I was wondering if anyone has used two different yeast brands in the same batch? I am making a 10 gal batch of Imperial IPA and have a White Labs Cal Ale V and Wyeast 1272 American Ale II. Going to make a starter.
I’ve done it lots of times, with good results. I actually have a saison ready now that used 2 strains. IMO those 2 strains would blend together nicely.
Thanks HoosierBrew!
Those are allegedly the same strain (as is BRY-97), so I don’t see an issue using them together.
Yep. Brewing a simple Patersbier tomorrow and will be using a blend of WY 3787 and 1214. Yeast blends can really help your beer stand out in a crowd.
Yep
The downside to using a blend ia that you never really know whiich yeast will dominate. As long as you’re Ok with that, no problem. I prefer to split the bacth, ferment each woth a different yeast, then blend them back together.
Very true. Sometimes that is half the fun finding out which one comes across more in the final profile. I try to choose yeast blends that (as you stated) would pair well together and blend nicely even if one outcompetes the other.
I agree. Sometimes I blend for complexity and sometimes it’s to get the character of one yeast and the attenuative nature of another. Not all strains are meant to hang out together, though.
Why not just make a larger starter with one or the other?
That’s what I do when I blend yeast strains (which isn’t real often) - I don’t mix them into one starter, I make two starters and vary the size of each depending on what I’m after.
Almost every brewing strain in existence today was at one point part of a mixed culture. When experimenting with mixed culture, a good strategy is to mix flocculent strains with non-flocculent strains. A good place to start liquid yeast-wise is Wyeast 1968/WLP002 and Wy1007/WLP036. This combo gives a brewer a mixed culture that produces good flavor, attenuates well, and top crops. While I do not care for Nottingham or Windsor when used as single-strain cultures, they go together like peanut butter and jelly.