conan and figured I'd start new. Not expecting any differences since omega yeast even calls is Conan. Just ferment in mid 60s for peach and expect 80% aa

 

[youreanimpulse]

Just pitched 2nd gen slurry into two 2 gal batches this weekend: an all-Mosaic IPA and an Imperial Stout. Excited to see what it does to the stout. Had about a 4 hr lag time on that one, it's really going to town.

 

[beardown2489]

What's the lowest you guys would have started your fermentation at?

I had put my carboy in the garage originally but it got colder than i anticipated overnight. It dropped from 65 when pitched at 10 that night to 58 when I woke up. So... I moved it inside to a cooler spot in the house that was about 64 or 65.

I live in Chicago and got home today to find the new location had gotten down to 61 after the cold front hit today.

I've moved it upstairs where it should easily sit at 67 or 68.

Do you think I'll see any bad come of this temperature mess I've created?

The yeast was pitched Saturday night so it's been almost 72 hours and the little guys are still really working hard so I think that's a good sign. But I'm pretty new to the game and don't know quite what to expect with yeast and how tolerant they are to different situations.




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[m00ps]

I started my last one at 58. Put it outside and forgot about it until morning haha. Took off just fine

Conan is a very robust yeast. Fermenting in the mid 60s will get you good peachy character. It attenuates a bit higher than most, but also seems to give the beer a silky body like using a bit if oats. Amazing yeast

 

[Helly]

I just pitched my first slurry of DIPA last night. Haven't been back home since to see the activity. Hopefully good news coming.

Anyone else use Omega OYL-052 yeast yet?


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Just did a starter for it last night for the first time. It took off quickly. Will be brewing this weekend and pitching it.


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[youreanimpulse]

What's the lowest you guys would have started your fermentation at?

I had put my carboy in the garage originally but it got colder than i anticipated overnight. It dropped from 65 when pitched at 10 that night to 58 when I woke up. So... I moved it inside to a cooler spot in the house that was about 64 or 65.

I live in Chicago and got home today to find the new location had gotten down to 61 after the cold front hit today.

I've moved it upstairs where it should easily sit at 67 or 68.

Do you think I'll see any bad come of this temperature mess I've created?

The yeast was pitched Saturday night so it's been almost 72 hours and the little guys are still really working hard so I think that's a good sign. But I'm pretty new to the game and don't know quite what to expect with yeast and how tolerant they are to different situations.




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Sounds like my schedule almost. I've been starting at 60 ambient counting on ferm temp to be 4-5 deg higher then ramping to mid-60s ambient after a couple days then room temp after it slows. Tasty yeast profile so far!

 

[Helly]

Just did a starter for it last night for the first time. It took off quickly. Will be brewing this weekend and pitching it.


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I decanted and stepped up the starter. The decanted beer definitely had that banana flavor with a touch of spice. Got some fruitiness but not the peachy aroma. I cooled the next batch of starter wort down a little more than the other day so I'm hoping that doesn't show up in the HT clone I'm doing.


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[beardown2489]

So now that the fermentation is slowing after 5 days, what's the warmest I should have this at for the rest of primary?

What number wouldn't you go over.

I've got a 2 options. Around 67/68. Or like 73/74.


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[m00ps]

So now that the fermentation is slowing after 5 days, what's the warmest I should have this at for the rest of primary?

What number wouldn't you go over.

I've got a 2 options. Around 67/68. Or like 73/74.


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I try to stay under 70 but I've heard you can go past that without offensive flavors. I usually do mid 60s then warm to room temp after a week

 

[beardown2489]

Seems like the spot I thought would be 74/75 is actually going to be 70/73

I'm going to leave it there and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

I'm leaving it near the furnace, which obviously puts out some heat. I've monitored the heat for the last day and it seems to peak at 72.6.

I think this will be just fine. But we will see.


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[ianmatth]

You are most likely going to have noticeable Belgian flavors at that temperature. Anything over 70* is asking for trouble until it is mostly attenuated. You can even get Belgian flavors from bottling over 70*.

