Heady Topper yeast harvest
- Thread starter sambr0n1
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So my first step has been going for a little over 2.5 days. Seems like the stuff at the bottom is increasing in size, but it doesn't quite look like the creamy white stuff in some of the pictures in here and on Vegan's site. There are tiny bubbles around the edges, but they could be persisting from when I swirl.
So the first 2 days, the house was about 70-71F and now the temps outside have dropped and now it's only 66F in here. I was planning on stepping up after 4 days, so should I try to warm it up to lower 70's before stepping up tomorrow night? Should I wait till I see some other signs of fermentation before stepping up? I do have 5 more cans, so I have other attempts if these don't work, but I was hoping to do all of them and trade/give away to friends and some people in my local home brew club.
So the first 2 days, the house was about 70-71F and now the temps outside have dropped and now it's only 66F in here. I was planning on stepping up after 4 days, so should I try to warm it up to lower 70's before stepping up tomorrow night? Should I wait till I see some other signs of fermentation before stepping up? I do have 5 more cans, so I have other attempts if these don't work, but I was hoping to do all of them and trade/give away to friends and some people in my local home brew club.
theveganbrewer
Well-Known Member
I haven't ever heard a story of it not working in over 50 cans. Warm it up to 72+ and shake it. Regardless of what happens proceed to step 2 after the 4th day then reevaluate after that step is done.
Awesome. Thanks guys!
So I had to get creative with my temperature control of my starters to get it up to 72F+. I'm using a 5 gal bucket with water, some bricks, an aquarium heater and a stir plate. It's not pretty, but it's working.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
I think the raising the temp and shaking worked! It looks like I have more of the creamy white yeast layer. And when I swirl now I get some foaming. So it looks like the picture on your site, Veganbrewer.
So how important is temperature control for all the steps after the first? I can maintain at least 68F without any extra effort.
So how important is temperature control for all the steps after the first? I can maintain at least 68F without any extra effort.
ApothecaryBrewing
Well-Known Member
To get my starter warmer, I placed it above my fridge. That automatically raises the temp at least a few degrees and held it around 73-75F
Nice, thanks for the tip. I'll have to try that next time.
theveganbrewer
Well-Known Member
I've found that only the first step needs temp regulation. You should be good from here on out.
YAY! My first yeast harvest from a bottle!
I'm going to need to chill and decant for my last step. How long should I leave it in the fridge to crash out? 24 hrs? Are 48 hours better? I am in no rush, so whatever is fine.
I would say it depends on performance. I use a 2L flask and have had to decant a couple of times away. When I leave it without shaking for a few hours, mine has been flocking out well. My last step is pretty much done. I plan on popping it in the fridge tonight and just decanting at some point tomorrow. The overall volume is small compared to a batch of beer so it shouldn't take too long
Vegan
I tend to agree with you speculation that this may be a Belgian or hybrid Belgian strain.
The clove is still there but has backed off some. I have been oxygenating at every step and growing at 70-72f ambient temp. Last night, I took a whiff of my final step and got a steady amount of banana and bubble gum in the aroma to go along with the clove.
And the aroma of fruit is creeping back in as well.
I don't intend to brew a HT clone with this first round. I'm cheap and this is my first shot at harvesting yeast from dregs. I would hate to burn the amount of hops that I would need for HT on a yeast I have no experience with. I have an IPA that gets a regular spot in my brewing rotation. I am thinking about brewing that the first time with this Conan harvest, so I will at least know what differences are coming from the yeast.
But with the aromas I am getting, I'm thinking this yeast would make a great Belgian pale. I'm still scratching my head though as to how the Alchemist gets such a clean profile with HT. do you know what temp they ferment this beer?
I tend to agree with you speculation that this may be a Belgian or hybrid Belgian strain.
The clove is still there but has backed off some. I have been oxygenating at every step and growing at 70-72f ambient temp. Last night, I took a whiff of my final step and got a steady amount of banana and bubble gum in the aroma to go along with the clove.
