Vermont style yeast recommendations

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by alexconnolly, Sep 8, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
Page 1 of 2
  1. alexconnolly

    alexconnolly Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2017 England

    Hi guys!

    First post here, so hi to everyone :grin:

    I'm fairly new to home brewing - I have done about 4 - so I'm still trying to get the ropes.

    I've begun to venture out past recommendations online and, in my search for new ideas, I noticed that a lot of my favourite NEIPA/DIPAs use the WLP 4000 yeast. I checked it out online, but its pretty much impossible to get. I can't find it anywhere.

    I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for yeast that's similar to this, or if anybody has a recommendation of where I could get this from in the UK.

    For style notes, I'm looking for something real juicy and funky. I love a good NEIPA, so anything towards this would be great.

    Cheers!
     
    #1 alexconnolly, Sep 8, 2017
  2. Zonk

    Zonk Initiate (0) Dec 2, 2014 New Jersey

    I can vouch for London III
     
    #2 Zonk, Sep 8, 2017
    alexconnolly and SFACRKnight like this.
  3. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    If you do a quick forum search there are quite a few threads on here discussing NEIPA yeasts.
     
    #3 jbakajust1, Sep 8, 2017
  4. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    “…the WLP 4000 yeast…”

    This yeast is allegedly the yeast strain used to brew The Alchemist Heady Topper. I underlined the word “allegedly” since John Kimmich has been quoted as saying that any commercially available yeast strains purported to be his yeast strain are not his yeast strain.

    Homebrewers often refer to the alleged Heady Topper yeast strain as the Conan yeast strain. The Conan yeast strain is available from a number of other yeast vendors:

    · GigaYeast GY054 (Vermont Ale)

    · East Coast Yeast ECY29 (North East Ale)

    · Omega Yeast Labs (DIPA Ale)

    · Imperial Organic Yeast A04 (Barbarian)

    · White Labs WLP095 (Burlington Ale Yeast)

    Cheers!
     
    #4 JackHorzempa, Sep 8, 2017
    boddhitree, alexconnolly, SFACRKnight and 2 others like this.
  5. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    I love Omega yeast, but the DIPA yeast, which was supposedly cultured from Heady, has severely disappointed me when making a NE IPA. Just my opinion
     
    #5 DrMindbender, Sep 8, 2017
    PortLargo and JackHorzempa like this.
  6. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I have it from a reputable source that one of these is not Conan, and is not from Alchemist at all...
     
    #6 jbakajust1, Sep 9, 2017
  7. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    · GigaYeast GY054 (Vermont Ale)...I don't know what it is, but there's twice as much of it in a retail quantity...a good thing especially if you aren't making a starter (no shaming here :slight_smile:)
     
    #7 GreenKrusty101, Sep 9, 2017
    alexconnolly likes this.
  8. Santosizer

    Santosizer Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2009 California

    I just finished fermenting a Sip of Sunshine clone from Northern Brewers with Barbarian A04 yeast from Imperial Yeast. Fermented at 62 degrees. The strain is said to be a clone of Heady Toppers. The yeast alone smells like stone fruit and tropical fruit. The end result was a cross between Heady and SOS, which I LOVE! It was a vigorous fermentation, you'll need a blowoff forsure. I walked into my office last night where I had a little bit of the sample, the room smelled like peach rings and mango. I'm actually from Middlebury; however, live in the IE of So Cal.. Finding a proper NEIPA that can stand next to Heady or SOS here is extremely hard.

    Aside from Barbarian A04, I've used their Juice A38, which is more of a haze. Moreover, it was incredibly easy to find. I would also recommend what the previous commenter mentioned, London 3. The key here is going to be temperature.
     
    #8 Santosizer, Sep 9, 2017
    alexconnolly likes this.
  9. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    According to John Kimmich none of these commercially available yeast strains are the Heady Topper yeast strain. Do you have specific and reliable information otherwise?

    Cheers!
     
