I am going to brew an india brown ale, I have a packet of nothingham dry yeast as well as a 1028 london activator pack. My question/choices are : can I pitch them at them same time, or should I not mix them, or.... once my liquid yeast has had a chance do it's work pitch the dry yeast(hydrated). I plan on a starter for the liquid yeast but just want to make sure I get the best fermentation possible.
Noobie? Can I pitch dry and liquid yeast at same time?
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JesseRC
Well-Known Member
I know nothing about yeast, but I can tell you that I have done it in the past and saw no issues. My only concern, which is just theory in my head, is that you might not get the full benefit of the activator pack if the dry yeast takes over. But that's pretty hard to prove. To get full benefit of the activator pack , you probably need to make a starter and not pitch the dry yeast.
But as to your question, I dont see a problem and the beer should turn out good. If you dont necessarily care about the specific flavors produced by the activator pack, you might save it for use on your next brew and just use the dry yeast on the brown ale. That will give you some time to create a starter next time.
But as to your question, I dont see a problem and the beer should turn out good. If you dont necessarily care about the specific flavors produced by the activator pack, you might save it for use on your next brew and just use the dry yeast on the brown ale. That will give you some time to create a starter next time.
Why do you think you need to mix yeast? There's really no reason. If you plan on making a starter for your liquid, then make a big enough starter.
You can use the mr malty pitch rate calculator t know how big of a starter you need. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
Just plan ahead and amke a big enough starter to fit your needs.
You can use the mr malty pitch rate calculator t know how big of a starter you need. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
Just plan ahead and amke a big enough starter to fit your needs.
Thank you for the replies, I think I am going to save the dry yeast for my next brew day and focus on a good starter, I think in the back of my mind I was worried my starter would not be adequate or work out well. Off to MrMalty...
You have noobitus, a common occurance on here. It's the tendency to stress out needlessly about your beer, and to NOT give the yeast the props that they deserve. 
They have been doing this for millions of years, so they are the pros.
Making a starter first insures that your yeast is still ALIVE and viable before you dump it in your beer. You will be less likely to start one of those "is my yeast dead?" threads that are on here every day.
You will also ensure that you have enough yeast usually the tubes and smack packs are a lot less yeast that you really should use for healthy fermentation.
Making a starter also usually means your beer will take off sooner, because the first thing that the little buggers do in the presence of wort (whether in a flask or in a fermenter) is have an orgy to reproduce enough cells to do the job...So it won't take such a long time in the fermenter since they started doing it in the flask.
Additionally it is better for the yeast to consume and reproduce incrementally rather than just dumping them into the fermenter...The yeast will be less stressed out than if you just dump them in.
Stressed out yeast can lead to a lot of off flavors...maybe even (though rare) the dreaded autolysis....Or the curse of 1.030....getting a stuck fermentation because the yeast have bit the dust.
So making a starter proves your yeast is still healthy, allows you to grow enough yeast to do the job, cuts down on lag time, and ensures that you will not get off flavors or stuck ferementations from stressed out yeast.
They have been doing this for millions of years, so they are the pros.
Making a starter first insures that your yeast is still ALIVE and viable before you dump it in your beer. You will be less likely to start one of those "is my yeast dead?" threads that are on here every day.
You will also ensure that you have enough yeast usually the tubes and smack packs are a lot less yeast that you really should use for healthy fermentation.
Making a starter also usually means your beer will take off sooner, because the first thing that the little buggers do in the presence of wort (whether in a flask or in a fermenter) is have an orgy to reproduce enough cells to do the job...So it won't take such a long time in the fermenter since they started doing it in the flask.
Additionally it is better for the yeast to consume and reproduce incrementally rather than just dumping them into the fermenter...The yeast will be less stressed out than if you just dump them in.
Stressed out yeast can lead to a lot of off flavors...maybe even (though rare) the dreaded autolysis....Or the curse of 1.030....getting a stuck fermentation because the yeast have bit the dust.
So making a starter proves your yeast is still healthy, allows you to grow enough yeast to do the job, cuts down on lag time, and ensures that you will not get off flavors or stuck ferementations from stressed out yeast.
