Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

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Pie_Eyed
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Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

Post by Pie_Eyed »

I was mixing up a batch of cider and a batch of beer and on the final step I accidentally put the Cider yeast in the beer and vice versa.

What am I in for with the final product?

Thanks
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berryman
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Re: Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

Post by berryman »

I quite regularly use 04 beer yeast in cider with good results. Not knowing all the details it is hard to say on the outcome. I think a true wine yeast on a beer might not be so good, but if using a generic kit yeast, might not be that different. Tell more and we have some good yeast expert folks here that can tell you more.
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mashani
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Re: Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

Post by mashani »

I don't know what the actual strain of yeast the cider yeast provided is.

More "wine like" cider strains will not eat maltotriose. Some can eat maltose, but it may take a very long time for it to do that and it might stall out.

What that means is you will end up with sweet heavy bodied low abv beer if it's one of those. You can fix it by throwing in some dry beer yeast, it will help ferment out the rest. Just be sure to use dry not liquid. Dry can grow a bit using the nutrients that come along with it for the ride. Liquid yeast will have a tough time if the cider yeast used up the oxygen in the wort trying to grow.

Now there are at least some cider / mead yeasts that will eat those things more readily and are actually used to produce beer, specifically I know of one type Belgian beer that is actually made with a yeast that would be classified as one of those. But it is more likely that the yeast you used is not that specific kind.

The cider should be fine, it just might be a slightly sweeter cider or a cider with more fruity esters. (IE more like an English cider).
Pie_Eyed
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Re: Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

Post by Pie_Eyed »

mashani wrote:I don't know what the actual strain of yeast the cider yeast provided is.

More "wine like" cider strains will not eat maltotriose. Some can eat maltose, but it may take a very long time for it to do that and it might stall out.

What that means is you will end up with sweet heavy bodied low abv beer if it's one of those. You can fix it by throwing in some dry beer yeast, it will help ferment out the rest. Just be sure to use dry not liquid. Dry can grow a bit using the nutrients that come along with it for the ride. Liquid yeast will have a tough time if the cider yeast used up the oxygen in the wort trying to grow.

Now there are at least some cider / mead yeasts that will eat those things more readily and are actually used to produce beer, specifically I know of one type Belgian beer that is actually made with a yeast that would be classified as one of those. But it is more likely that the yeast you used is not that specific kind.

The cider should be fine, it just might be a slightly sweeter cider or a cider with more fruity esters. (IE more like an English cider).
Mashani,

First, this is a BrewDemon setup, sorry for not mentioning that. Second, The Brew and Cider I have is below:

Forbidden Fruit Hard Cider (w / 2g Cider Yeast)
YE OLDE DEVIL NUT BROWN ALE (w / 3G Beer Yeast)

Thanks
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mashani
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Re: Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

Post by mashani »

Pie_Eyed wrote:
mashani wrote: Mashani,

First, this is a BrewDemon setup, sorry for not mentioning that. Second, The Brew and Cider I have is below:

Forbidden Fruit Hard Cider (w / 2g Cider Yeast)
YE OLDE DEVIL NUT BROWN ALE (w / 3G Beer Yeast)

Thanks
The ale yeast should be fine in the cider.

The cider yeast I don't know what strain of cider yeast BrewDemon provides. So I have no idea. If the beer has not formed trub at the bottom while fermenting and/or has shown very little activity and/or if it tastes really sweet if you pull a sample, you should probably pitch some ale yeast of some sort into it if you have any. Or in a pinch you could use a little bit of bread yeast, it just will have a "flavor" from that. (I am not saying "flavor" as a bad thing necessarily, but there will be some kind of "flavor" from bread yeast). It would still be better then just throwing it out the batch then to try it.
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Re: Mixed up Yeast, What problem did I create?

Post by bpgreen »

mashani wrote:
Pie_Eyed wrote:
mashani wrote: Mashani,

First, this is a BrewDemon setup, sorry for not mentioning that. Second, The Brew and Cider I have is below:

Forbidden Fruit Hard Cider (w / 2g Cider Yeast)
YE OLDE DEVIL NUT BROWN ALE (w / 3G Beer Yeast)

Thanks
The ale yeast should be fine in the cider.

The cider yeast I don't know what strain of cider yeast BrewDemon provides. So I have no idea. If the beer has not formed trub at the bottom while fermenting and/or has shown very little activity and/or if it tastes really sweet if you pull a sample, you should probably pitch some ale yeast of some sort into it if you have any. Or in a pinch you could use a little bit of bread yeast, it just will have a "flavor" from that. (I am not saying "flavor" as a bad thing necessarily, but there will be some kind of "flavor" from bread yeast). It would still be better then just throwing it out the batch then to try it.
Bread yeast and ale yeast are actually the same species, but they're different strains, with different properties. I've used bread yeast a couple of times. If I remember correctly, I mostly used it in experimental batches, maybe mostly gruit.

If I remember correctly, it tends to give a bready flavor, but that may have been due to preconceptions.
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