Mixed yeast question

Okay, so I decided just for my own curiosity to experiment with Nottingham and S-05. I brewed an ale with Maris, a little Munich and Aromatic, zythos and glacier for flavor and magnum to bitter. Split the batch into 3 and pitched the 2 yeasts separate and one batch with mixed yeasts. Fermented at 67 for 3 weeks bottled and conditioned for 3.

So, both ales came out extremely different. The S-05 was IMO hoppier and more bitter with a clean sharp bite but the Nottingham was smoother, seemed less bitter and was maltier. Then came the mixed yeast batch. It was wonderful, had what seemed to be the best of both characters more balanced and smooth.

My question is, is this possible? Can you mix a yeast like this and get 2 favors? I am no yeast expert and I have never tried Nottingham. I am going to definitely put in on my list though and I am really wondering if this mixed yeast was just a fluke or could it be reproduced?

The consensus seems to be that one yeast strain will come to dominate, but it seems like that wasn't your experience. As to whether it can be reproduced, I'd say try to reproduce it and see what results you get. Make sure to match the original conditions as much as possible. If you get the same results, maybe then you can start adjusting things if you want to identify whether those exact conditions are necessary or not. Scientific method! :rockin:

That said, I am a newb, so what do I know...

Tenspeed said:

The consensus seems to be that one yeast strain will come to dominate

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It's funny, that seems to be what most people say but in the book Yeast by Jamil and Chris White they argue differently. It's actually page 56 (I felt the need to reference this and make sure I wasn't remembering incorrectly) and they say that in the wild many yeasts compete against one another and some have kill factors and will dominate others but brewer's yeast doesn't work this way. Brewer's yeast though is different, perhaps because it's been controlled in a lab for so long that they will not compete against one another.

They also talk about pitching yeasts at different points in the fermentation process. For example, if you wanted Nottingham's flavor you would pitch that first and wait two to three day and then pitch the US-05 to chew through the more complex sugars and get the attenuation that it is known for. Adding both at once will add characteristics from each yeast and create a more complex taste profile.

This is all the book speaking, I have never actually mixed yeast but these guys seem to know what they are talking about.

inhousebrew said:

It's funny, that seems to be what most people say but in the book Yeast by Jamil and Chris White they argue differently. It's actually page 56 (I felt the need to reference this and make sure I wasn't remembering incorrectly) and they say that in the wild many yeasts compete against one another and some have kill factors and will dominate others but brewer's yeast doesn't work this way. Brewer's yeast though is different, perhaps because it's been controlled in a lab for so long that they will not compete against one another.

They also talk about pitching yeasts at different points in the fermentation process. For example, if you wanted Nottingham's flavor you would pitch that first and wait two to three day and then pitch the US-05 to chew through the more complex sugars and get the attenuation that it is known for. Adding both at once will add characteristics from each yeast and create a more complex taste profile.

This is all the book speaking, I have never actually mixed yeast but these guys seem to know what they are talking about.

Click to expand...

I don't have that but I will definitely see if I can get a copy. I also tried to make sure that I wasn't imagining it since I bottled these all in the same size shape bottle and asked wife to mix them up. Popped the top and picked out the favors of the the 2 separate ones as well as the mixed one. I have read probably 50 articles and a lot of conflicting info about it so I think I just got more confused the more I read. I did however want to try this again with a smaller batch and see if i get the same results.

Yeast can be confusing and I just skimmed over a lot of that book and read the parts that I found interesting. It would be interesting to see if you can repeat the results.

I like Notty...