Never come across this. Could you pitch 2 different yeasts? I've heard of pitching a special yeast first and a generic, uncharacteristic yeast later to prep for carb, but if you did two different yeasts at once, what would be the effects? Would there be anything to be weary of? Thanks,
typically one yeast will dominate and that will be what ferments your wort. yeast aren't like hops or malt that way. you need one healthy strain to get the job done. go ahead and mix up however you like, just know you are not likely to stumble across some sort of hybrid yeast characteristic. though there are probably some examples somewhere, i can't think of a single commercial beer that uses more than one strain for primary fermentation. wild yeast brews being an exception. Cheers.
On 2 occasions I have pitched a decanted starter of 3711 at around 1.030-1.040ish in a big Belgian and a big wheat where I started with a pitch of wy1214 or wy3068 in high gravity wort. The beers came out great. Dry and phenolic, but it is impossible to say from those batches which contributed more, less, or no difference. In my case in wanted some of the phenolics, dryness, and mouthfeel from 3711 to be present in both beers.
I pitched Cali and English ale yeast together once. Just out of curiosity, really. Beer came out great, but not sure it was due to the two strains...
I mix dregs of commercial beers (Orval, Stillwater Artisanal, Dupont, etc) all the time, with good results.
Lots of people have pitched two or more strains. Technically, one is likely to be more aggressive and may eventually outcompete the other, but in the first generation at least, I think you're very likely to get some contribution from both with probably almost any two strains that are active in the same temperature range.
If you get most of your flavor components, wouldn't it be best to pitch both at the beginning of fermentation? I Don't think it's safe to assume that a yeast like Nottingham would out flavor a sluggish saison yeast. *Note: This is probably a terrible combination
It has to work right? I mean , and actually this time not being a smartass, White Labs and Wyeast wouldn't sell us "blends" if they didn't do something unique, right?
I pitch two yeast strains all the time. Most often when I am making a saison. For example, 565 and a small amount of California Ale. It takes care of any stalling issues and you would never notice a difference in the flavor. (I do about 9:1 in this case). Or sometimes I do 50:50 565 and 566.
