Multiple Yeasts: Wyeast Kolsch+ Coopers kit

[Incoerenza86]

Hi All,

As many of us I had problems with the Wyeast Activator bag: I let it swell for several hours and I thought I would have broken the nutrition sachet.
When I have opened the bag the sachet was intact, therefore I decided (led by misunderstanding also) to pitch the yeast only without the nutrition and decided to add also the Coopers yeast from the kit.

Now, the temperature is under control and how it should be, and today (just few hours away of the brewing day) I checked the fermentation bucket lid and started to "grow".

I looked around here and apparently there is no problem in adding multiple yeasts to a batch (maximum can happen is some delays in fermentation but wouldn`t be a problem as I plan to let it sit for more than the regular 3 weeks)

Do you believe I would incur in some problems or would be ok? Thanks

 

[Incoerenza86]

Submitting a reply as i left this page open and got problem opening the thread again. Thanks.

 

[unionrdr]

I've had smack packs with more than one nutrient packet inside. Only one broke,so I opened the others & poured them in as well. But the packets did swell up from the one that did break. Yours should be fine with te Cooper's yeast added to it. Just expect some fruity esters from the Cooper's yeast. It's an english derived yeast,so fruity esters are common in some styles that used to be shipped to Australia from England during colonial times. So there brewing stuff is influenced by that.

 

[solbes]

Hmm, well a couple things. First it will make beer, and probably decent/good beer. The problem is you have no idea which strain will become the dominant strain so the end result is a bit of a wildcard. Difficult to say if you should be fermenting in the low/mid 60's for the Coopers or the high 50's for the Kolsch yeast.

Breaking the nutrient pack is a good thing, but I generally don't rely on them too much. You should make yeast starters for 80% of batches made with liquid yeast, as the quality of your brew will improve with higher yeast counts. Especially with a Kolsch, you want a nice healty yeast pitch to ferment in the high 50's (if using the WY strain, low 60's for the WLP strain). If I am fermenting a low gravity beer like a wheat or bitter, sometimes I will skip making a yeast starter (OG less than 1.042 or so).

 

[unionrdr]

The WL029 kolsh yeast strain I used is best between 64-69F. Works great in that range for lager-like flavors.

 

[Incoerenza86]

Thanks both guys, great feedback.