Lallemand Verdant IPA Ale

[Benson Brewhouse]

So I split the difference and am fermenting at 66f. The nose on this neipa is awesome! Going to go against the grain here and not use biotransformation hops. Only because there will be 9oz of hops in the batch after dry Hop already. This needs to be carbd and ready in the keg at the end of the month. Will be dry hopping in the bucket fermenter with 3 oz hops in a paint strainer bag weighted down with sanitized marbles. Going to let that sit 5 days then rack this into a keg with campden to keep down the oxidation. Really curious to see/taste the final product!

If you did a decent whirlpool hop addition you will get plenty biotransformation anyway - according to the Verdant guys.

 

[rtstrider]

If you did a decent whirlpool hop addition you will get plenty biotransformation anyway - according to the Verdant guys.

Added 3 oz of hops at 5 min and 3 oz of hops at whirlpool so thinking that should do it

 

[Benson Brewhouse]

Added 3 oz of hops at 5 min and 3 oz of hops at whirlpool so thinking that should do it

Also, FWIW, recent research suggests any old hop variety won't necessarily lead to biotransformation.

 

[rtstrider]

Also, FWIW, recent research suggests any old hop variety won't necessarily lead to biotransformation.

I used Mosaic, Galaxy, and Idaho 7. Are those good hops for biotransformation?

 

[Benson Brewhouse]

I used Mosaic, Galaxy, and Idaho 7. Are those good hops for biotransformation?

I assume so.

There was a session at this year's Homebrew Con specifically about biotransformation and they talked about which hops actually lead to biotransformation. You can get access to the presentations on the AHA website if you buy a membership.

 

[rtstrider]

I assume so.

There was a session at this year's Homebrew Con specifically about biotransformation and they talked about which hops actually lead to biotransformation. You can get access to the presentations on the AHA website if you buy a membership.

I have a membership. Do you happen to have the link?

 

[Benson Brewhouse]

I have a membership. Do you happen to have the link?

I don't. I just heard it would be available to all members.

 

[HM-2]

Says this yeast has a 12% alcohol tolerance. I wonder how it would be in a barleywine

I've had it above 10% and still got 80% attenuation, but not up into the 12s. Fermented out pretty fast with a nice apricot note.

It's an extremely violent fermenter. I've got a batch of Simcoe Vienna SMaSH in the fermenter that's been there for maybe 18 hours and already has three inches plus of Krausen and the airlock going like a steam train, despite it being a not insignificant underpitch (1 packet for 23L 1.068 OG wort)

 

[rwing7486]

So I was given 2 sachets of this yeast and noticed they were rock hard. is this normal? I brewed my go to NEIPA recipe (19% flaked adjuncts) that I usually ferment with wlp066 London fog. Mashed at 154F and yielded 5.25 gallons @ 1.065. With that said I have read previous posts and seems to be a mix bagged for attenuation which makes me think I should use the pitch rate as suggested by Llalemand's pitch rate calculator (14 grams). I havent pitched the yeast yet as it was super hot here today so I am waiting for my wort to come back down to 65F before pitching tomorrow. I am just unsure of what to think about the hardened sachets I received and unsure if they are fine once I open them but I am sitting here second guessing myself and maybe I run to my LHBS and get another yeast strain to use?

Also I plan to add first round of dry hops at high krausen. I do closed system transfers but do not ferment under pressure and with this being a beast of a top fermenting yeast does it make sense to add my bio trans hops into a fine mesh bag and weighing them down to get down into the beer during active fermentation?

 

[ebbelwoi]

Every packet of Lallemand yeast that I get is rock hard. I assume it's just super vacuum-packed.

 

[beervoid]

So I was given 2 sachets of this yeast and noticed they were rock hard. is this normal? I brewed my go to NEIPA recipe (19% flaked adjuncts) that I usually ferment with wlp066 London fog. Mashed at 154F and yielded 5.25 gallons @ 1.065. With that said I have read previous posts and seems to be a mix bagged for attenuation which makes me think I should use the pitch rate as suggested by Llalemand's pitch rate calculator (14 grams). I havent pitched the yeast yet as it was super hot here today so I am waiting for my wort to come back down to 65F before pitching tomorrow. I am just unsure of what to think about the hardened sachets I received and unsure if they are fine once I open them but I am sitting here second guessing myself and maybe I run to my LHBS and get another yeast strain to use?

Also I plan to add first round of dry hops at high krausen. I do closed system transfers but do not ferment under pressure and with this being a beast of a top fermenting yeast does it make sense to add my bio trans hops into a fine mesh bag and weighing them down to get down into the beer during active fermentation?

