maltMonkey

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I've never used Nottingham before. I recently sampled several different beers that someone made using Nottingham and they all had a similar musty flavor, and were very very dry. I didn't care for the flavor and found them to be way different from anything I've tried before.

They were mostly extract so I don't think the dryness came from mash temp. Is this a characteristic of Nottingham, or was there something else going on?

cubbies

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I am using Nottingham for the first time and it is not quite finished yet. However, that is one characteristic that I am pretty sure it is famous for. Dry finish, neutral flavor. Pretty much a good yeast if you are looking for a beer that accenuates hops or malt. If you are looking for any kind of yeasty flavors, it is probably not the yeast for you.

Beerthoven

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Nottingham is a highly attenuating yeast, so it probably contributed to the dryness you describe.

Not sure about the mustiness. Nottingham has been described as bland; others say neutral. I've used it a few times and have not noticed a mustiness, but it is not as clean or neutral as an American yeast either. I thought I could notice some slight pear and apple esters from it. Maybe a little earthy, but not musty.

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Bobby_M

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Could just be bad recipe formulation or process. Yeast certainly isn't everything.

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bigben

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I have used Nottingham in most of my beers. I've never noticed a musty flavor. Maybe that is from the grains.

As far as finishing dry, that's an easy fix...just mash higher I usually mash at 154-155 when using Nottingham and my beers usually finish around 1.012-1.014, or right around 75% attenuation.

brewt00l

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I agree with you there!

Mashing low & fermenting warm, or a combination there of, can make nottingham attenuate like crazy.

bigben

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Yea good call on fermenting warm. Keep the temps down or else it will go crazy, hehe.

david_42

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Nottingham does produce a dry finish, even with extracts, but I've never had a problem with mustiness. More likely the grain was a bit stale.

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maltMonkey

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Hmmm....I wonder where that mustiness came from. I tried about 7 different styles the guy made and they all had almost the same characteristics. He said most were extract but a couple were all-grain--the only common characteristic is that he used the same yeast, but maybe he got some old LME or something.