Mixing Yeast
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StrangeBrew
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Mixing Yeast
This might be a stupid question but as I have a few odd 6g sachets of yeast kicking around in the fridge from when I've replaced the supplied kit yeast, I was wondering if it would be ok to use them in the same brew consiering they might be different strains or is it best to use only one stain of yeast at a time?
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StrangeBrew
- Under the Table
- Posts: 1046
- Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:07 pm
- Location: A shed in Kent
Thanks DaaB, I had visions of tribes of little yeast cells fighting for domination! 
Last edited by StrangeBrew on Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bconnery
From my understanding that is exactly what will happen. You'll have no way of knowing which yeast will dominate, or what characteristics will come through.
And that's not a bad thing, provided you aren't relying on achieving a particular profile.
In an ideal world I suppose you'd get a mix of the profile from each but who knows.
There's no real reason not to do it.
The downside of course might be that you achieve a fantastic yeast profile and then are unable to replicate it
I personally have pitched a combination of yeasts once and it has worked out alright so far...
I had planned to reuse some yeast but I cleaned out the yeast cake in a tidying frenzy while the wort was cooling so I had to go to backups and didn't have the right sort. So I threw in a dry yeast and a small starter of another yeast I had lying around hoped for the best...
S-33 and a hefeweizen yeast in a dark belgian ale isn't ideal but it certainly still has belgian characteristics...
And that's not a bad thing, provided you aren't relying on achieving a particular profile.
In an ideal world I suppose you'd get a mix of the profile from each but who knows.
There's no real reason not to do it.
The downside of course might be that you achieve a fantastic yeast profile and then are unable to replicate it
I personally have pitched a combination of yeasts once and it has worked out alright so far...
I had planned to reuse some yeast but I cleaned out the yeast cake in a tidying frenzy while the wort was cooling so I had to go to backups and didn't have the right sort. So I threw in a dry yeast and a small starter of another yeast I had lying around hoped for the best...
S-33 and a hefeweizen yeast in a dark belgian ale isn't ideal but it certainly still has belgian characteristics...