They are vacuum sealed and hard like all lallemand yeasts

 

[Protos]

To not scare all the "normal" beer folks away, let me assure you all that verdant drops perfectly clear after two to three weeks in a "normal" wort that is intended to result in clear beer.

I confirm that. Crystal clear beers after a month in secondary and a month of bottle-conditioning. I brew only English historical recipes with it though, no idea on how it behaves in intentionally muddy concoctions.
Didn't like this yeast too much. I have made 4 beers with it till now and I feel it's a bit more tart than I'd prefer. Not as tart as S-04 but it's the same kind of tartness. IDK, 4 batches is not enough for a final verdict, so will try the yeast several more times changing different variables.

 

[rwing7486]

Any suggestions on pitch rate? My SG is 1.065 where I mashed at 154F and had 19% flaked adjuncts in my grain bill (remaining was briess brewers and godeln promise). At first i was leaning towards just pitching 1 sachet but with the higher mash temp was thinking maybe following Llalemand website which suggests 14g based on my gravity, volume and fermentation temp

 

[rtstrider]

Any suggestions on pitch rate? My SG is 1.065 where I mashed at 154F and had 19% flaked adjuncts in my grain bill (remaining was briess brewers and godeln promise). At first i was leaning towards just pitching 1 sachet but with the higher mash temp was thinking maybe following Llalemand website which suggests 14g based on my gravity, volume and fermentation temp

I'd recommend checking this out

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en...orner/brewing-tools/pitching-rate-calculator/
Edit: I see you've gone there already. In that case I'd err on the side of caution and go with both packs

 

[rwing7486]

I'd recommend checking this out

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en...orner/brewing-tools/pitching-rate-calculator/
Edit: I see you've gone there already. In that case I'd err on the side of caution and go with both packs

just pitched 12.8g of yeast into 5.25 gallons into 68F wort. I decided to split the difference between the calculator and the 11g packet. We will see what happens

 

[Miraculix]

I confirm that. Crystal clear beers after a month in secondary and a month of bottle-conditioning. I brew only English historical recipes with it though, no idea on how it behaves in intentionally muddy concoctions.
Didn't like this yeast too much. I have made 4 beers with it till now and I feel it's a bit more tart than I'd prefer. Not as tart as S-04 but it's the same kind of tartness. IDK, 4 batches is not enough for a final verdict, so will try the yeast several more times changing different variables.

Really? I never had tartness with this yeast. I've brewed quite some bitters with it. My favourite is Nottingham and verdant 50/50 in the mix, this controls the excessive fruitiness a bit.

 

[Protos]

Really? I never had tartness with this yeast.

That's what confuses me a bit. I've never seen reports of tartness with Verdant, still I get slightly tart beers with every batch. That's why I'm still not sure whether it's the yeast or my process. Will try again.
Also I get very little fruitiness from it.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I've only used Verdant a couple times but each time when brewing an ipa with a more tropical fruit forward flavor. I'm really not sure how much of that flavor is due to the particular hops used or the yeast. Or, possibly its the Verdant yeast allowing the hop flavors to shine through more so than other yeasts I've used.

 

[spittiz]

The IPA batches I've made with this yeast have had a sweet tropical fruit flavor that i haven't got with e.g. US05.

 

[rtstrider]

I'll be trying this yeast (rehydrated) tomorrow. Have two packs right over two years old. They've been stored in the fridge for mostly the entire time. I was going to use Imperial Barbarian from the freezer stash but it appears to be shot. I reached out to a local brewery/LHBS and asked their experiences with Verdant. They said "OHHHH that's a good one! Ferment between 68F and 72F. We just used that on a NEIPA and it sold really well!" I built this NEIPA using percentages and such from Cade Jobe on a Brulosophy podcast awhile back. I have some old Mosaic in the freezer so that's why I'm using that first wort. The rest of the Mosaic was ordered 2 weeks ago. The hop combos/schedules were pulled from this site

https://cryopopblend.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Survivable-Compounds-Handbook.pdf
Anywho here's the recipe I'm working with

Title: Wedding Hazy IPA

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Specialty IPA: New England IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.048
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.061
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 6.38%
IBU (tinseth): 59.66
SRM (morey): 3.96
Mash pH: 5.89

FERMENTABLES:
4 lb - Brewers Malt 2-Row (30%)
4 lb - BEST Heidelberg (30%)
2 lb - Flaked Oats (15%)
2 lb - Flaked Wheat (15%)
1.33 lb - Carapils Malt (10%)

