Dueling Yeasts

[EinGutesBier]

Recently, I've been toying with an idea for my next batch. Here's what I'm thinking: I harvest the yeast from my current batch, feed it and keep it going, then use it for my next batch either as a supplemental yeast. Pretty much when it's pitching time, my brand new yeast that I'd order for that batch would go in, but then, maybe after the krausen dies down, I'd pitch my harvested yeast. Either that, or I'd pitch it at a better time. Some of the questions I've got are:

How would this affect the fermentation as a whole? Would there be a taste difference as a result of the 2nd yeast's characteristics? How would attenuation be affected? And would one yeast cannibalize the other? Also, has anyone else done this before?

 

[Donasay]

I have actually pitched 2 different types of dry yeast into the same fermenter before. It is hard to tell if one dominated or if they both did their own thing seperately. I have heard of several people on here racking their beer into secondary letting it clear, and then pitching a different variety of yeast at bottling time, you might want to give that a try.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

There are plenty of yeast blends out there, so mixing yeast isn't entirely uncommon. For that matter, many people pitch dry yeast as an emergency method to try and restart a stuck fermentation. If you pitch two yeasts in similar quantities, you'll probably get characteristics of both of them.

But the question is, what are you trying to achieve? Are you using two yeasts because you want characteristics of both, or are you just trying it as a science experiment?

 

[HBDrinker008]

I unless it is a very big beer, pitching the second yeast when the krausen goes down probably wont have much affect. Fermentation is probably done at that point and there most likely aren't any sugars left for the second crew. If its a big beer and the first yeast can't finish then it may be a good idea but otherwise i dont think pitching at that time will do any good.

 

[david_42]

If you are trying to get flavors from both yeasts, you should pitch them together. Otherwise, the first yeast gets all of the goodies. The exception would be if the second yeast has a higher attenuation, but even then it wouldn't add much, just make the beer drier.

 

[TexLaw]

Pitching more than one s. cerevisiae strain simultaneously is, at best, unpredictable and depends on the characteristics, health, and pitching rates of each yeast. If you want to play around with multiple strains, but you want results you can replicate or adjust, split your batch and pitch separately. That way, you can control the influence of each strain by controlling your split volumes.


TL

 

[count barleywine]

My two crosses were whitelabs East Coast ale with WL California ale, great strong ale but they are pretty nuetral strains. Five days ago I did ten gallons of German Hef, but the LHBS only had one tube of WL Ger. Hef, so I also pitched a tube of WL Belgian wit along with it. No sample yet but I can't wait to taste the results.

 

[EinGutesBier]

To answer some earlier questions, this is sort of a science experiment. But it's also based on tried and true brewing. The way I see it, there's two scenarios:

1.) I add the fresh yeast and the harvested yeast at the same time and the fresh yeast takes the lead while the harvested yeast, due to being "weaker" from the previous fermentation, will be more subdued.

2.) I add the fresh yeast for the initial fermentation and add a fruit slurry, possibly with candi sugar, after the krausen recedes and with that I add my harvested yeast, giving both yeasts an equal chance at "the taste spotlight."

 

[EinGutesBier]

To answer some earlier questions, this is sort of a science experiment. But it's also based on tried and true brewing. The way I see it, there's two scenarios:

1.) I add the fresh yeast and the harvested yeast at the same time and the fresh yeast takes the lead while the harvested yeast, due to being "weaker" from the previous fermentation, will be more subdued.

2.) I add the fresh yeast for the initial fermentation and add a fruit slurry, possibly with candi sugar, after the krausen recedes and with that I add my harvested yeast, giving both yeasts an equal chance at "the taste spotlight."

Does anyone have an experience with this that would give me insight regarding the likely income between #1 and #2? Thanks!