starters with yeast blends

[jm]

I've got a couple of packs of the Wyeast 9097 Old Ale Blend (sacch+brett L.) and was ready to make a starter (JZPRC says I need a 1.15L starter) for a 1090OG old ale when I thought I remembered something about pitching brett at the same time as the sacch being not so optimal; sacch using up nutrients faster than brett can use them to reproduce sufficiently maybe...I might be imagining the whole thing; but if there is any validity in it then I assume Wyeast has adjusted the cell counts accordingly.

Now I'm hesitating on the starter wondering if I'm going to throw off the balance that Wyeast tried so hard to create. Should I skip the starter this time and pitch both packs directly or is pitching at the same time being a problem bullshit?

[brewinhard]

I have a 6 gallon batch of old ale (1.084) split with regular London ale yeast and the other 3 g with WY old ale blend. I made a 2 L starter for both yeast packets. You will be just fine making a starter with this blend and probably be happier that you did in the long run. Yes, the saccharomyces will get going faster in the wort, but the brett L. will make a speedier recovery if allowed some nutrients (ie starter wort). The sacch will therefore consume a lot of the sugars in your primary batch as the brett begin to grow in populations to keep feeding after the ale yeast do their thing. At least that is how I picture it in my mind....

[jm]

I went ahead with the starter. It was on the stir plate for about 18 hours. Fermentation was rocking within 8 hours of pitching and I'm getting a similar sort of fruity aroma out the airlock that I got from a 100% brett L. dark wheat. Definitely smells like the brett did not get overwhelmed.

[brewinhard]

I will be kegging mine on Sunday and it has a very nice dark malty aroma coming through the airlock. Looking forward to seeing how the Brett L. presents itself in this blend and when.