Has anyone used Conan yeast?

I have, and have some stored up that I haven't felt like using.

I did a Citra DIPA, somewhat like the kern river clone. Citra, and Amarillo hops, used pearl malt like heady does, and used Conan.

It was okay. I dumped the last... half gallon in the keg because I needed the keg at the time, and was tired as hell of drinking the shit.

Conan is a weird beast. It's a peachy yeast when fresh and early generation. If you manage to get it too late in it's cycle, you'll notice a drop off in attenuation, the beer will clear slightly better, and some people, myself included have reported a slight clove/belgian aroma and flavor from it in the beers.

For that reason, I've kind of avoided it. I might make a starter with what I have left, and see if the starter is tossing the clove notes again, but others have noted that.. belgian IPA it was...

 

I brewed a heady type clone, maris otter and cara pils. I put 2 ounces Apollo at the beginning of the boil and then amarillo, simcoe, columbus and centennial in the whirlpool. Then I dosed it again with amarillo, simcoe, columbus and centennial 5 days before I bottled it. I like it a lot, I plan to brew it again soon when this yeast is done with the stout I dropped it in as an experiment. Ill probably bring the bitterness down a tad the next go around, maybe 1.5 ounces. I got my conan from a couple of cans and built it up over a few starters. Im pretty excited to see what it does with the Stout.

 

I just used it for an imperial red and it worked great, starts strong and really picks up in the conditioning phase if you bring up the temp a bit. The stone fruit undertones helped with make the impression of sweetness with the malt character, but finishes pretty dry and really lets the hop flavors shine in the aftertaste. I wouldn't use it for everything but it could be cool in some other styles, like an American wheat or something like a kolsch.

 

It is downstairs munching a beer I pitched on a Conan cake yesterday, ferociously, but hasnt sent anything out the blowoff tube yet, just underneath it. Batch 6 with it, have had some notable successes with super high attenuation and lovely sweet peach notes that were so easy drinking it was scary, and a couple batches with a Belgiany note out of the fermenter that faded a bit as it conditioned. I like it with Citra, Amarillo, and Mosaic, and the last one I did heavily Nelson that tasted good from the flask. Racked it yday and put it in to cold crash, gonna leave it for a while and hope for the best. It doesn't settle out all that well.

 

Yup, using Conan right now; in the secondary.

 

I have done a blonde ale and a session IPA. Both were/are good, but I am not sure I will rush out to re- use it either.

The blonde was a simple beer with all Amarillo hops. The beer was bready and seemed to mute the hop flavor and aroma. The session IPA is loaded with Amarillo, ahtanum and centennial and is finally starting to come around ( half keg down, about a month in). I have another five gallons of the session IPA about to go on tap that was fermented with PacMan so I will have a comparison.

I still have a jar of saved Conan, so I will probably try it in a malty beer next, maybe a stout.

 

I just did a all mosaic DIPA with Conan and I got to say it may be one of the best IPA's I've tasted. Use it!

 

How warm did you bring it up? The last time I used it I kept it at 66 for the main bulk and then came up to 70.

 

Currently using it now with a DIPA. Propagated from two cans of Heady and propagated twice before pitching. Active fermentation in about 12 hours and it is going very strong. Lots off the blow off tube.

Can't wait to taste the product.

 

Ok, I am reviving this thread to see if we can get a bit more discussion going.

I haven't been too happy with Conan yet, both beers seemed a bit too bready. I am suspecting ferm temps could have played a roll, but at this point I am really not sure.

So, the second beer I made was a session IPA (see post above), but it was ten gallons split between Conan and Pacman. Both were fermented in the mid 60's. Seems weird to me that such a hop forward beer relies on this yeast, as the Pacman blows it away when it comes to letting the hops shine. I haven't yet had Heady Topper, so maybe I just don't understand it. But, what have been some experiences here...and I am wondering how fermentation temps were used also.

 

I'd say that Conan is a very specialized yeast, it's not meant to ferment super clean and just let the hops do all the talking; it's meant to complement citrusy/floral hops and has a noticeable aftertaste. If you want to get more flavor out of it, I'd start the fermentation around 65 F or so and bring it up to around 70 after the first 5 days. If you keep it a bit warmer it really attenuates quickly and can leave you with a pretty dry beer, which is usually ideal for hoppy beers. I think my next batch with it will be a mixed fermentation saison, excited to see what this yeast does with other styles/ingredients.

 

Yeah, I read that Kimmich had to work with the yeast for a while to really dial in what he wanted to do with it. I am going to try it in an imperial brown next, so maybe I will try ramping the temp on it.

 

That sounds great, I'm imagining it would work well in something similar to Anchor Breckle's Brown, with some resiny hops.

 

This latest beer responded well to 4 weeks in primary, 4 days in secondary cold conditioning. Did it 66 finishing fermentation at 70. Came out lightly cloudy with very fine yeast no chunks, not quite pretty, but some other attempts were degrees of ugly. One more still in primary and ready to rack. Have grown to love Conan.

 

I should also add, my Conan beers have eventually cleared up pretty well after a few weeks cold conditioning.

 

I agree that this yeast really shines in a red ale; got one on now that is wonderful. My one little quibble is that it takes a long time to clear (if it's healthy).

John Kimmich has talked about this yeast a bit in the past, when the brewpub still existed. It was the house yeast for non-Belgian ales, many of which were amazing. He said it could ferment reliably down to 50F. The pub made a beer called 'Alesner', (reputedly) made with Conan, that was damn nearly a Czech Pilsener clone. Conan made some exceptional imperial stouts too.

The origin of Conan is the VT Pub & Brewery in Burlington where it's still the workhorse yeast. I suspect that it came from England but Greg Noonan isn't around to weigh in so we may be guessing forever.

 

Stop taunting me. I've been wanting to brew an Imperial Red with Rye using Conan for months now.

 

I'm brewing something like that on Sunday...

 

An Imperial Red with Rye! Looks like I have a change of plan for coming week! That sounds great.