re: Homebrewing: In-Process Thread

There's also been some recent speculation that the Conan in use now is not the same Conan that made Heady in the beginning. Let me do some digging. It apparently has a super quick mutation ability (that's a scientific term, btw)and attenuation drops off pretty quickly after a few generations.

Ah, here we go:

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In his book IPA, Mitch Steele reports that The Alchemist uses a relatively low pitching rate (less than a .5 million cells per ml per degree Plato), fermenting at 68 F for a few days then up to 72 F. Elsewhere it has been reported that as the generation count rises, the attenuation drops. This is a larger concern for craft breweries, as few homebrewers reuse yeast for more than a couple of generations. A yeast which requires a bit of special attention.

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In his article Vermont Cult Clones in the October 2013 issue of BYO, Dave Green mentions that "[I]n my conversations with the brewers it was indicated that Conan is no longer the strain that is being used." However there isn’t an explanation of whether this means that The Alchemist is no longer using the original isolate because it mutated, or if they have switched to a different yeast strain. (Luckily down in the comments, Art filled me in on his conversations with the author of the BYO article and John Kimmich of The Alchemist. Apparently they are still using Conan for Heady Topper, it is Hill Farmstead that is no longer using Conan, something I wasn't aware they did in the first place).

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Guess I was wrong about that.

Source

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attenuation drops off pretty quickly after a few generations.

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I've seen that in a few places. Typically you are going to get more mutations later on once the environment starts to stress the yeast. This is why you can only wash a yeast strand for so many generations before you start to notice changes. However, those changes may be beneficial b/c the yeast is adapting to your setup and style.

I typically top harvest and wash. I've seen estimates that you can top harvest up to maybe a 1,000 generations before running into issues. I have original top harvest of the crooked stave brett and my house blend. I need to slant those up pretty soon and stash away.

Interesting read Bottomland.

Yeast is so interesting.
Stone didn't think that yeast that had been through IPA batches would be good for fermenting Arrogant Bastard but somehow it was actually better after a batch or two of IPA, like it toughened it up or something.

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SouthOfSouth

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I read that book. Pretty interesting read.

I brewed a milk stout last Saturday and I'm not getting much airlock action as of this morning. Are stouts a longer process?

Thanks for the reply. I guess I got spoiled on that saison and the belgian yeast. 8 straight days of monster fermentation

Checked temp this am and it's at 68. Should have mentioned that in my 1st post.

I brewed with a buddy and he has all the notes. I know off hand that the OG was right in for what the kit called for. We just a liquid yeast in a bag that had a bubble thing you had to pop in it. I've always used the vial that you just shake. I'll find out and reply in a bit

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I brewed with a buddy and he has all the notes. I know off hand that the OG was right in for what the kit called for. We just a liquid yeast in a bag that had a bubble thing you had to pop in it. I've always used the vial that you just shake. I'll find out and reply in a bit

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Yall smacked the pack ahead of time and it swelled up on its own?