HOPS:
0.25 oz - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: First Wort, IBU: 12.09
1 oz - Idaho 7, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.1, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 9.89
1 oz - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 10
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 8.77
1 oz - Idaho 7, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.1, Use: Whirlpool for 15 min at 180 °F, IBU: 6.53
1 oz - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Whirlpool for 15 min at 180 °F, IBU: 6.6
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Whirlpool for 15 min at 180 °F, IBU: 5.79
1 oz - Sabro, Type: Pellet, AA: 14, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days
1 oz - El Dorado, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.7, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days
1 oz - Azacca, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Temp: 154 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 5 gal
2) Fly Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Amount: 4.28 gal
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

YEAST:
Lallemand - Verdant IPA

Pulled a sample of this over the weekend and holy geez! The aroma is insane and the beer itself is extremely tropical! Now for mouthfeel...It doesn't have that thick/slick mouthfeel but it's really good! This will be served at a wedding on Saturday and I'm just going to go with...Tropical IPA. Either way this is by far the best Hazy/Juicy IPA recipe I've brewed yet! So much so it may end up going on a regular rotation. Will try and take a proper picture this weekend of the finished product. Anywho will say I'm extremely impressed with this yeast!

 

[rwing7486]

Pulled a sample of this over the weekend and holy geez! The aroma is insane and the beer itself is extremely tropical! Now for mouthfeel...It doesn't have that thick/slick mouthfeel but it's really good! This will be served at a wedding on Saturday and I'm just going to go with...Tropical IPA. Either way this is by far the best Hazy/Juicy IPA recipe I've brewed yet! So much so it may end up going on a regular rotation. Will try and take a proper picture this weekend of the finished product. Anywho will say I'm extremely impressed with this yeast!

I just transferred mine from primary to keg for my second round of dry hops before I force carb. I was blown away by the sample I took today for my gravity. Just a fruit bomb. Very similar results to london fog from white labs except half the cost. Both yeasts yielded 76% attenuation when mashed at 154F (Adjuncts 20% of grain bill). Will be brewing a pale ale using the verdant IPA yeast soon just to see if delivers once again.

 

[rtstrider]

I just transferred mine from primary to keg for my second round of dry hops before I force carb. I was blown away by the sample I took today for my gravity. Just a fruit bomb. Very similar results to london fog from white labs except half the cost. Both yeasts yielded 76% attenuation when mashed at 154F (Adjuncts 20% of grain bill). Will be brewing a pale ale using the verdant IPA yeast soon just to see if delivers once again.

I've never had London Fog. Honestly as rare as this style is brewed at the house I'll probably just stick with this dry strain going forward. Easy to use and it's a beast!

 

[rtstrider]

Ended up pulling a very small sample of the brew today. It honestly reminds me a of kveik strain...But much cleaner...Without the twang....In other words this is a really nice strain!

 

[Protos]

What's your opinions on the acidity level of this yeast?
Is it on the higher or on the lower side?
I made 4 beers with it (3 with rehydrated pitches, one with top-crop harvest) and each one tasted pretty tangy to me. Not as tang as S-04 but decidedly more acidic than say Nottingham.
So I'm interested is it a bug (what a pun!) or is it a feature?

 

[ebbelwoi]

For the past year or more, I've been using Verdant for all of my pale ales and porters, both dry and top-cropped, and there hasn't been any noticeable acidity.

 

[Miraculix]

What's your opinions on the acidity level of this yeast?
Is it on the higher or on the lower side?
I made 4 beers with it (3 with rehydrated pitches, one with top-crop harvest) and each one tasted pretty tangy to me. Not as tang as S-04 but decidedly more acidic than say Nottingham.
So I'm interested is it a bug (what a pun!) or is it a feature?

Never had any tartness from verdant.

 

[Protos]

Thanks! I remember you were saying you had brewed with the Verdant yeast a lot.
So, in my case it must have been a bug or some process-related thing... Need to sort it out.

Right now I'm drinking my Fuller's Old Burton Extra 1939 clone and it's a good beer although it tastes tarter than I like.

 

[Miraculix]

For the past year or more, I've been using Verdant for all of my pale ales and porters, both dry and top-cropped, and there hasn't been any noticeable acidity.

I guess you like it in dark ales? I've yet to to try it in a stout.... So many beers to brew, so little time....

 

[Protos]

I've tried it only in light beers: 2 light Boddingtons and 2 strong Burtons. Each one came out more or less tart.
For darker English beers, I prefer M42 and M15 (or Lalbrews Nott & Windsor).

 

[ebbelwoi]

@Protos what's your water chemistry like? I've got very soft water, so I've always added baking soda to the beers I've done with Verdant to boost the carbonates.