Pitch purchased yeast with harvested starter?

[Sensei_Oberon]

I'm getting ready to make a Two Hearted Ale clone. I made a starter with TH yeast then decanted and put the little guys in a jar (with no headspace), and refrigerated.

This week I pulled the jar out and cranked up another starter with it. I've since stepped it up again and it's looking good still, with solid krausen and no funky smells.

My problem is I want a super big starter, and I still don't have that, in my estimation. This yeast is getting pretty old though and has no doubt been stressed by now, so I don't want to wait much longer to pitch it.

So what are your thoughts on adding a store-bought yeast too (strain TBD) to make sure I don't underpitch? I'm hoping I'll still get the delicious TH taste with native yeast, but the additional yeast will make sure everything ferments as needed. OR, it could screw everything up!

Thank you HBT nation

 

[USMCYoder]

As long as you pick another yeast that will compliment the first yeast, you shouldn't have a problem. I did a couple batches with two different yeast and had no problems. I am actually getting ready to do a witbier with some harvested yeast and a store bought yeast for two similar characteristics, but in hopes they both add different notes to the beer, on top of the worry about the harvested yeast like you have.

Just watch is closely. You should have both yeasts on a starter together prior to adding it to the beer if you are adding them together. This will make sure nothing will go wrong, and give you an idea of what to expect.

 

[TipsyDragon]

yest only become "old" if you don't feed them and let them sit. if you make a starter with them you get plenty of "new" yeast cells. as far as being stressed i dought it unless you have been doing something strange with the starter you haven't mentioned.

adding more yeast is up to you. one strain or the other will become the dominant strain in the brew and you will get most of its characteristics with maybe a hint of the other's

 

[Sensei_Oberon]

So as long as the yeast is in active fermentation it should remain healthy? Thereby theoretically I could keep feeding it a little until I have the starter size I want and/or am ready to brew and pitch?

And how do you measure yeast count other than gauging the size of the cake? Right now I have about 1/2" on the bottom of a 1000 ml flask. Thanks guys.

 

[USMCYoder]

And how do you measure yeast count other than gauging the size of the cake? Right now I have about 1/2" on the bottom of a 1000 ml flask. Thanks guys.

Unless you have the tools to count the yeast, you can only get a rough estimate by using the Mr. Malty calculator. That will give you some idea of yeast depending on the size of the cake.