 

[beardown2489]

Transfers my beer into secondary a few days ago. My friend and I took a sample and it tasted hoppy as hell but we realized it had not attenuated as much as suspected. I panicked and added more yeast. (Chico strain snack pack) It was reading around a 1.030

My buddy has told me it was still nibbling at a 30 second rate.

Did I overreact by pitching more yeast? Should I have just let it be?

The beer was an OG of 1.076. What should it have been after 12 days in primary?

I pitched more yeast 3 days ago. Our hope was to get about an 8 or 8.5 percent beer. To be honest the sample we took was delicious and I am now wondering if the hydrometer was off and if I overreacted.

I guess time will tell, but what do you guys do in a situation like this. Being new(ish) to the homebrew game I panicked and pitched more yeast but thinking back, I am guessing I could have taken a few more steps before pitching more yeast.



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[masonsjax]

I wouldn't have transferred to secondary. There's rarely a good reason to use a secondary vessel at all. I would have raised the temperature to the 70s and possibly swirled lightly to kick up a little of the yeast into suspension. Adding fresh yeast won't hurt though.

 

[steinsato]

I pitched 1L starter into a 1.058 Pale Ale 1 week ago and it finished at 1.010. Fermented around 70F. I did not notice the peachy/apricot that this yeast boasts BUT I had some juniper berries in the beer and they are probably masking it. No blowoff during fermentation but a good 2-3 inch kreausen

I just pitched another 1.5L starter onto a 1.075 DIPA, it's been about 6 hours and the bubbler is already quite active. 12 hours later and I needed to attach a blowoff tube. EDIT: I let this double IPA sit in primary for a week, then moved into secondary for some dryhopping. After 2 weeks of dryhopping it has gone from 1.075 down to 1.011 and tastes fantastic. I am very happy with the results of this yeast. No off flavors due to stressed yeast.

Beardown
Did you pitch a good sized starter with your Conan?

 

[beardown2489]

I did make a starter. It is only my second starter ever made.

Here is what I am worried happened. After I made my first starter, I dumped the entire solution into the wort.

I started reading that this isn't necessary and that it can be better to stick your starter in the fridge and let the yeast settle out, then decant a majority of the liquid.


Well, I made a dumb drunk mistake and decided to use this technique. Problem was I did it like 90 minutes before I needed to pitch.

I did see a large amount of yeast in the bottom of the Erlenmeyer flask but my guess is I probably dumped a decent amount of yeast down the drain because I was in a hurry to make some beer and excited to use a new technique

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[steinsato]

Yeah, 90 min. is not long enough to get a good decantation. Over night is usually what I do. Plus, that was probably just long enough to cool the yeast down so when it was added to the warm wort, it probably shocked your yeast which can also cause problems. You'll just have to slow down and take it easy next time. Plan your brew out. When making starters and decanting them I like to make the starter 3 days ahead of pitching, let it build up for 1-2 days, then chill it for a night in the fridge. On brew day, take the starter out of the fridge, decant most, but not all of the liquid on top, and let it sit on the counter all day to warm back up to room temp. You want to pitch the starter as close to the same temp as your wort as you can.

 

[beardown2489]

Makes sense.

Note to self. Stick the game plan!

There was really no reason to decant at all, right? It's not like I'm going to make world class beer right out of the gate. The little DME wouldn't have affected it dramatically.


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[steinsato]

If it's only a liter starter, sometimes I won't bother. It's when you have really big starter like 3L and up that you need to decant.

 

[ianmatth]

Decanting isn't necessary, making sure you actually have enough yeast is. Decanting is good to really know how much yeast you have though (I assume 4 billion cells/ml of solid.) I always save 20-140 billion cells (5-35 ml solid) in a 35ml White Labs vial these days so I know exactly how much I have when it's time to make a starter. I use the brewersfriend calculator to figure out how much yeast I need and pitch at 1.0 if the gravity is over 1.060. It also has calculations for multi-step starters: http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/