Using 2 different yeasts in an IPA?

[stretcheagle]

Hi all, I'm working on my perfect IPA and trying to figure out if this is a good idea:

I like fruity IPA's and don't mind them a little sweet, so I would like to hit a final gravity around 1.018 or 1.019. To get the fruity, esthery profile I want, I want to use Windsor yeast. But to get the ABV I want (6.5-7%), I don't think Windsor is going to attenuate enough to get me there. I figure OG needs to be around 1.065 to 1.070.

So I was thinking maybe I should pitch some Windsor to start fermentation, and a week later or so (once it looks like the Windsor is pretty much done), throw in some US-05 to bring the gravity down further without affecting flavor too much. Is this a crazy idea? Anyone ever done this before? My recipe is below. Another relevant factor is that I don't have good temperature control for fermentation, so it will probably be around 72-74F.

Fermentables
7 lbs golden light DME
0.5 lbs wheat dme
1 lb Munich (will partial mash)
0.25 lb Crystal 80L

Hops
1 oz Chinook 60 min
1.5 oz Centennial 15 min
1 oz Goldings and 1.5 oz Falconer's Flight 0 min
Dry Hop with 1.5 oz each of Goldings and Falconers Flight


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[shtoive87]

I would guess the us-05 would attenuate it further than you want. You really think Windsor won't get to 1.019? That's about 71% from 1.065 and a quick search shows that Windsor can get up that high. I say try out a 1-gal batch and see what happens!


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[stretcheagle]

Yeah it might... I am more concerned about it altering the flavor than ABV going too low. I've always thought of US-05 as a pretty neutral yeast. Maybe I'll just use Windsor for now and see how far that gets me.


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