Oktoberfest Nattingham

Hey everyone, new guy here. I just finished brewing an Oktoberfest extract kit from my local brew store. This is only my second batch and I have very little knowledge of yeast strains and what not. The employee at the brew store recommended a liquid yeast strain but that it had to be in lower temps for fermentation. I don't have anyway of refrigerating it so I had to go with a dry yeast. She then recommended Nattingham dry yeast. She said that it would work for the Oktoberfest kit but would obviously not be as good as with the liquid. What are your guys opinion on this? Should I just have chosen a different kit or was using the Nattingham still worth it? Also, since the Oktoberfest is considered a Lager, did I have to pitch the yeast differently then I would in a regular Ale? Because I just sprinkled in on top and swirled the bucket around in a circle a couple times. Thank you

It will be fine. You used an ale yeast so you treat it as an ale. With the lager yeast you need to be able to ferment around 50 deg and pitch a lot more yeast.

it would work for the Oktoberfest kit but would obviously not be as good as with the liquid.

Click to expand...

Liquid yeast isn't "better" than dry yeast, it's just differant. In fact, if you are a brewer that isn't making proper yeast starters, you'll make a much better beer with dry yeast than liquid yeast because the dry yeast has a higher initial cell count that's closer to a proper pitch rate right out of the package.

As for the Oktoberfest, you can't make a true Oktoberfest with Nottingham yeast. Oktoberfest by definition is a lagered beer, so you have to have lager yeast to make one. If you have means to control temps and lager, use a lager yeast. If you don't, then the Nottingham is a good choise, and the beer you make will be similar to an Oktoberfest but will lack the lagered qualities....basically the clean crispness associated with lagers.

You'll still make a good beer with the Nottingham, so definitely finish the beer out!!

Good luck!

Awesome! I was a little worried there for a second. Thanks for the quick replies and reassurance guys!