Nottingham gives fruity flavors?

I have used Nottingham for a long time. I've used a few different yeasts, but Notty is one that I always seem to have on hand and sometimes use for this or that because it's easy to store and use (and cheap until just recently).

But lately I've noticed that the beers I've brewed with it have been more "fruity" tasting and smelling than I have noticed before.

Is this right?

I've fermented most of my beer in a fridge in the garage at about 62 ambient, so I wasn't expecting this many esters. Do I just need to try a different yeast? It's not that I hate it all the time, but I can really notice it in the Blonde Ale and I kind of wanted a more malty, slightly hoppy flavor rather than having the fruit so obvious.

I just used Notty on my version of Centennial Blonde and in my opinion it was extremely clean and neutral. I did a five gallon batch and kept in a swamp cooler around 62 degrees (I actually took the worts temp too, so my center fermentation column was 62). Maybe with your ambient at 62 the actual fermentation temp is creaping up a little higher than you would like. I bought a lab thermometer ($4.99) @ LHBS and popped the airlock off and just stuck the sanitized thermometer down into the wort to measure the temp. EDIT: I only had the thermometer in the wort long enough to take the temp and then put the airlock back on.

I've pretty much given up on Notty and just went to SA-05. For a dry yeast, you can't beat it.

I just used notty for the dirty time on my last batch. Had a little high starting gravity and issues with my air pump so it didn't get enough oxygen but I do notice a good bit of fruitiness

Notty only stays clean for me below 65 degrees. Above that and I don't like the flavor it produces. I too use US-05 in its place.

Kept mine around 60 and noticed a tart, almost lemony flavor. Not bad, just not as neutral as I would have liked. Go with the S-05.

I used to buy Notty a lot because even after their big price jump I could buy it at my favorite LHBS for under $2 a packet. Just checked online and they are up to $4 now. For that price I can take US-05 for a spin and see how she does. I've brewed the Blonde a few times and have gotten clean flavor before. Might have used US-05 or WLP001 before and not noted it on my brewsheet. I sometimes just use an old brewsheet to brew with and use whatever yeast I have on hand. I assumed that at low to mid 60s Notty would be very neutral.

Frankly I think Danstar has priced themselves out of some customers.

I used to be a nottingham yeast fan- it was cheap, and very clean under 65 degrees. But the price went up, so that I almost always go with S05 or a liquid strain unless I'm going to be fermenting at 60 degrees or so (since S05 isn't so great under about 63-64 degrees).

Nottingham gets fruity above about 64 degrees, really really fruity at 69-70 degrees, and positively foul at 72 degrees. But for colder ale fermentations, it still works great for me. S05 gets fruity below 64 degrees, but does very well up to about 72 degrees, so I use that strain for most APAs if I'm fermenting in the mid 60s and up.

Brewed a "Doppelbock" using nottingham. Fermented at 58 degrees and it came out super clean with lovely malt flavors / aroma.

Well temp could be the could be the problem. I thought Notty was clean up til about 70. I had the fridge set to monitor ambient (inside) temp as opposed to the actual beer temp, so my 62 was probably more like 65-68 in the fermenter. I knew I could drop Notty down more than that. I might try that on the remaining packet I have just as a test. Or set up the thermocouple in a more professional manner.