Newest Threads

ohiobrewtus · 12-17-2007, 02:24 PM

I'm going to be brewing my IIPA this weekend and I'd like to use Nottingham but I've never used it in a big beer before. I've had great success with it in all other beers and I'm looking for a neutral yeast.

Can Nottingham handle 1.093?

brewt00l · 12-17-2007, 02:29 PM

I haven't used Nottingham up that high but I have used US05 (and I pitch two packs with high grav worts)....Danstar describes Nottingham as having "relatively high alcohol tolerance" and includes this in the FAQ:

I am making a high gravity beer. Does this affect the amount of dry yeast I should add to my wort?

Yes, for high gravity beers the pitching rate should be increased. The rule of thumb is one million cells per degree Plato per ml. Under-pitching can result in slow or stuck fermentation.

cheezydemon · 12-17-2007, 02:50 PM

I have had great success in BIG beers with white labs Irish Ale yeast. I have not risked dry yeast in ahigh grav brew.

To insure success, you can ferment it out with only some of your fermentables in place, in other words brew 3.5 gallons or so of a weaker beer, then add a gallon of concentrated wort after a few days, and repeat if necessary. This method can coax a yeast strain well beyond it's advertised alcohol tolerance. But don't expect it to bottle carb!

ohiobrewtus · 12-17-2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezydemon

I have had great success in BIG beers with white labs Irish Ale yeast. I have not risked dry yeast in ahigh grav brew.

To insure success, you can ferment it out with only some of your fermentables in place, in other words brew 3.5 gallons or so of a weaker beer, then add a gallon of concentrated wort after a few days, and repeat if necessary. This method can coax a yeast strain well beyond it's advertised alcohol tolerance. But don't expect it to bottle carb!

No bottling here. 1.090-ish is high, but not so high that I feel the need to brew multiple worts and do a stepped fermentation.

I guess this will prove to be a valuable experiment. I may just pitch two packets and go with a blowoff.

mr x · 12-17-2007, 03:13 PM

I've done it before. If I was to do it again, I think I would pitch 2 packets. First impressions were a sour/apple taste after 3 weeks. After another month, I tasted a bottled I had forced carbed. Was real nice.

**bradsul** · 12-17-2007, 03:42 PM

You shouldn't have a problem at all, I did a 1.087 stout with it and it turned out amazing. Pitch 2 sachets (assuming 11g size) and make sure you properly rehydrate the yeast as per the directions - don't pitch directly into the wort.

kenb · 12-17-2007, 03:46 PM

Maybe I missed something here, but why not just make a big starter with the Nottingham??

kenb · 12-17-2007, 03:49 PM

Also, i just checked the stats on the first non-kit beer i ever made. I used 2 packets of Nottingham, on a SG of 1.092 Imp Stout, rehydrated (no starter as i didn't know about those back then) and it fermented down to 1.022 which was the target....made a 9.5% abv beer.

ohiobrewtus · 12-17-2007, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenb

Maybe I missed something here, but why not just make a big starter with the Nottingham??

I'm almost out of DME and I forgot to include some on my latest AHS order, so a starter isn't going to work out for me this time around. Normally I'd make a huge starter for this, but since I probably don't have enough DME left I thought I'd ask about the viability of pitching 2 packets of Nottingham.

Got Trub? · 12-17-2007, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenb

Maybe I missed something here, but why not just make a big starter with the Nottingham??

DON'T make a starter with dry yeast. Just pitch the appropriate amount. If it needs 2-3 packets it is still cheap. Dry yeast has been propogated and preserved in such a way to provide the best quality of healthy, well fed and viable yeast possible if rehydrated properly. As homebrewers we cannot duplicate this.

GT