And the aroma of fruit is creeping back in as well.
I don't intend to brew a HT clone with this first round. I'm cheap and this is my first shot at harvesting yeast from dregs. I would hate to burn the amount of hops that I would need for HT on a yeast I have no experience with. I have an IPA that gets a regular spot in my brewing rotation. I am thinking about brewing that the first time with this Conan harvest, so I will at least know what differences are coming from the yeast.
But with the aromas I am getting, I'm thinking this yeast would make a great Belgian pale. I'm still scratching my head though as to how the Alchemist gets such a clean profile with HT. do you know what temp they ferment this beer?
Thanks. I'll probably let it go 2 days anyway because I will start my 3rd step today so it will be on the stirplate 48 hours by Friday, so I'll probably just stick in the fridge, decant on Sunday and start the last step then.
theveganbrewer
Well-Known Member
That about sums it up haha! My idea is that they ferment at 68 then allow to rise to 71-72 then they drop it down to 58 for aging and dry hop.
This numbers best fit in with common brewing practices and hop temps of known skilled hoppers across the country.
Sorry for the constant flood of pictures, but I'm excited for my first ever harvest from a bottle (can) and especially considering what yeast it is.
Here is right when I started the 3rd step. The one on the left was just aerated, that's why it's foamier. You can't see my awesome homemade stir plates from computer fans and hard drive magnets but they are under the container I used to contain any explosion (which I didn't need thankfully). I was surprised they still stirred under the plastic container, but it worked great. And don't laugh at the 1960's card table
Here is 24 hours later after the krausen came up and then started going down. Tonight it will be 48 hours since I started this step so I will chill for 1-2 days before decanting and going on to the last step in ~1800 ml starters to get to about 330 billion cells in each.
The plan after the last step is to split up the harvest into 6 pint canning jars with about 110 billion cells in each. I've been in contact with my home brew club and I plan to give away 4 of them and keep 2 for myself. If there is more demand than 4 people, hopefully those 4 people can grow up some more yeast so we can start a "yeast giving tree" so that more people can get it.
Here is right when I started the 3rd step. The one on the left was just aerated, that's why it's foamier. You can't see my awesome homemade stir plates from computer fans and hard drive magnets but they are under the container I used to contain any explosion (which I didn't need thankfully). I was surprised they still stirred under the plastic container, but it worked great. And don't laugh at the 1960's card table
Here is 24 hours later after the krausen came up and then started going down. Tonight it will be 48 hours since I started this step so I will chill for 1-2 days before decanting and going on to the last step in ~1800 ml starters to get to about 330 billion cells in each.
The plan after the last step is to split up the harvest into 6 pint canning jars with about 110 billion cells in each. I've been in contact with my home brew club and I plan to give away 4 of them and keep 2 for myself. If there is more demand than 4 people, hopefully those 4 people can grow up some more yeast so we can start a "yeast giving tree" so that more people can get it.
That looks fantastic! I'm going to be doing the same sort of harvesting on the remaining HT cans that I have. I'll update with pics once I get the ball rolling.
Excellent thread by the way, it's full of great information.
Excellent thread by the way, it's full of great information.
Be sure to use nice aromatic hops with fruity characters or this yeast won't shine its true colors. It's amazing how much flavor it adds. If you have an ipa recipe that you brew that you like, use that with this Conan strain and you'll note a big difference in flavor. Throw some simcoe in there for nice fruity flavor.
660 billion cells of Conan! I only got 2 responses from my home brew club when I offered up one of the jars for free. I'm shocked. Oh well. More for me
thatjonguy
Now with 57.93% more awesome!
I successfully cultured from one can. Going from 15% of the can into 200ml of 1.030 wort with nutrients on a stirplate with pure O2 for 60 seconds. Fed another 300ml of 1.030 wort with nutrients two days later. Had stir plate with box over it and heating pad next to flask keeping air temp inside box at 78F.
My flask actually has a krausen and a huge yeast ring on the bottom after taken off stir plate.
