Yeast combinations? Yay? Nay?

oliver

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I'm running weird ideas through my head right now, a wheat beer experiment, 50% german wheat, 50% american wheat, and a yeast blend of Wy1010 (american wheat) and Wy3068 (Weihenstephaner Weizen) ... Any feedback on blending yeasts like this?
 
I've thoughtof this before too. Not in a bad way, but I think you'll get a little less flavorful hefe out of it.

I don't know if different yeast strains are more dominant or aggressive in the wort. But if you're interested in repeatability and more control, it might be better to ferment 2 mini batches and then blend together at bottling time
 
you'll probably get some clove/banana from the german yeast, but not as much as if you used only the german. If an in between style is what you are after, try it.
 
Hogarthe said:
you'll probably get some clove/banana from the german yeast, but not as much as if you used only the german. If an in between style is what you are after, try it.

I think this would be the case with any combination of yeast. The stronger yeast would be subdued by the blander one.
 
what about a hop forward yeast paired with a malt forward one?

would the fermentor implode into a mini black hole? i'm not sure sagan or hawking took this into account
 
I thought about the hefe being lesser. I'm trying to think about this wheat beer experiment, and also think about a bier de mars (Mardi Gras is Feb 28, 2017), in which it'll either be a french saison or a wheat beer. OR BOTH? Wy1010 + Wy3711 ?? Wider temp range, and what can i expect from doing a saison at 65 or a wheat beer at 75?
 
Fwiw, you could get a lesser banana clove profile by just using the weihenstephan yeast at the bottom of its temperature range. If that's what you are trying to achieve....
 
idk what i'm trying to achieve, other than experiment with stuff.
 
oliver said:
idk what i'm trying to achieve, other than experiment with stuff.


that's as good of a brewer's motto as i've ever heard :D

that'd make a good tattoo or mural or something
 
shower thoughts, use like 2 or 3 opposing styles of yeast, call the beer something like, transgender bathroom. ok. well then. i'll see myself out.
 
The good thing about not knowing what you're trying to achieve is you will inevitably achieve it. Combining the two yeasts should give something like a bland hefeweizen or a badly fermented American wheat, depending on which yeast is more vigorous. At the pitch rates we use, neither yeast will completely out-compete the other before both run out of food and go dormant. Over several generations that might happen, that's why it's not recommended to pitch blends forward. I'd start with an idea of what I wanted from the beer, then make a guess as to how to achieve it. If blending yeast were a possible way of doing what I needed to do, I might try it. But never without an idea of what I was trying to do.
 

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