Mixing Yeast Strains

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TheWeeb

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So there I was, my fourth brew last night, a kit from Midwest "Bourbon Black Ale" which I could not leave alone. I added another pound of DME to the already 10 pounds of LME and two pounds of steeping grains. When all was ready for the yeast, I took a reading and found my OG was up at 1.080. The kit came with one vial of WLP002 which was really close to the expry date of July 10. I got scared that the one vial could not eat through so much sugar so I added a dry packet of Coopers which is all I had on hand. Fermentation started within 12 hours and from a bubbly standpoint it is chugging away.

Will this adversely affect the ale? If so, is there anything I can do about it?

Six weeks since taking this up, fun as hell, and this forum has been a godsend. I Know from previous "crises" that I should just relax and let it do its thing, but if I can do a correction on this I would like to. This particular one will be racked off to a carboy and sit with Wild Turkey soaked burned oak cubes for six months!

Thanks in advance for your most awesome support ...:mug:
John
 
The WLP002 is a very malt-forward yeast. The dry coopers is probably a very generic, clean yeast. If anything, your beer will be less malt forward than if only using the 002.
 
ahh, that makes sense, thanks. Unfortunately, I do want a good malt hit on this one. I looked at fermentation temps and the WL002 is optimized at 66-68, Cooper at 62-72 so there is no way I can try and "favor" the White Labs by using fermentation temp. I guess I can only hope that the ale-specific yeast is stronger and hungrier . . .
 
Next time you might try using a starter to increase that yeast population for high gravity beers
 
Yeast does play a huge role in flavors but I think the affects of using coopers in addition to WL will be negligible. You’ve got a lot a malty base with all the LME/DME, 2 pounds of steeping grains, and wild turkey soaked oak chips.

+1 on starters, especially for those 1.080 OG’s.
 
Thanks! Doing starters is on my list to learn. I just put together the ingredients for an Oktoberfest as I want to do a lager; might be a good time to give this a try. I am shooting for the bottled version of the Pauliner Oktoberfest Marzen which comes in at 7+ ABV. It is nothing like the o'fest they serve up at the tent; the export version is dark amber and really huge on wonderfullly sweet malt. So, time to research starters... this will be my first time venturing into not only lagers but non-kit as well. Baby steps!
 
Youll be fine with those 2 strains. They are both very "neutral tasting" strains. But in the future definitely make a starter! It takes hardly any time and make a huge difference in the quality of beer.
 
i disagree that coopers is "neutral" ... when i first started i used coopers a lot because thats what the kits came with... they all had the same "off flavor", i changed the yeast and the flavor was instantly gone. In my opinion coopers yeast has a very obvious taste (one that I believe doesnt make for good beer)... also I have friends who have made the same kits "the brewhouse" and one used coopers and the other safale us05... what an amazing difference it makes! my advise based on personal experience is -- never use coopers yeast, but thats just me.
 
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