Brewing with 2 yeasts

Tomorrow I'm planning on brewing up 11 gal of black IPA. I was planning to ferment with 2 packets of s-05. Last time I brewed this recipe in the summer, all I had available was windsor ale yeast and I really loved how it turned out. It was thick and chewy and had some great esters going on with the american hop aromas. I've got 2 packets of s-05 and 1 packet of windsor yeast in my fridge and I'm thinking of just tossing them all into the fermentor together(after rehydrating, of course) and seeing what happens. I'm hoping that I can get some of the same esters but maybe be able to attenuate more than the all windsor yeast could. Has anyone ever used windsor and s-05 yeast together in the same batch?

Sounds a nice idea, but I've not tried that sort of thing. I'm a Windsor fan, just wish it stuck to the bottom of the bottle better! Let us know how it works out and if you get the best of both worlds.

Please do, I wonder if one might have a competitive advantage over the other and just out populate them? Take notes and keep us posted!

Sure will. I don't really care much if the windsor gets out populated after the first 24 hrs. I'm just hoping that it will poop out more estery goodness than the s05 can clean up at the end of fermentation. I'll keep this thread posted on my results in 3-4 weeks.

I brewed this yesterday and pitched 2 packets of s05 and 1 packet of windsor and 10 hrs later it seems to be happily fermenting away. I'll post the recipe now and a full taste test when it gets kegged.

Black IPA
American IPA


Type: All Grain
Date: 2/18/2011
Batch Size: 11.50 gal
Brewer: Ben
Boil Size: 15.60 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 120 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
17.18 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 67.93 %
3.82 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 15.10 %
1.91 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 7.55 %
0.95 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.77 %
0.73 lb Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.89 %
0.70 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.77 %
27.75 gm Simcoe [12.20 %] (120 min) Hops 17.8 IBU
27.75 gm Cascade [7.50 %] (120 min) Hops 12.2 IBU
55.20 gm Amarillo Gold [10.70 %] (20 min) Hops 17.3 IBU
55.20 gm Cascade [7.50 %] (20 min) Hops 13.5 IBU
14.10 gm Simcoe [12.20 %] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
14.00 gm Amarillo Gold [10.70 %] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Windsor Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale
2 Pkgs SafBrew Ale (DCL Yeast #S-33) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.22 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.00 %
Bitterness: 63.9 IBU Calories: 279 cal/pint
Est Color: 27.5 SRM Color: Color

So I've finally tapped a keg of this and it appears that the windsor yeast didn't contribute any esters at all. I think that the S-05 probably cleaned up all the esters that the windsor produced. It is a very clean beer, but not what I was hoping for. I fermented this at 66-68F(temp controller can't keep it exact) for 5 weeks, then transfered to keg and carbed for 10 days before pulling a pint. The FG ended up at 1.010, which surprised me. I doughed in at 150F but the temp rose to 155F by the end of the 75min mash.

Interesting experiment, thanks for sharing. I wouldn't have expected such "clean" results from the blend. It's possible that some esters were lost among the 64 IBUs, but I'll take your word for it that the beer profile is "clean." 3 pkts of dry yeast in an 11 gallon batch of 1.063 is a little more than what is required according to mrmalty, which calculates 2.3 packets. Overpitching *might* have contributed to reduced esters, as well as the fact that the windsor yeast was outnumbered 2 to 1. One packet of each might have produced the results you wanted; then again, it might have been just as "clean" or even worse ended up under-attenuated. Again, thanks for the updated results.

I did a wit bier with WLP400 and Notty. Turned out really good!