Smells of peaches, pineapple and other fruits (mostly tropical). Lovely! Considering making a 1 gallon batch Just to try it out.
My flask actually has a krausen and a huge yeast ring on the bottom after taken off stir plate.
Smells of peaches, pineapple and other fruits (mostly tropical). Lovely! Considering making a 1 gallon batch Just to try it out.
Ok. So here's what I wound up with. A pretty even split for my brew buddy and me. The pint jars have what I estimate to be 51 ml (poured water to the level of the yeast, then into a known accurate measuring cup.
Unless somebody here has an empty WL vial that can help me figure out how much that is, I will have to wait until I buy yeast for my next batch.
Now comes the tough part, estimating cell count. I have heard anything from 1 to 4 billion cells per ml. I'm just looking for a number that I can plug into a yeast calculator with my harvest date in order to determine viable cells and starter steps.
I'm inclined to just split the difference and use 2 billion. That would make one of those pint jars the approximate equivalent of 2 WL vials. This seems consistent with what I was estimating when I started growing. I'll have to go back a few posts, but I think I was going with an assumption of 2 billion cells in the can dregs.
Unless somebody here has an empty WL vial that can help me figure out how much that is, I will have to wait until I buy yeast for my next batch.
Now comes the tough part, estimating cell count. I have heard anything from 1 to 4 billion cells per ml. I'm just looking for a number that I can plug into a yeast calculator with my harvest date in order to determine viable cells and starter steps.
I'm inclined to just split the difference and use 2 billion. That would make one of those pint jars the approximate equivalent of 2 WL vials. This seems consistent with what I was estimating when I started growing. I'll have to go back a few posts, but I think I was going with an assumption of 2 billion cells in the can dregs.
jaydog2314
Well-Known Member
let me ask those who have harvested a question...I am in the middle of my harvesting and I'm trying to calculate the yeast growth. Here is what I did and I'm just trying to determine how to input it/interrupt it:
Day 1: took 100ml of Heady + 150ml of 1.037 starter, let that go for 3 days, shaking method(stir plate was in use)
Day 3: made another starter/step of 750ml of wort and cooled/added that to the initial step of 250...
I have gone farther but here is my question, when entering in yeastcalc. I started with the estimate of 1.5 billions cells(I used 1 can). Is my first step 150 or 250ml starter? And would step 2 be 750 or 1000ml? The total starter volume would be 250 & 1000ml respectively but I want to make sure that my assumption of adding them together to create a whole starter size in yeast calc correct? Not sure the starter size made with DME each step?
Hope that make sense. I'm brewing up a Heady clone Friday and I'm just trying to nail down my step ups between now and then and where my estimated yeast count is.
Thanks
Day 1: took 100ml of Heady + 150ml of 1.037 starter, let that go for 3 days, shaking method(stir plate was in use)
Day 3: made another starter/step of 750ml of wort and cooled/added that to the initial step of 250...
I have gone farther but here is my question, when entering in yeastcalc. I started with the estimate of 1.5 billions cells(I used 1 can). Is my first step 150 or 250ml starter? And would step 2 be 750 or 1000ml? The total starter volume would be 250 & 1000ml respectively but I want to make sure that my assumption of adding them together to create a whole starter size in yeast calc correct? Not sure the starter size made with DME each step?
Hope that make sense. I'm brewing up a Heady clone Friday and I'm just trying to nail down my step ups between now and then and where my estimated yeast count is.
Thanks
First step is 150 ml. You don't count the beer because there are no fermentables left in the beer to grow the yeast.
Same logic for the next step. Use 750 ml.
Same logic for the next step. Use 750 ml.
jaydog2314
Well-Known Member
Wouldn't step 2 then be 900? 150 from step 1 + 750 from step 2? I didn't doing any decanting the first few steps.
Nope, because you are assuming you are fermenting all the fermentable sugars from the first 150 ml step. So the yeast only has the 750 ml of the new wort to ferment.
