Author: Marshall Schott

Hippies, maple syrup, cheddar cheese, Ben & Jerry’s, Bernie Sanders. This is what used to come to mind when I’d think of Vermont. At some point in 2011, a new beer was introduced to the market, a beer that would quickly take the world by storm, convincing hop-heads everywhere to spend up to 6x the normal retail price for a single serving, a beer that butted it’s way to the top of myriad best beers lists, becoming one of the most sought by beer traders the world over. Today when I think of Vermont, my mind goes directly to the one-and-only Heady Topper.

This 8% Double IPA made by The Alchemist Brewery usually sells out within hours of being packaged in its very recognizable silver can. As hard as this beer is to get, it’s even more difficult for those of us living on the opposite coast, so I feel fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to try this beer in a relatively fresh state (8 days) thanks to my badass brother who lives in NY. And it was good. It was real good. I’ve had Pliny the Elder fresh from the tap, another great example of the style, but there was something different about Heady. Intense juicy peach, waves of resinous pine, balancing citrus, soft yet noticeable malt character, dryness with a beautiful creamy mouthfeel, even more juicy fruitiness. Not being the biggest IPA-guy, this beer won me over. Following the league of curious homebrewers, I began researching just what made this beer so dramatically delicious. Grains certainly impact flavor, but this was a DIPA, chances are that isn’t the defining factor. What about hops? Oh yeah, there are some hops in there, lots of hops, lots of great and sometimes hard to find (expensive) hops… the same hops used in many other beers that don’t compare to Heady. It could be the water, I guess, but that’s doubtful.

And then there’s that maltose munching fungi we’ve all come to love so much for the impact it has on beer flavor: yeast. John Kimmich is said to have been using the yeast he calls Conan for a couple decades. I won’t rehash what’s already been said elsewhere (TMF, B-F1, B-F2), but suffice it to say John loves this particular strain. Discontent with the commercial unavailability at the time, homebrewers began propagating the fine layer that lined the bottom of Heady Topper cans and using it in their hoppy concoctions. The result of these experiments were so remarkable that these hand harvested samples began to be shipped all over the world, everybody wanted to get their paws on some. We learned a few things as a result of all this experimentation with Conan, particularly that it seemed to massively amplify hop character and it was a very poor flocculator– it produced delicious and very hazy beer. As the buzz over this yeast grew louder, a budding boutique yeast company released a new strain with a presumably revealing name and strikingly familiar description:

Isolated from a uniquely crafted double IPA out of the Northeastern United States, this yeast produces a balanced fruity ester profile of peaches and light citrus that compliments any aggressively hopped beer.

I can’t say for sure where this yeast was isolated from, I’m not sure anyone but Nick is privy to that information, but it sure sounds like it could be from Heady Topper.

Some people may be aware that I’ve a rather strong fondness for a particular White Labs strain, WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast, which previously won majority preference when compared to WLP001 California Ale Yeast and WLP051 California Ale V Yeast. I became curious how my beloved yeast would fair next to the famed Vermont Ale yeast and decided to split a batch of IPA. After informing a buddy of this plan, a guy who had used this yeast with great success, he asked if I would be willing to replace 090 in my hoppy beer recipes if I ended up preferring the Vermont strain.

Absolutely.

Since I’d be using a new yeast and I’m not the biggest fan of IPA, I chose to split a single 6 gallon batch of wort into smaller carboys and eventually keg 2.5 gallons of each. The recipe I used was similar to my Lil’ Slack IPA with a few adjustments to the grist and a much different hop bill.

Packaging Volume: 5 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.064

Estimated SRM: 7

Estimated IBU: 50

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Efficiency: 71% – No Sparge

GRAINS

12 lbs 8.0 oz US 2-Row (90%)

10.0 oz Munich Malt – 10L (5%)

10.0 oz Honey Malt (5%)

HOPS

15 IBU Mosaic – FWH

18 g Centennial – Boil 20 min

16 g Mosaic – Boil 20 min

30 g Mosaic – Flameout (15 min stand)

15 g Centennial – Flameout (15 min stand)

16g Simcoe – Flameout (15 min stand)

66 g Mosaic – Dry hop (4 days)

34 g Centennial – Dry hop (4 days)

34 g Simcoe – Dry hop (4 days)

YEAST

1.0 pkg WLP090 – San Diego Super Yeast

1.0 pkg TYB Vermont Ale

PROCESS

– Mash at 154°F for 60 minutes with full volume of brewing liquor (9.25 gallons)

– Pitch and ferment at 67°F for 3-4 days then allow to free rise up to 72°F

– Add dry hop directly to primary after 4-5 days of fermentation

– Cold crash for 12-24 hours after FG is stable

– Fine with gelatin and let sit cold for another 24+ hours

– Package, carbonate, enjoy!

Using the new yeast pitch rate calculator over at the HomeBrewDad website, I made starters calculated to produce a similar amount of cells for each yeast.

As I’ve been doing for most of the last year for 5 gallon batches, I used the No Sparge method, mashing with the full volume of brewing liquor.

I added a large charge of hops (for me), most later in the boil and at flameout, then chilled the wort to 67°F within a few minutes using the King Cobra IC.

Since I don’t filter my hops when adding them to the wort, I gently stir while racking in order to ensure relatively equal distribution into each carboy. I haven’t worried much about trub making it into the fermentors since the trub xBmt, and for what it’s worth, there’s been no noticeable degradation in my finished beers. The full carboys were then placed in my fermentation chamber and my ale profile on The Black Box was engaged.

