Is Nottingham yeast this slow?

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goose1873

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I have been brewing for a while and use a lot of liquid yeast and recently have been hooked on US-05 and S-04 for APA's and ESB's respectively...I just used Notty for the first time ever and it's been 38 hours and nothing. I ferment in a carboy and am SURE nothing is happening. The lot is not one of the "problem" lots and I'm sure my rehydrating method was fine...I oxygenated and have never had a problem before. I've never waited 12 hours before...anyway, I don't kbow how long to wait before I address the problem. I don't have another pack of notty, but do have a bunch of US-05. I could go get another pack of notty but it would be a PITA.

Should I give it a good mix as the irish moss cleared the beer 5 minutes after putting in the fermenter (under airlock of course) just to break up the sediment on the bottom.

never had this happen...


FYI:
OG is 1058
pitched @ 65F
after 24hrs raised to 67F

thanks in advance...:confused:
 
with no experience with notty, I can't speak to that strain, but I've had beers go +72 hours before they start, most notably with 1214 the last time I used it. I say give it another day at least before re-pitching.
 
If you still have the package do a search for the lot #s as there are/were some bad packages of that yeast. See similar threads below
 
I generally use liquid yeast as I don't like the variability in the time it takes to start fermenting for dry yeast. I've had them go in 10 hours and I've had them take 48.

My best results have been when I pitch directly on top of the wort after oxygenating so that I can see the clump of yeast floating on top.
 
note taken.. but im just trying to salvage this batch...I've used atleast 10 packs of US-05 and always started overnight 12-14 hrs...
 
I'm having the same problem with Notty right now. This is the second time I've used it, the first time was a few months back and I think it started in 18-24 hours.

I've done two batches in the past two days, the first one has been about 28 hours since I pitched and still no activity whatsoever. I just pitched into another batch just now, hoping that they will start working.

Remind me to use US-05 next time, really no reason to use notty if it is going to be slow starting like this imho.
 
Keep hope alive! Notty doesn't mind it cold and I'm sure it will kick in soon. Nothing like Yeast with attitude. I have a Notty batch going that started at about 1.042 and it only took 12 hours. I did just like you, rehydrate, oxygenate, and pitch at 67-68... But I've had it take longer, as long as 24 hours to start.
 
I've seen 48 hours using Notty. But then it seemed to bubble with vigor.

I'd wait another 24 then maybe repitch
 
I held out (I will say my mood has been less then great)... Well it's been 65+ hours and I woke up to krausen forming :) Still no bubbling in the blow off but it has thickened from about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in the last 2 hours. Looks like she's going to go. I will say, I'm going back to US-05/S-04 after this experience... I'll post when she starts bubbling but at least it looks like when not if :)

I guess it's another example of wait atleast 72 hours...It took a lot of restraint not to pitch again last night...
 
well at the 72 hour mark it's going like crazy and temp is up to 70 (ambient room temp is 64. I'm not familiar with notty yeast and was wondering if that is too warm and I should bring it to the basement 60 F.

tnks
 
I have had some long lag time using Notty, sometimes 36-48 hours, then it starts going... like mad! I use a temp controlled refrigerator to ferment in, even with the actual fermenter temp monitored at 62-64° it usually starts blowing off within 8-10 hours from first sign of fermentation in the carboy.

as for your temps, I would move that to the cooler basement, I have never fermented at 70° but I have heard that off-flavors can occur at 70° and above
 
I'm a big fan of Noddy, but I also harvest my yeast and it's been a long time since I've paid for Noddy. My brew buddy had the same experience you are speaking of. His yeast is not in the batches labeled 'bad', but it didn't work just the same. I'm drinking the beer he made with a yeast I have him and the beer tastes good, but the aroma is off. I'm going to call it yeasty and almost 'hefe' ish. I'm got a strong feeling his Noddy is bad even if it's not in the batches they admitted to being bad.

I would repitch as soon as possible and when this beer is done if you could report back I'd be curious if you've got a funky smell to it. Friends brew is good tasting, but the aroma is 'not to style'.
 
well it's going great, i've got it cooled down, and i'll let it clean up for at least a month before I cold crash an keg. Either way, I'll drink it :). Unless it's phenomenal I'm going back to US-05/S-04 for dry yeast after this...
 
Again, I'm pretty loyal to Noddy, but I'm drinking my friends messed up beer. Look for off aroma's. I'm curious if his bad Noddy contributed a 'yeasty' hefeish aroma to the beer.
 
did he let it condition for a while? Usually a long lag time can be cleaned up with a couple extra weeks of conditioning. For example, I usually got 3 weeks primary and keg, this will be 4-5. I'll let you know though and thanks for the heads up brother.
 
Good point, I e-mailed this thread to him and I bet he'll chime in tomorrow. I know it's been in the bottle for about 3.5 weeks, I'm not sure how long he primary/secondary'd it. We'll know when he chimes in. Right now I feel like he made an great IPA and used a hefe yeast, which is making for a pretty interesting beer. It tastes great, smells weird. LOL. I'll get him to chime in. Hopefully you don't suffer his 'weird smell'. If you do, then you'll know why. More when I get him to chime in. I know Brewers can make mistakes, but I'm thinking this Noddy problem is bigger than they are letting on. I don't want to start a rumor, just reading the different threads has me thinking, how much of this bad stuff is out there?

