Barleywine with Wyeast 9097-PC -- more packs v. starter?

Hey all, I am planning on making an English barleywine with Wyeast 9097-PC. Because this a huge beer (1.110 or so), I want to have plenty of yeast on hand. However, because of 9097 has Brett, I understand the ratio of Sacch/Brett will be thrown off since Sacch propagates very quickly in a starter environment and Brett does not.

Soooo, would it make sense to just get more packs of 9097 to keep the same ratio, or does it not make much difference? I've read threads on mixed strains before that recommend against using a starter for this exact reason.

Thanks for any input!

Make a starter. It doesn't have lacto or pedio so it doesn't need a proper balance. Brett will kick in after the sacc and it doesn't require much to do the job. Someone emailed wyeast about this very question and talked about it in the 11-11-11 thread. Wyeast said to make a starter with 9097

Interesting. I assume it wouldn't hurt, though, to throw an extra packet or two? (One other consideration is I might not have time to make a starter.)

Did you end up using a starter? I just brewed up a barleywine and the og ended up at 1.115. I did around a 1200 ml starter with two packs. Tasted the starter and the cherry flavor was very unique as I didn't expect it to be there. Can't wait to see how this yeast does with a full batch.

As suspected, I had no time to make the starter. (Was on a trip beforehand and only had the one day to brew for several weeks.) Instead, I pitched six packs. So far, the malt character is quite nice, but the hops/bitterness are overpowering right now and it's hard to get a feel for what the end product will be. I like what I taste so far, though.

Sweet jeebus 6 packs of yeast? Don't you have better things to waste money on??

I'd agree with the jeebus on the six packs. As I said earlier my og was 1.115 and without a strater the suggested pitch total was 4 packs.

I would have gone with a single pack and let it work slowly. You are going to get some strange flavors in there with the Brett anyway.

Dam, someone has way too much play money!

I bought two packets and plan on making a barleywine of some sort to throw my second pack in. I might also wash the primary yeast for potential future use. Maybe I'll do a RIS at like 1.090 with the yeast for fun.

that beer is gonna require some aging to get the whole brett effect. I would have gone for the starter as well especially at 6 bucks a pack. The nice thing is that after pitching 6 packs your gonna have a nice big cake. Your gonna definatly want to wash that cake and save as much of it as possible for future since its a limited release yeast but also since you spent 30 plus dollars just on yeast alone