[bdrinkrow]

So, on the IIPA I did two days ago I decided to try something crazy and I mixed two yeasts I had here and I guess I thought I'd see what people thought.

It was a mix of approximately 180 billion of WL810 and approx. 225 of ECY21.  I got these numbers based on how I farm yeast off of big starters I make and adjusting based on age, etc.  It was actually a 50/50 mix but the san fran lager yeast was 3 weeks old so I tried to figure the ration in case it worked.

Was this crazy?

Part of it was the ambient temps where I ferment in my basement, and part of it was what I had on hand.  But, in hindsight, I wished I would've tested it on an IPA, especially since I hop bursted this one.  Oh well, I guess the 9 oz's of hops from 15 minutes to flameout will help to mask yeast flavor if it's horrible.

[The Professor]

It's not crazy at all...I've done that on a number of occasions and never had a failure.   Just bear in mind that only one of the yeast strains will ultimately dominate.
A few times, the beer came out particularly fine; when that was the case I made sure to save the slurry and repitch it through a few generations to take advantage of the particularly efficient, dominant yeast.
 

[bdrinkrow]

The krausen looks like WL810, but with the flocculation of the kolsch which is what i was going for.  I thought the lager yeast might dominate, so pitched less. I've never seen chunks of yeast this big in suspension so violently.  Certainly not from either of these yeasts by themselves. 

[Jeff M]

The krausen looks like WL810, but with the flocculation of the kolsch which is what i was going for.  I thought the lager yeast might dominate, so pitched less. I've never seen chunks of yeast this big in suspension so violently.  Certainly not from either of these yeasts by themselves.

No surprise there, you started a turf war!

[bdrinkrow]

So, an update.  I just sampled this beer after 2 weeks and it is really good..  I thought I would get a hint of sulfur, but nothing.  It's surprisingly clean, but what was also surprising was that I thought it would be clearer by now. I'm sure once I crash it for a day or so it will.  Or, if there was sulfur present, it just fit with the style that is IIPA, which I could see.  This was a really fun fermentation to check in on and seeing that my basement temps are very consistently 55-60 for the next couple months I'm going to continue to use this combo.

The krausen of these two yeasts are so distinctive that I can tell the WL810 took over initially, and the ECY21 finished it off.  It went from the typical thick gunky Krausen to a bright white effervescent krausen.  Pretty fun.