Is it dumb to pitch two different yeast strains in one batch? I ask b/c I'm looking at an IPA kit that suggests double pitching, but I've got an extra pack of US-05 and thought about throwing it in with the recommended White Labs Persica ale yeast. Thanks!
Create the appropriate size starter with the White Labs in order to pitch the appropriate amount of yeast for your OG.
It is not dumb, provided you have a reason for doing it. For example, pitching a clean, highly attenuative strain with a less attenuative, more characterful strain to get a dryer beer that still carries some esters. You won't ruin an IPA by pitching US-05 but it won't be the beer the kit was designed to produce if the kit is supposed to use wlp299.
Haven't used wlp 299, but sounds a little like 051 or 1332 though maybe more attenuative...actually pitched a cream ale blend today (wlp 080) that's got a lager strain in it also.
Agreed. I've done similar with a saison for personal consumption. Started with kolsch yeast and pitched wl3711 at 1.020 for a slight Belgian tart dry flavor.
Thanks for everyone's input. I guess the smarter thing would be to make a starter (I never have before) and really get a sense of that yeast, rather than mix it with US-05, which I am familiar with.
Yeah man, thats the way to go. Use a starter- though not necessary, will help with yeast health and to get the little dudes going and will provide a better overall fermentation. Starters are easy to do too: mix a couple cups of h20 with a 1/2 cup or so of DME, boil, cool to 70, put into sanitized jug, put your yeast in and crimp a bit of foil on top, wait a day or so... blamo!
It is pretty easy. But keep in mind you may need a different size starter than 2 cups (which is pretty small for most beers). The Mr. Malty calculator can help... http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
White labs suggests a pint of water with 1/4 cup DME if the yeast is fresh, which suprised me but I have a hard time arguing with the manufacturer. If the yeast is past it's "best before" date, then they suggest 2 pints + 1/2 cup DME. 1 pint + 1/2 cup DME is a strong starter, your probably stressing the yeast at that point.
For what gravity of (beer) wort do they recommend a one pint starter? (With a 'shaken' starter, that's not even going to increase the cell count by 40%.)
I am actually not arguing against Mr. Malty or you in this case, but I am conflicted after I read this info a few weeks back. Here is their recommendations found on the FAQ page (which do not include gravity levels): Typical Starter Volumes for 5 gallons: To activate the yeast: 1 pint (with 1/4 cup DME) To revitalize yeast past its Best Before Date: 2 pints (with 1/2 cup DME) To brew a high gravity beer: 2 pints (with 1/2 cup DME) To brew a lager beer, starting fermentation 50-55F: 4 pints (with 1 cup DME) The only mention of gravity levels is to do a starter if your beer is over 1.060.
BYO had an article on using multiple strains not long ago. If I remember the results were kind of a mix between the yeasts used and most of the results were really subjective on homebrewers opinions. I've done it when I thought one wasn't taking off so I pitched Nottingham or 05 just to make sure it fermented. I never liked the results. I would most certainly not waste the time or money to pitch multiple strains. There are so many strains with certain characteristics. I'm sure you can find one to do what you want without having to resort to using multiple.
What they are talking about there isn't really a starter, at least not in the sense of propagating more yeast. They're talking about 'activating' (basically 'waking it up'), which might be helpful, but doesn't increase cell count much.
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_FAQ.html About a quarter of the way down. Either way you look at it, they call it a starter. I do have questions about "starters" but "do not" want new brewers to read this and think to do otherwise, always pitch enough yeast. We recently brewed 14 seperate batches of the same Belgian Blonde for my homebrew club which was transfered into the barrell this past weekend. The guy heading it up requested a 158-159° mash temp with no starter to leave residual sugars for the bugs to eat up. I did just this and still finished at 1.009, down from 1.066 (http://hopville.com/recipe/1262223/belgian-blond-ale-recipes/83-nba-tempted-barrel). Tasted excellent as well. Again, a proper starter is just good practice, but for me I might play around with it to see what results I am getting.
Not surprising. I would venture a guess that a low pitch rate (within reason) doesn't adversely affect attenuation most of the time. IMO, the main benefit of a starter is that the amount of propagation happening in the beer wort is limited (though not 0), and that the yeast are not stressed, so that esters, fusels, and a few other compounds are limited.
True, wasn't thinking in those terms. I was less suprised with the pitching rate than the high mash temps personally.
