I have no answer, which is why I don’t do it.
I never understood pitching two strains. [emoji2369]
Best of both worlds, maybe? This is homebrewing. There are no rules. [emoji41]
Winsor + Notty is a notable exception to this rule, but that has a specific goal in mind (Winsor for its flavor profile and Nottingham for attenuation). I don’t think a combination of two lager strains would lead to a huge difference compared to either on their own.
Some old British breweries use multiculture house yeast. Some have said Timothy Taylor does.
When I toured the Young’s Ram Brewery a large open fermenter was shown. There were two yeast rings on the walls. The guide said the one up from the foam was from the fast starting yeast, higher up was from the workhorse strain, what we saw was the finisher that got the FG down.
PU had 5 strains, then selected two, now the have one.
I’ve thought of splitting a batch, fermenting each part, then blending. Of course I would taste each sample, and blend in a glass first to taste the blend. One might be really good, and the blend dumbed down.
I really liked the Diamond yeast, but I have used S-189 as my typical lager strain, because I seek less expression from the yeast and it is the cleanest I have found. Some supertasters mentioned that they pick up a slight lemon character from 34-70, but I use it anyway. I assume the lemon is from the hop used, rather than the yeast, but I can’t say for sure since I don’t perceive it at all.
No, but there arena lot of things done that make no sense.
Maybe some people like the results they get? That couldn’t be it though right Denny?
I would think that’s why they do it.
I agree that the S-189 is very neutral. Maybe the most neutral lager yeast I have found and that’s not necessarily good or bad… it just is. I get a distinct character from 2124/3470/Diamond that I recognize. The same is true for Omega Bayern and also for White Labs 940. These are some of my favorite lager strains and they all have a specific characteristic to me. When I brewed with S-189 I got very clean-tasting, neutral-flavored beers. I made a number of them in a row and they were all very good and very neutral. I think I still have a pack of it in the fridge. 2308/838 is another strain with a very distinct character to me. I had a beer once (one of the New Glarus beers… maybe Two Women) and I cracked it open, took a swig and said out loud “2308!”. Yes, everyone around me thought I had taken leave of my faculties. 
FYI – genomic testing has shown that 2124 is quite distant from the other two, and that 838 is actually a Sacch. cerevisiae strain and thus not even a lager, so it cannot be identical to 2308.
So… it might be helpful to specify which ones you are actually referring to. OR, it might be noteworthy that these strains are all so darn close to one another that it just doesn’t matter what genomics is telling us?! I honestly don’t know which! :D 8)
References:
Genomics is interesting, but the beer doesn’t know about it. All that matters is the taste.
I absolutely cannot argue with this!
I’ll second that. Cheers! [emoji482]
I was saying that I like 2124 and that it has a very distinct character to my tastebuds. My understanding was that 34/70 was a dry version of 2124 and also that Diamond was very close to 34/70. I may be wrong on that. I have never used 34/70 but many people say it’s very similar to 2124 and that the description often has that “most popular lager strain in the world!” comment which 2124 also has. Diamond seemed very similar to 2124 to me when I used it. On the 2308/838 thing, I was under the impression they were the same. I have used 2308 many times but never 838. I happen to have a packet of 838 in my fridge and it’s up next here so I will find out very soon. Everything I have ever seen comparing the strains says that 2308 and 838 are the same yeast but again… that may not be accurate.
Technically, 2124, 34/70 and Diamond all have the same heritage.
That’s what I understood. They’re derived from a Weihenstephan lager strain. It’s been awhile since I brewed with 2124 but I have some in the house now and it will be used over the winter. The Diamond that I used [A LOT!] last summer seemed like it had a 2124 character but maybe I’ll do an experiment and make two batches back-to-back… one with 2124 and one with Diamond which I also have in the fridge. That would be interesting.
I used 838 regularly when I started brewing lagers, but also for Kölsch - it really shines. Omega Bayern is a true beast of a lager yeast. Almost forgot about that one.
This winter I have to make a Dunkel with the Omega Bayern!
That’s coming up here this weekend. 60/40 Munich 2/Pils plus 3 ounces of Carafa III, Hallertau hops to about 24 IBUs and Omega Bayern. Looking forward to it.
That does sound quite good. Enjoy!