Pitched 2 different yeasts by accident, 1 ale, 1 lager. How to ferment??

[fastengine]

I brewed a SMASH beer with lemon drop hops and pale ale malt a few days ago and pitched a pack of Mangrove Jack M44 ale yeast when cooled. 2days later with no airlock activity I grabbed my last pack of yeast and pitched a second pack, reading here that the Mangrove Jack sometimes needs 2packs to get going. After pitching I looked at the pack and was sent M84 lager yeast by mistake. Packs look identical except for the part numbers and ferment temps listed. My question is should I ferment this like an ale or find a cooler place and treat like a lager? My thought is to drop the temp and let the ale yeast go dormant and the lager yeast will do its thing. My problem is I don't have a good place to lager or cool ferment at this time. I don't know what impact the lager yeast will have if I let it work at ale temps. off flavors. etc..I have a garage I can put the fermenter in that I keep at 50 unless I am working in it but there isn't a place I can put it that the temps will be consistent. They will fluctuate at least 8-10degrees as the heat kicks off and on. Any ideas, opinions or suggestions appreciated.

 

[BruceH]

You could wrap it in a blanket to minimize the temp changes. If the garage is attached you should see more consistent temps closer to the door that goes into the house.

 

[mongoose33]

Lager yeasts will ferment just fine at the warmer ale temps--but they likely will express flavors that you don't get at the colder temps.

A California Common is fermented with lager yeast, but it's at ale temps. It produces a specific flavor that is part of what makes a CC a CC.

I had a similar issue as you a couple months back--a bad package of yeast, and I tossed in a package of 34/70 when I wasn't getting any response. I fermented it in the middle 60s (my notes aren't handy for the exact temps), and it produced a final product which....wasn't bad. Not exactly a CC, and it's unclear if the original yeast eventually contributed. I tend not to drink beer that I don't "hit" so I gave it to a friend, whose wife and he and family friends all sucked it right up.

So--it'll work at the warmer temps. If you're getting nothing out of the ale yeast, just dropping it to lager temps will let that work, though how well the recipe responds is a different issue.

*****

I'm laughing with you on the "didn't read the label thing." You wouldn't think you'd have to. Surprised MJ doesn't have more differences on their labels to avoid this very issue.

Anyway, I brewed a few months ago, grabbed a pack of liquid yeast from my refrigerator, and the expiration was November 18. I had a few months to go before that, so I was fine. Or so I thought.

Until after no activity for 36 hours, I pulled out the package to examine it. The date wasn't a best-by date; it was a manufacturing date, and that date was November of 2018. BTW, that's the brew that gave me the information above.

I keep learning lessons like this. Every time I learn from a mistake I figure I get smarter. Must be approaching genius status by now.

 

[Pennine]

My only batch of M84 was fermented warm. It is awful estery sulfur mess. I would recommend colder.

Also always rehydrate MJ's, almost every type is horribly slow going when dry pitched. Makes me wonder why?

 

[fastengine]

Well, the ferment started rolling yesterday and was going strong last night so I put the carboy in the coldest room in my house. Normally in the winter that room is constant at 49-52 degrees but the not so normal winter (too warm) and the brew is sitting at 61 on the temp strip on the glass carboy. My garage is not attached and I work out of it a lot so I do need to turn up the heat often.
The smell from the airlock is pleasant with no sulfur or odd smells so I am hoping the ale yeast kicked in first and cannibalize some of the lager yeast before it takes hold. When I placed the carboy in my cool room the temp on the strip was at 70.

 

[Banjorium]

Just wanted to throw in that Brulosophy did several tests a while back with fermenting a lager at ale temps. After doing a taste test with participants, from what I remember most people had a very hard time determining which beer was fermented warm in all versions of the experiment. Check it out: http://brulosophy.com/2017/07/10/fe...-pt-8-lager-yeast-wyeast-2124-bohemian-lager/

If it were me, I might attempt fermenting in the mid 60's and one of the strains should win out.

 

[fastengine]

Just wanted to throw in that Brulosophy did several tests a while back with fermenting a lager at ale temps. After doing a taste test with participants, from what I remember most people had a very hard time determining which beer was fermented warm in all versions of the experiment. Check it out: http://brulosophy.com/2017/07/10/fe...-pt-8-lager-yeast-wyeast-2124-bohemian-lager/

If it were me, I might attempt fermenting in the mid 60's and one of the strains should win out.

I believe it worked out so far. I actually got the ferment down to 57 degrees in my cool room in my house and I took it out and set it in a 67 degree room 2 days ago and the krausen dropped and is no longer fermenting. I smelled the airlock and no Sulphur smell, smells very pleasant, so I am believing that the ale yeast with a 2 day head start might have dominated and prevailed. My only debate now is to dry hop in a secondary or if I should just chuck in some pellets in the primary. Seems homebrewing is all about making decisions.

 

[fastengine]

I don't know if anyone is following this thread or not but I thought I would give a last update.
I racked the beer to a secondary and dry hopped and took a hydro sample. 1.011 final gravity, no odd smells, absolutely no off flavors, and is delicious.
After pitching 2 different yeasts by mistake, in the end I made beer.

 

[Jimmyco]

I don't know if anyone is following this thread or not but I thought I would give a last update.
I racked the beer to a secondary and dry hopped and took a hydro sample. 1.011 final gravity, no odd smells, absolutely no off flavors, and is delicious.
After pitching 2 different yeasts by mistake, in the end I made beer.

Awesome update. Happy accidents.