Conan yeast - observations so far

[Taf]

Just checked mine, and minuscule activity if anything at all. Have upper the temp to 22.5c, so fingers crossed, or I will be pitching notty in the morning.

[mr hoppy]

Interesting to hear what other people have to say.

I think the question of whether Conan is a lager yeast, saison yeast or some other exotic has been debated quite a bit in the US and the consensus is it's an English ale yeast. Also, as I understand it HT is canned with the primary yeast because it isn't floculant - so that it shouldn't be a bottling strain.

There's also some discussion about how people have had issues with the ECY (not Giga) version which was cultured from higher generation (11) source yeast - and that higher generations of Conan yeast (11+) tend to exhibit some of the characteristics people have seen here: poor attenuation, too much flocculation etc. Interestingly enough, it seems even the brewery have had some issues in recent years with the yeast.

I do wonder though, if the statement on the yeast pack that it's got 200 Billion cells so there's no need for a starter needs to be taken with a hearty pinch of salt - 200 B is enough for a normal beer - but that's 200 B when it's produced, not 3 months later when viability could be down to 32%. I mean, the White Labs vials all say that you don't need to do a starter but I always do.

I held back on pitching more yeast as I was hoping to get the famous Conan profile, but thinking about it again - once it's had a decent lag time you should have a lot of that, even if you do have to repitch. I did another taste test, I'm definitely handicapped by my lack of familiarity with Simcoe - but I get less DMS than Spaten and less (same?) diacetyl as Pilsner Urquell at the moment, so I'm hopeful.

[DEMPSEY]

Well I have just observed mine in the 2L flask sitting in the kitchen and it is showing no signs of life. 

[Ciderhead]

Charging 30, Clear!
Again! Charging 50...

[Taf]

Still nothing this morning from what I could tell. Gave it a good rouse, and if nothing this evening will hit it with the nottingham.

[irish_goat]

Did you take a reading?

[Taf]

Did you take a reading?

No, do you think it might actually be slowly away, with little or no visible signs? I'll take a reading this evening, before I decide whether or not to pitch an additional yeast.

[DEMPSEY]

Checked my starter this morning and as before absolutely no Krausen at all. Had stopped the stir bar for a few hours to let the dirty looking liquid settle and can not see any co2 or movement but instead a reasonable amount of thick dust at the bottom of the flask. Have switched back on the stir bar to rouse it but not looking good. .

[Ciderhead]

80 Clear...
Is he gone doc?

This is a like an episode of ER, there will be more tears if Conan doesn't make it tho.

[DEMPSEY]

Were we sold a pup?
I have mine unopened in the fridge still.

I beginning ti think we were

[irish_goat]

Very strange that some of you are doing fine with it.

Reading on Homebrew Talk it seems to also have mixed speeds there too.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/slow-start-conan-416011/

[mr hoppy]

Did you take a reading?

No, do you think it might actually be slowly away, with little or no visible signs? I'll take a reading this evening, before I decide whether or not to pitch an additional yeast.

Definitely, in that the ester profile is set during the lag phase, but I'd pitch the extra yeast to kick start the main fermentation.

[imark]

Very strange that some of you are doing fine with it.

Reading on Homebrew Talk it seems to also have mixed speeds there too.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/slow-start-conan-416011/

Is there correlation between age of the packs and success? Can't recall what they advised shelf life on the packs we got. Mine was used within a week of getting it and initially fermented at 15C quite vigorously til it needed a bit of a warm up to attenuate fully.
My current room temp ferment is flying along.

[Hop Bomb]

Yeah defo a bit weird that some got on great & others havent. Is it a safe assumption that the only people that had problems were those who didnt make a starter or those who are just using theirs now after 3/4 months of storage?

Im slanting this strain & will hopefully be able to isolate a pure colony & grow from there. Fingers crossed some of the slants take over the next week.

[mr hoppy]

Looking back at the start of this thread the folks who pitched back in October had difficulty as well in some cases.