Yeast cake and smack pack mix?

I have an AHS Holiday Ale about a week away from racking, and I bought a Williams Holiday Ale yeasterday to make both and compare. The AHS kit came with the White Labs test tube yeast and worked really well. I did not make a starter and there was active blow off in the tube within 16 hours on my 5 gallon batch. The Williams kit comes with the smack pack yeast. Since I will be racking the first kit at the same time I am making the second kit - is there any harm or negatives to adding a cup of the slurry to the wort when I pitch the smack pack? Or, am I better off just storing the smack pack and re-using the yeast slurry from the AHS kit?

Also - when re-using the slurry - what is the standard pitching rate for 5 gallons?

Also, also - what is the best way to store those smack packs, and how long do they last stored?

Dan

the problem is yor not going to know which yeast is dominant. If you want to replicate your brew again its going to be difficult to know how. Stick with one. I store my smack packs in the fridge for multiple months. So far they have been slow to start on me so i would STILL make a starter. For the yeast cake you want to pitch around 1/4 of it.

edit: What yeasts are the two that you will be using. Not all yeasts are interchangable

My names Dan too:rockin:

scinerd3000 said:

edit: What yeasts are the two that you will be using. Not all yeasts are interchangable

My names Dan too:rockin:

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The AHS is the Whaite Labs California Ale and the William's website does not list the yeast type.

DD2000GT said:

The AHS is the Whaite Labs California Ale and the William's website does not list the yeast type.

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IIRC, Williams uses private label WYEAST products.

what types of beer are they, that may shed light on the types of yeast needed.

knarfks said:

what types of beer are they, that may shed light on the types of yeast needed.

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They are both listed as "Holiday Ales". My best bet would be a mild brown ale...