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starlifter737 · 04-04-2008, 08:10 PM

Has anyone experimented with using two yeast strains? I won't do it as my first all grain try but I was thinking of eventually doing a wheat beer but using both the american yeast and the german yeast to get a result somewhere in the middle.

Thoughts???

Evan! · 04-04-2008, 08:34 PM

I once mixed lager, ale and hefe into one batch. It worked out fine. Made a ginger winter warmer with it. I'm not sure if you'll get "somewhere in the middle", though, because often it's "survival of the fittest", and one yeast will get started earlier than the other(s), and will dominate through fermentation. But it's worth a try.

Danek · 04-04-2008, 08:58 PM

I had a friend try it, and as Evan says, one yeast kicked the other's ass, so it was indistinguishable from a single-strain batch. Maybe you could add the stronger yeast after a day or so? I guess you'd need a decent sized starter to help it overcome the superior weight of numbers of the lesser yeast. Whether you'd get a pleasant combination of the two, or whether it'd just be an odd beer, I don't know.

Actually, a better alternative would be to split the batch entirely and ferment each half with one yeast, and then blend them at bottling time. That'd allow you greater control over the outcome, as each yeast would be able to express its qualities in full.

starlifter737 · 04-04-2008, 11:54 PM

Split the batch. I like that. I just guessed that it would be an even race but one would win over and overwhelm the other. Plus there would be no way to replicate it.

thanks

solidghost · 04-05-2008, 01:44 AM

Would it be better to make two different batches of beer with the two different yeast strains and then mix them before bottling/kegging?