Opinions on blending yeasts...

Long story short*, I wanted to make two batches with the same yeast, but had to get two different strains, WLP001 and WLP051.

I'm thinking about blending these for my brew day tomorrow, and wondering what you all think.

Got two separate starters going now. Should I blend now? Or wait until right before I pitch? Or is this a bad decision all together?




*the long story is: I'm making two Single Hop IPA's with the exact same grain bill, just different hops in each. Obviously using two different yeasts will effect the final flavor. I started with a couple of old 001's I had in the fridge that I rinsed from a previous batch, and I knew they might not be viable. Sure enough, after a day and a half, nothing happening, so off I go to the LHBS for some dry yeast. No dry yeast that I want to use, and very limited on their liquid yeasts. So I decided to get two different strains.

I've blended two different in a batch. I didn't mix them before pitching though...just added one after the other....result was fine.

I blend yeasts occasionally with no problems at all. I keep them separate until pitch time but I'm not sure if it matters when the blending occurs.

I did this 5 times. I actually split the batch and ferment seperately. I combined them in a secondary and let them mix for a week while I dryhopped. Not sure how they would mix if you just went from primary to bottling bucket.

I REALLY enjoyed experimenting with blending to get different flavor profiles, but it can get to be too much if you start considering 3-4 different yeasts.

Not necessarily a bad decision, just one with an unknown result. If you are comfortable with either yeast and the beers that each would produce individually, I would blend them before adding to the fermenters. You won't know (unless you have a lab or have a lot of experience with the two strains) which strain will grow its population faster, have a more active fermentation, and ultimately end up providing the dominant flavor to the finished beers. In fact, it could differ in each beer. I don't know if you should use this experiment to compare the two beers as the yeast activity could differ pretty greatly in each beer.

But, as I mentioned before, if you are a fan of both yeasts and don't care what direction the beers go in, blend and pitch away sir.

I prefer to blend mine prior to pitching on the plate.

I've only blended with dry yeast. Did a imperial white ale with a blend of Nottingham and WB-06. It was good!