I was making 3 starters last Thursday for a 15 gallon group brew day that happened last Sunday in which 10 gallons of IPA would be split and pitched with different yeasts, WLP013 London Ale and WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast, while another 5 gallons of Mild Ale would get hit with WLP002 English Ale. I made up all the starters, placing the 2 for the IPA (higher OG) on stir plates, while the 013 received a shake every time I walked by. After 24 hours, the 090 and 013 starters were rocking, the 002 not so much. I figured since it was a slurry pitch harvested from a previous starter, it just needed more time. After 8 more hours of zero activity, I took the starter off the stir plate (013 got some spin action at this point) to let whatever yeast was in there settle. Even after an hour, it was clear there was no yeast in the flask. The wort smelled like wort and was very clear, nothing but some protein break on the bottom of the flask. Thing is, I’m certain I poured out 3 different yeasts. Then it hit me:
…I pitched the 013 and 002 into the same flask…
Yes, I had absolutely had a few beers, but I’m much more comfortable blaming this mistake on my 3 young kids who were being bathed by their mother and I was tasked with readying them for bed once their bath was complete… I was in a rush. Rather than fret about it, I took it as an opportunity to try my hand at yeast blending… who am I kidding, I didn’t want to waste such a beautiful pitch of yeast! I’d heard before that the more robust yeast would overpower the less robust, but like I said, this yeast was not going down the drain and, really, since both are English in nature, I figured the impact on the beer couldn’t be too bad. I decided too mash the Mild slightly higher and pitch some rehydrated S-04. As usual, I harvested 500 mL of yeast from both the 090 (16th generation) and what I’m referring to as my UK Blend. Both were pitched into a 1.066 OG IPA at 64F and were fermenting very actively within 8 hours, the UK Blend producing a rather hefty blowoff by hour hour 12. I was pleased.
Three days later, the UK Blend beer seemed to have slowed down significantly and was starting to clear, so I decided to take a sample, admittedly out of sheer curiosity. The SG was 1.012 (1.015 predicted with 002 alone), perfect! Being a very highly hopped beer, I wasn’t sure yeast character would be that distinguishable, but it was, and I’m certainly not complaining. Even at only 3 days, the beer was clean with a well-rounded maltiness that still allowed the hops to shine through. I plan to take samples of both the 090 and UK Blend beers this weekend to compare, I’ll update as I go along.
Cheers!
