Pitching multiple yeasts?

[the_trout]

Is this something that is ever done?

Can multiple strains even co-exist together?

I'm curious.

 

[paraordnance]

I used wyeast 3068 and Notty together. You get best of both worlds as result, cannot comment on other strains

 

[HornedFrogBrewer]

Couldn'tbe better timing for this thread. I have been researching this all week for a spiced holiday ale I brewed today.

I was looking to combine the characteristics of WLP002 and WLP013. From what I read the most dependable way to do this is to split the batch into to fermentation batches and then mix them after fermentation is complete. Since my fermentors are full I'm just to pitch them together and see what I get. As I researched I found the downside is that there is no way to predict if one yeast will dominate the other or if it will be repeatable. This is especially true if the brewer resuses/washes yeast since after several generations it may become just one strain.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[1Mainebrew]

I've done it two or three times. Its a good experiment. Tough to exactly replicate though.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

i use a brittish ale with california ale in one of my beers, turns out great every time. but you can't re-pitch the mixture. they prop at different rates so each generation will have a different composite ratio, and thus a different flavor profile.

 

[bwomp313]

No they cannot co exist. They will fight each other to the death and you will be left with sugar water.


Kidding of course.

 

[hairy]

After brewing for a few years, the thought has never came on my mind. In principle, the yeasts can co exist together, however, I am unsure about any competition between them that may have an effect on the yeast's health and their biochemistry.

We will never know that. I reckon, just do an old school taste test.

 

[SD-SLIM]

I do it a lot...but what I have found is that it's a hit and miss as to what the end product will be, so after I get a combination I like...I wash the yeast and start cultures. So my advice, if you choose to go this route...start by washing and saving various kinds of yeast....when you have process down it will be cheap to use those various kinds of yeast in a 1 gallon batch...and when you find the perfect combo, brew up a scaled version...if it turns out great, then start cultivating colonies in Petrie dishes so that you new strain won't be lost to mutations.
Just my 2 cents!

 

[COLObrewer]

Is this something that is ever done?

Can multiple strains even co-exist together?

I'm curious.

I believe some yeast cultures have multiple strains in them already, one such culture would be the McEwans yeasts (WLP028, Wyeast 1728) from which one of the 20 odd strains was isolated to make the Duvel yeast like WLP570 from Moortgart brewery, etc, etc.
Keep on yeasting my friend

 

[bottlebomber]

I recently did a WLP500 (chimay) and Wyeast 3787 (trappist HG) combo. I had been reading about how the 500 likes to drop out before the job is finished, but I really wanted the Chimay character. So I made a 1.5 liter starter of the 500, and a 1 liter starter of the 3787, which I pitched 36 hours after the 500. My 1.105 belgian ale came down to 1.010 in 4 days. So I would call that pretty succesful

 

[jonmohno]

Its kinda like grain percentages, or different combos.Some probably work together well some may not.I made a pumpkin with wheat and with 05 and whitbred wheat yeast.Had a unique taste that mellowed out to a fine beer.I think the contributionadding brown sugar along with a prespiced/presweetend can of pumpkin is what really contributed the strange complexity of my recipe,that turned out strangly good.

 

[SD-SLIM]

I looked in my brew records, and here are some of the more successful combination's I have had:

White Labs WLP051 (75%) day 1 + Wyeast 3739 (25%) Day 3
Safale US-05 (50%) + Wyeast 3538 (50%)
***My controversial combo*** Wyeast W1056 (ale yeast) (50%) 4 days at 65 degrees + White Labs WL940 (lager yeast)(50%) 10 days at 52 degrees...I used this in an American Ale recipe with great results!

 

[HornedFrogBrewer]

Well here are the results after 72 hours of my Wyeast 1968/WLP013 combo:

From 1.087 to 1.026 in 72 hours. I have .003 points to go but I would consider it done. No hints of diacetyl which is surprising given a 3 day fermentation on 2 yeast strains known for producing diacetyl. I'm going to give it another week or so in the primary to clean up and ensure nothing "off" pops up later.

