Any one use the free Nottingham and Windsor yeast from the NHC?

B-Dub · 08-20-2009, 03:35 AM

I had the green light to brew the other day and only had one pack of S-05, 2-Windsor and 2-Nottingham.

With no time for a LHBS run I decided to brew with the free yeast you could sign up for at the NHC. My father gave me his 2 and I received 2 as well.

I used the Windsor on a NW style Pale and the Notty on a stout. All were hydrated and weighed for proper pitching. The stout got 2 grams of S-05 and 11 grams Notty. The Pale got one pack of Windsor. All carboys were aerated with pure O2 through a .5 micron stone for 1 minute. The wort was set for 64 deg.

A few hours later the Windsor was forming a nice krausen and the stout was formed by morning.

I would have to say both yeasts were fermenting very well within a very short time frame.

Anyone else use the free yeast?

B-Dub · 08-20-2009, 08:35 PM

Five days in and the stout is 1.020 and the pale is 1.016.

Not bad. I wanted a sweeter stout and the pale tastes fair, but green.

Any one else get the free yeast and try it???

Any one have a like or dislike for the Windsor yeast??

Tonedef131 · 08-20-2009, 08:39 PM

I have never had Windsor go below 1.020. I don't use it anymore because I do not like sweet beers, but it does have a suprisingly nice fruity profile for a dry yeast.

Now that I think about it, that yeast might make a real nice Southern English Brown.

PseudoChef · 08-20-2009, 09:06 PM

Couldn't get the Windsor to flocc worth ****. It stopped at 1.020 for 5 weeks, then started again in the bottles, overcarbing my bitter. Meh.

B-Dub · 08-20-2009, 10:24 PM

I guess the low mash was a good idea. 1.016 is about the top end for my pales.

The fridge is set for 70 right now and will stay that way for about 5 more days before cooling. Maybe the FG will go lower for the pale, maybe not.

So for most folks it sounds like the windsor is a one time shot.

elkdog · 08-20-2009, 10:40 PM

Yep, I always go liquid yeast for a lower-attenuated English style. Windsor pissed me off twice- underattenuating (even when I wanted low attenuation) and never really flocculating. Nottingham, though, is excellent.