British Ale, Hefe, Lager Yeasts in One Beer...

I brewed the Honey-Ginger Winter Warmer on Friday. 1.095 OG. I oxygenated the cooled wort before pitching. I made a starter, too, which susbequently had its own blowoff, and ka-sploded all over the shower...:rockin:

Anyway, even after the blowoff, there was still plenty of viable yeasties, and fermentation started quickly. Thing is, the yeast was a wacko blend of German Hefe, British Ale, and Bavarian Lager strains, from a local brewpub. Fermentation is very vigorous right now. I shined a flashlight at the carboy, and you can see particles rising from the bottom (lager) and falling from the top (ale), so that the whole thing is swirling around. Pretty cool...I've never used ale and lager strains simultaneously before.

Anyway, I'm wondering: should I treat it like an ale, or a lager? I'm thinking of just aging it at colder temps (basement temps, low 60s, high 50s), and then the worst thing that happens is that I get a little bit of fruity esters from the lager, but I doubt it'll matter too much, given how high the gravity is, and the fact that there is a ton of ginger and other spice in there too. Thoughts?

Alright, I've never brewed a lager before so this is just my 2 pence based on book knowledge. Personally I'd treat it more like an ale. The ale yeast will ferment happily at the warmer temps and the lager yeast will too (maybe try to keep the temp in the lower 60s). If you keep it too cold the ale yeast might go into hibernation which defeats the pupose of them being there (right?). I'm sure one of the more experienced folks will have better advice but Ithought I'd throw it out there.

I'd try to keep things on the cooler side. Warm lager yeast will get stressed and produce off-flavors, whereas cool ale yeast will be slow but ferment fairly cleanly. More harm can come from too hot than too cold in this case.

I'm curious as to what the hefe yeast in there will make the end result taste like. Please report back when it's done.

Chairman Cheyco said:

I'd try to keep things on the cooler side. Warm lager yeast will get stressed and produce off-flavors, whereas cool ale yeast will be slow but ferment fairly cleanly. More harm can come from too hot than too cold in this case.

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I second Chairman's post completely. Ale yeast will produce no off flavors when cool, but will ferment more slowly. Lager yeast may produce some f'd up flavors when warmer, but will be at its ideal when cooler.

Ferment at a cooler range (low 60's, upper 50's--would be a good compromise).

Biermann said:

I second Chairman's post completely. Ale yeast will produce no off flavors when cool, but will ferment more slowly. Lager yeast may produce some f'd up flavors when warmer, but will be at its ideal when cooler.

Ferment at a cooler range (low 60's, upper 50's--would be a good compromise).

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As it turns out, that's about the temp of my basement right now, which is where she's fermenting. So I guess I'm where I need to be. Thanks for the advice. I'll report back when I have a chance to taste. As of this morning, fermentation is still vigorous---better than 1 airlock bubble per second.

Won't this be like a race? Again, temperature dependent, but if the ale yeast takes off first, won't it deplete the available fermentable sugar in the brew leaving the lager yeast in there which will die and then sulfur flavor will be sure to be pronounced? Autolysis???

Given that I don't plan on leaving it in primary for a long enough time for that to happen, I'm not worried about it. As I understand it, Autolysis takes a long time to begin injecting off flavors in your beer. Perhaps if I were to leave the beer in primary for 2 months, then I'd worry...but I figure a week, maybe ten days, before I rack to secondary.

Ol' Grog said:

Won't this be like a race? Again, temperature dependent, but if the ale yeast takes off first, won't it deplete the available fermentable sugar in the brew leaving the lager yeast in there which will die and then sulfur flavor will be sure to be pronounced? Autolysis???

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Yeah the strains will be in competition, but they don't kill each other directly, if that's what you mean. Noticable flavors from autolysis take months to develop if kept in the low 60's and the yeast is healthy i.e from a starter, which it is.

That sounds like a really neat blend of yeasties. Do report back on the tastings!

chillHayze said:

Yeah the strains will be in competition, but they don't kill each other directly, if that's what you mean. Noticable flavors from autolysis take months to develop if kept in the low 60's and the yeast is healthy i.e from a starter, which it is.

That sounds like a really neat blend of yeasties. Do report back on the tastings!

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Will do. I'm excited about this batch...

Also, while on the subject of yeasties, I HIGHLY reccommend the Wyeast Belgian Abbey Ale. Probably the best I've used so far.