The yeast combo yielded an apparent attenuation of 69.1%. Wyeast 1968 has an AA range of 67-71% while WLP013 has a range of 67-75% so I ended up right in the middle. Spice flavor and aroma were great. No fusels was also a plus since the temps here right now are 100+ and I have been struggling to keep the temps under control.

Lacks some maltiness I was expecting especially given this grain bill and yeast combo. Overall, pretty happy and surprised it turned out as well as it did Next week rack to better bottle and cold condition until the holidays! The time should really smooth the flavors out to something special by then.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Well here are the results after 72 hours of my Wyeast 1968/WLP013 combo:

From 1.087 to 1.026 in 72 hours. I have .003 points to go but I would consider it done. No hints of diacetyl which is surprising given a 3 day fermentation on 2 yeast strains known for producing diacetyl. I'm going to give it another week or so in the primary to clean up and ensure nothing "off" pops up later.

The yeast combo yielded an apparent attenuation of 69.1%. Wyeast 1968 has an AA range of 67-71% while WLP013 has a range of 67-75% so I ended up right in the middle. Spice flavor and aroma were great. No fusels was also a plus since the temps here right now are 100+ and I have been struggling to keep the temps under control.

Lacks some maltiness I was expecting especially given this grain bill and yeast combo. Overall, pretty happy and surprised it turned out as well as it did Next week rack to better bottle and cold condition until the holidays! The time should really smooth the flavors out to something special by then.

I have to ask what you anticipate achieving in cold conditioning for longer than a couple of weeks?

 

[HornedFrogBrewer]

I have to ask what you anticipate achieving in cold conditioning for longer than a couple of weeks?

This is a pretty big beer beer at 8.5% and with the spices I plan on letting it mellow out from now until then. I tasted it yeasteday when I pulled a sample for the SG reading, while it was tasty it wasn't a very cohesive beer yet. Much like some food dishes (ever tried a stew that didn't stew for a while on the stove?), the flavors were still competing with each other and I think a little time will blend them into one.

I'm actually torn on whether it will be conditioning in the keezer or just at room temp. I have read several things recently that ales do better at warmer temps. I know it is all relative to the temperature and length of time at that temp.

 

[SD-SLIM]

This is a pretty big beer beer at 8.5% and with the spices I plan on letting it mellow out from now until then. I tasted it yeasteday when I pulled a sample for the SG reading, while it was tasty it wasn't a very cohesive beer yet. Much like some food dishes (ever tried a stew that didn't stew for a while on the stove?), the flavors were still competing with each other and I think a little time will blend them into one.

I'm actually torn on whether it will be conditioning in the keezer or just at room temp. I have read several things recently that ales do better at warmer temps. I know it is all relative to the temperature and length of time at that temp.

In Ales the conditioning process is after primary fermentation subsides....at this point the yeast start working on heavy sugars and by products, this usually take a week or two...from there is the aging process, which allows flavors to blend and is usually done in similar temperatures as your fermentation....then you should cold crash for a week or two, this will clear up any haze and will increase the carbonation levels within your beer. My advice would be to not age at a colder temperature unless you had a reason specific to your beer recipe.

 

[HornedFrogBrewer]

Slim-Thanks for the advice. That's what my recent research was pointing to...aging at fermentation temps. I'm going to let it sit on the yeast til next week then transfer to better bottle for condtioning. Will cold crash in November and tap shortly after that since carbing to 2.1 or so won't take long.

Mostly, my original post was aimed at my experience with mixing the Wyeast 1968 with the WLP013.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Slim-Thanks for the advice. That's what my recent research was pointing to...aging at fermentation temps. I'm going to let it sit on the yeast til next week then transfer to better bottle for condtioning. Will cold crash in November and tap shortly after that since carbing to 2.1 or so won't take long.

Mostly, my original post was aimed at my experience with mixing the Wyeast 1968 with the WLP013.

Best of luck with it....keep us all in the loop on how it turns out!