Can you 'mix' yeasts???

[Martin the fish]

Is there any reason that i couldn't add two different yeasts to one brew?
Not sure why i'd want too. Perhaps if i done a 40 ltr batch and only had two yeasts left and they were both different?
Or if you liked the characteristics of both and wanted to combine them perhaps?

[agentgonzo]

Can't see a problem with it.

If you are repitching this mixed yeast on further brews, you may find that one yeast will grow quicker and start to dominiate the mix in future generations.

[Martin the fish]

But that would make a completely different yeast to the two used i'm guessing?

Could be worth a try.

Would it be like having two girls on the go and wishing you could have the cooking skills of one and the bedroom behaviour of another???

Or shouldn't i even be going there now i'm all grown up and married?

[oblivious]

I added some washed yeast slurry (WLP002) with S04 to my Victorian bitter

[Martin the fish]

I added some washed yeast slurry (WLP002) with S04 to my Victorian bitter

Could you taste either as predominant? Or was it roughly equal?

[oblivious]

not sure yest its still very hoppy

[Barley Water]

I will sometimes use a different yeast to bottle condition than I use in the main fermentaton. For instance, I make Saison which I bottle (I don't keg it because I want the carbonation really high which doesn't work out real well in kegs). Saison yeast is known to be really tempramental and will sometimes just stop fermenting for no good reason. That's why I add American ale yeast (which is pretty clean so it doesn't really affect the flavor profile of the beer) both to allow for bottle carbonation and also to try and dry out the beer as much as possible just in case the main yeast pooped out. German weizen producers also reyeast with lager yeast because they can bottle condition colder and it also settles out well.

You can purchase mixed yeast cultures from the mainstream yeast suppliers or you can mix a couple of strains yourself. The results you end up with may not be that predictable however because for one thing, you have no way of knowing which yeast strain is more viable. Remember that once your pitch your yeast, there is a microscopic fight for survival in the wort and the stronger strain will tend to over shadow the weaker (you know, Darwin's theory of natural selection). The other thing is, how do you control the relative proportion of each strain you are pitching? The bottom line is that you can do it and maybe get great results but it's a trial and error thing (it's how they did beer in the day before pure yeast cultures).