I was interested in any visible fermentation differences between the batches.

On day 5, each krausen begun to fall, I let it sit another couple days before taking the first gravity reading. While the WLP090 fermented down to 1.013, the Vermont beer was sitting squarely at 1.017. This worried me a bit, I assumed maybe it needed more time, but a couple days later the hydrometer showed the same thing. In my state of concern, I forgot to take a photo. At this point, I added the dry hop charge, let it sit over night, then started cold crashing. I did use gelatin on this beer, something I decided to integrate into my normal brewing routine following my recent gelatin xBmt because of how easy and incredibly effective it is. The beers were then kegged.

While the beers were well carbonated and ready to serve 36 hours later, I began sharing them 5 days after being kegged.

| IMPRESSIONS |

When I poured myself the first samples of each beer, I’ll admit to being pretty biased against the batch fermented with Vermont, not only because of my love affair with 090, but because I didn’t think an IPA that finished at 1.017 could be very good. I like to think acknowledging this allowed to me to approach evaluation of the beers at least a bit more objectively. With 6 oz glasses filled to the brim, I sat down with each beer. Right off the bat, I knew which one I liked better…

But what I think isn’t that important, I knew the differences and was beyond biased, probably better to talk about what people who were actually blind to the nature of the xBmt thought.

I shared this beer on multiple occasions with multiple people, 14 of whom I actually took notes of their feedback. Since the purpose of this xBmt was comparative in nature and I had no intention of proving the yeasts were similar, I chose not to use my typical triangle test format. Rather, blind tasters were presented a sample of each beer and asked for their opinions. All but one person, 13 of the 14 recorded responses, or a whopping 93% reported preferring one of the beers over the other. I compiled our tasting notes for each beer, they corresponded well with each other.

Appearance

Both beers were fined with gelatin and every taster said they looked same in terms of color, head retention, and clarity. By the time the beers were shared with tasters, they were about as bright as any commercial example.

Aroma

The beer fermented with The Yeast Bay’s Vermont Ale yeast was described by everyone as having strong aroma’s of stone fruit, with references to peaches and nectarines being most common. Many of the tasters also noted a pleasant orange citrus character in this beer and a very pungent dankness that melded well. The WLP090 beer was generally described as being slightly more balanced toward the malt with a crisper and less “juicy” hop aroma, as one taster put it. The dank character from the hops was similarly present, though the majority of people reported smelling more citrus than stone fruit in this beer.

Flavor

Tasters used many of the same adjectives to describe the flavor as they did the aroma of each beer. A few noted the beer fermented with WLP090 as having a more noticeable malt character, some reporting it as a subtle sweetness that helped to accentuate the hop character. Balance was the name of the 090 game. The majority agreed the Vermont beer tasted fruity, fruity, fruity! While malt character was present, the juicy-peachy-citrus flavor stole the show, it’s what this beer was all about. Surprising to me was the fact no one experienced either beer as being cloying, in fact, many commented on how they perceived both as being quite dry.

Mouthfeel

The differences here were about as stark as the differences in flavor and aroma. Every single taster perceived the Vermont beer as being fuller bodied with a creamier mouthfeel, not thick or syrupy, but “velvety” and “luscious.” The mouthfeel of the beer fermented with WLP090 was described by one taster as being “like what you’d expect from a good craft IPA,” agreeing with the majority that it was crisper than the Vermont beer with more of a light-medium body.

Following a thorough evaluation of the beers and after asking the tasters to indicate the beer they preferred more, I revealed what was different and asked them to guess which one they thought was fermented with each yeast. Every one of the tasters for this xBmt is experienced in beer evaluation and brewing culture in general, they all made the correct selection.

So, preferences…

I just want to say that I’ve only used the Vermont Ale strain one time since this batch, I’ve actually got a fun xBmt planned with a buddy where we’re both going to use it in a hoppy Pale Ale, something akin to the Brewer’s Thumbprint xBmt. Because of my limited experience, I’m not ready to make any statements of certainty about something I know so little about. I’ve been wondering how Vermont would perform in a less hop-forward beer, say a more malty American Amber or my Fuggles hopped Tiny Bottom Pale Ale, both of which I know kick ass when fermented with WLP090. Okay, okay…

| VERDICT |

The beer fermented with The Yeast Bay’s Vermont Ale yeast handily won the preference of the tasters, with only a single person thinking WLP090 produced the better beer. It should be noted that the tasters who preferred the Vermont beer thought the 090 beer was excellent, and the one person who preferred 090 thought the same of Vermont. Without question, these beers were different, and it would appear John Kimmich’s choice of a yeast, assuming TYB sourced Vermont Ale from Heady Topper, was a good one. A damn good one.

It was so good, in fact, that I fully plan to replace WLP090 with Vermont Ale for my hoppy beers. As I mentioned, I’ve still got quite a bit of experimenting to do before I ditch 090 altogether, as Vermont/Conan is known almost exclusively for how well it accentuates hops, whereas my experience with 090 has proven it’s great in even malty styles. At the very least, I’ve added a new yeast to my library, a yeast that is reinvigorating my love of hoppy beer.

If you’ve used Vermont, Conan, or one of the other strains presumed to have come from Heady Topper, feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below or come join the conversation in the Reddit Homebrewing community. Cheers!

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