Two different strains of yeast

Hi all,
I recently made an old ale, and it all went well, but after 24 hours yeast was still not even beginning to take off, so I pitched 2tsp of a different beer yeast and after that it got going nicely (but it could be either or both of the yeast strains)
I just wondered, If the first yeast got going now, what would be the effect of two different strains fermenting together?
I'm not too worried about the beer I was just curious about the effect

Like most questions asked in brewing, the answer is usually,"it depends".

What were the two types of yeast strains? Each yeast strain will have different characteristics in flavor and they will attenuate differently. Fermentation temperature can have an effect as well.

I recently did a IPA where I used White Labs Cal Ale and Cal V, the two strrains are similar, it's just one is very dry and crisp finish and the other a little more friuty esters. It really creates a little more complexity.

Remember to not to get "Brewers Panic Disease". There is always a lag time with yeast. You just have to be patient.

Eastside........

There's a BasicBrewingRadio episode about mixing yeasts. Go to basicbrewing.com to listen.

24 hours is too soon to worry about yeast. 72 hours is when you should "worry" and pitch more.

24-36 hours is average lag time, espeically if no starter was made for liquid yeast, or if dry yeast wasn't rehydrated, was old, was pitched at an off temperature, etc.

http://consumer.lallemand.com/danstar-lalvin/winefaq.html

The second and last statements explain how mixtures of yeast interact, and why it is a bad idea, scientifically?

Hi and thanks for all your responses

Hmm yeah I think I worried too much because normally the fermentation is going like mad after that time (but then my room isnt normally this damn cold - where I live the dont switch on the heating untill october).

The link was interesting, I'll see if I can taste anything different in the beer (I've made it a few times before), from what it sain it seems the worst that could happen is one strain is killed or weakened, which shouldnt be too disatrous if there's another healthy strain still working.

I think I frequently suffer from "Brewers Panic Disease", it stems from the heartbreaking experience of having to pour away 5 gallons of best bitter.

Chris

I think I frequently suffer from "Brewers Panic Disease", it stems from the heartbreaking experience of having to pour away 5 gallons of best bitter.

Chris

Click to expand...

You'd do well to abandon that disease and replace it with amnesia. I started making much better beer after having to pour out 5 gallons of Pale Ale. I learned from it and then never looked back. I wrote down everything I could've done wrong and then narrowed it down and fixed things. Don't panic man, hobbies are for fun!

whenever you start to worry, stop and have a homebrew.

Update: As far as I recognise the two different yeasts, they're both working on it at the moment

yea ,by the time you picthed the second yeast ,the first was probably just starting to get after it ,lol ,allways look for a little white patch of foam right in the center of the brew ,you may not think its nothing but its the ferment just getting started ,it will grow from the size of a dime to the size of a fifty cent piece ,in little more than two hours ,if that happens dont mess with it ...itll go ,bull