    #9 JackHorzempa, Sep 9, 2017
  10. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I can vouch for wyeast 1318, as well as inland island new england ale. Both produce stone fruit esters with the polyphenol haze when paired with high dryhopping rates.
     
    #10 SFACRKnight, Sep 9, 2017
    alexconnolly likes this.
  11. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    One of them is Trillium's house strain.
     
    #11 jbakajust1, Sep 10, 2017
  12. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Are you permitted to identify which of the yeast strains I listed is the Trillium strain?

    Cheers!
     
    #12 JackHorzempa, Sep 10, 2017
  13. alexconnolly

    alexconnolly Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2017 England

    I think it's easy to say that, but it's nice to get a current opinion rather than a past opinion. A lot happens in the brewing world and something that is the best today may not be the best tomorrow.

    But thanks anyway, I'll take a look :-)
     
    #13 alexconnolly, Sep 10, 2017
  14. alexconnolly

    alexconnolly Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2017 England

    This is great. Thanks for this - I really appreciate it.

    I haven't managed to get a chance to try heady topper yet, although I guess many people haven't, so I'll have to check out some notes on it and see how this compares.

    I took a look up Conan yeast and saw that it seemed somehow related to Safale US-05. I've used s-04 before and have heard of US-05 but never touched it. If you have, would you be able to give any words on this? How do you feel US-05 performs?

    Cheers!
     
    #14 alexconnolly, Sep 10, 2017
  15. alexconnolly

    alexconnolly Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2017 England

    Cheers for this!

    There's nothing better than the sweet smell of fresh fruit coming from a brew. For me, this is what got me into brewing, so it seems fairly right that I can't keep away from it. Sounds like you have a nice brew coming along, though, you'll have to let me know how it goes!

    I think the London 3 seems to be the one that's coming up quite a lot. It actually looks like its possible to get over here, too, so I should have a fair chance rather than with the other suggestions which look increasingly difficult to get (Although I could probably get it shipped if I sold my kidneys).

    Cheers!
     
    #15 alexconnolly, Sep 10, 2017
  16. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    These threads are current. Probably should take a look before making any rash decisions.
     
    #16 SFACRKnight, Sep 10, 2017
    jbakajust1 likes this.
  17. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I did a split batch with detailed notes between 1318 and 1056. I can't post links from my phone, but search yeast experiment in this forum.
     
    #17 SFACRKnight, Sep 10, 2017
  18. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    US-05 is not the Conan yeast strain; it is the Chico yeast strain (i.e., the same strain as the Sierra Nevada house strain).

    I brew with US-05 a lot. It is a great yeast selection when you are seeking a neutral yeast flavor profile (i.e., low esters (fruity flavors)).

    If you are seeking a more expressive yeast flavor profile than 1318 would be a good choice.

    Cheers!
     
    #18 JackHorzempa, Sep 10, 2017
    Jesse14 likes this.
  19. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Not right now, sadly.
     
    #19 jbakajust1, Sep 10, 2017
  20. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Justin, if circumstances ever change I would like to know that information.

    Last year I brewed my version of a Trillium Fort Point Pale Ale based upon Dave Green's (@telejunkie) recipe in the Sept. 2015 issue of BYO magazine. He listed WLP007/WY1098/Gigayeast GY054 as yeast choices. Of those three yeast strains listed by 'process of elimination' I am guessing that the GigaYeast GY054 is the Trillium strain.

    I chose to brew with the dry yeast version of WLP007/WY1098: Fermentis S-04 yeast. FWIW I was very happy with this yeast strain for this particular batch of beer.

    Maybe next time I brew my version of Trillium Fort Point Pale Ale I will instead use the Gigayeast GY054 yeast instead for 'authenticity' reasons?

    Have you ever brewed using GY054? If so, how would you describe the performance of this yeast strain?

    Cheers!

    Jack
     
    #20 JackHorzempa, Sep 10, 2017
Page 1 of 2
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.