Beer Forum

This Sunday I brewed an American IPA, basically Jamil's recipe but I made it as a partial-mash and added a handful of wheat malt. I made a starter of WLP001.
Down in my basement I have a carboy of a nice American style Blonde Ale that I brewed with East-Coast Ale WLP008. This batch might be the best smelling fermentation I have ever smelled. I have it in a old cabinet to keep the light off of the carboys and each time I open the door the smell is just so damn good. The fermentation is done and this weekend will be three and a half weeks in the primary. Saturday is bottling day for the Blonde.

Well, by the time I got the IPA brewed and cooled this weekend, I had a few beers in me and I just kept thinking about that WLP008 yeast. The White Labs chart shows the 008 as one of the yeasts ideal for IPA's. I had a bit of headspace left in the starter flask so I took the auto-siphon to the Blonde and sucked up about .7 mL of yeast off the bottom of the Blonde ale carboy. I pitched the blended 001 and 008 into the 65 degree wort and tucked the whole thing away in the basement next to the Blonde.

I am really curious to find out if the 008 imparts a noticeable "tartness" to the IPA. I am hoping that the 001 will get me all the way to 80% attenuation. Even kept cool the fermentation has taken off like a rocket. I blew the blow-off tube off once already!

This one is going to be hard to wait for!

What do ya think? Anyone tried this? Anyone doing their own custom yeast blends?

I like to blend Wyeast 1056 and 1028 for my DIPA's. Gives it a nice clean profile, attenuates well and still flocs out pretty good.

Blending yeasts is not uncommon and it can give great results. The only disadvantage is that it's hard to predict how each strain will grow and multiply in a given wort. This mainly becomes an issue with repitching and predicting results, mainly related to flavor profile. That said, WLP001 and WLP008 are relatively close, IMO. I'm guessing you'll have a pretty clean and neutral flavor profile so long as your pitch was healthy and your temps are controlled.

I've blended WLP800 and WLP830 in a few lagers. I'm not sure I could really tell the difference from WLP830 (my fave lager yeast) on its own.

I have blended brettanomyces with lactobacillus and pediococcus in a single primary pitch with good results.

And while not really blending, many use WLP565 (saison) and finish with a really attenuative strain, such as WLP550.

Good luck with everything and keep us posted on your results!

Thanks Guys,

I'm really hoping that I can taste the difference. I think the WLP008 smells different but it might just be the smell of the blonde ale recipe I brewed.

I am on schedule to bottle the IPA tomorrow (Saturday) morning. The beer looks great. Clear and golden amber. Couple of more weeks and I'll get to taste it. Definitely not cloudy.

The East Coast ale (wlp008) is listed as a Medium to Low flocculation on the White Labs site and I have read reviews saying their beer was left cloudy from this yeast. This hasn't been my experience. My Blonde Ale has been in the bottle for only one week and it is bright and clear already. I always use a couple of clear bottles for each batch just because I like to watch them clear. The Blonde Ale is a fine clear golden straw color with no hint of yeast still in suspension. The early sample did have a hint of the "tartness" that is mentioned in the yeast description. I wanted that tartness so I was glad it was really there. Since my original recipe ONLY had American 2-row, American Wheat malt, a little Light DME and Willamette hops there isn't much to mask the yeast flavor. No crystal in this batch. This may be an incredibly basic beer but damn it is good... and it isn't even ready yet! One more week......