How about a toast to: "Good Yeast!":tank:
 
Update...beer is at 1.02. I tasted the "sample" and it was pretty bad...a little fruity and i hope it clears up....it has 2 more weeks in primary so there is time....but it tastes like "satans anus"...
 
I might question how that yeast was handled prior to you getting it, I rehydrated and pitched a packet of notty into a 1.056 ale on sunday afternoon. it was bubbling away monday morning and blowing off monday eve. It is now slowed to hardly a bubble, the high temp that I noted was 66° up from the set temp of 62° with the probe for the controller stuck to the carboy and insulated from the air temp
 
I'm having the same problem with Notty right now. This is the second time I've used it, the first time was a few months back and I think it started in 18-24 hours.

I've done two batches in the past two days, the first one has been about 28 hours since I pitched and still no activity whatsoever. I just pitched into another batch just now, hoping that they will start working.

Remind me to use US-05 next time, really no reason to use notty if it is going to be slow starting like this imho.

This was the longest it ever took for fermentation to start for me at least, Brewed on Friday, fermentation didn't start until Monday evening, so right around the 72 hour range. I must add though it was quite an aggressive fermentation though, originally had a airlock on it but had to move to a blowoff Tuesday morning.
 
Just curious if these slow to start Nottys have any off flavors. One of the posters mentioned his friends was off but was wondering if anyone else is having any off flavors with these slow starts.
Mine took 72 hours to get going
 
This is exactly my experience with Nottingham. 24 hour lag is probably about average, but once it starts fermentation is fast and very active. I don't think it's a problem, just the way it works. FWIW, if you re-pitch it the lag on subsequent batches is normal. Probably has something to do with the reserves they build up in the dry yeast - more reproduction means faster fermentation, but also a longer lag.
 
I have been using Nottingham for my last 4 batches. All started withing about 4-6 hours. However, I have a batch sitting right now that has not started at the 16 hour point. I plan to wait just a little longer and then repitch at the 24 hour point with SF-04. I thought this dry yeast was susposed to always be good but I guess not. BTW my Nottingham yeast was not part of the "bad lot"....
 
I have been using Nottingham for my last 4 batches. All started withing about 4-6 hours. However, I have a batch sitting right now that has not started at the 16 hour point. I plan to wait just a little longer and then repitch at the 24 hour point with SF-04. I thought this dry yeast was susposed to always be good but I guess not. BTW my Nottingham yeast was not part of the "bad lot"....

I understand you wanting to repitch. If I had more yeast I would have too. Mine eventually started just before the 72 hour mark, so if you want to wait it will probably start. I just hope the slow start up doesn't come with any off flavors. This is the last time I'll be usng Notty:mad:
 
I am in the same boat.. I am at the 36 hour point with nothing but I am trying to be patient. Today is the only day I'll be able to make the brew store this week so I might go pick up some backup yeast just in case.

Its a linenkugels sunset wheat clone. Should I repitch with nottingham or should I try US05 or 04?
 
Never say never.
Like I said before, I have used Nottingham yeast several times with good success. It is summer time, and there is no way to tell how much heat the yeast was exposed to in shipping. I guess this can happen with any brand yeast.
I generally have several types of yeast on hand, so repitching is not such a big deal for me. I will use Nottingham again just because I like the results when it works.
 
The 2 times that I recently used notty they were both slow to start and they fermented just under 70. Both of them had an off smell more than any off flavor but they go hand in hand. When I pulled a sample of the second notty beer before I even took a sip I said oh no there is that smell back to my notes and sure enough same smell as the other lagging notty batch. One was a 5 gallon extract beer and the next was a AG marris otter sorachi ace smash. I've made some good notty beers but that was a year ago and I won't be using it for a while until all this settles
 
I pitched some notty in a batch yesterday about 3:00 pm. i got it from Chi company last week. woke up to go to work at 4:00 am and it was bubbling. Got home from work and its going like hell. 68 dg brew bucket in a pail of cold water.
 
I'm at 24 hours and no action yet. I'm keeping faith though becouse that was the only packet I had.(that'll teach me to buy a kit without buying extra yeast). inally started slowly at 43hrs
 
yea pretty much done using Notty. 3 out of 4 of my last batches with it have not taken.
I have waited 3 days on all of them and nothing. Repitched with 05 each time. Gonna stay with that
 
Started on Monday night at 2200. As of this (Wednesday) morning at 0700... nothing. Wish I had read this thread last week when I was picking my yeast.....
 
Odd. I've probably brewed 5-6 batches this year of all different styles and gravities with notty, and so far I've had zero problems with each of them. No starter, just re-hydrate and pitch. Each time I've had noticeable activity within 48 hours or less.

Each beer attenuated very well and tasted great. /shrug
 
I just had an unusual long lag with Notty, normally Notty just takes right off for me. But this batch took around 50 hours or so to see any visible signs of fermentation. When I went to check the gravity, there were some bubbles, but not enough to get excited about. 4 hours later, full Krausen. It looks like this batch of yeast were quiet fermenters that are making a sprint to the end. I read in the other Nottingham thread that some people were having it ferment without any visible signs similar to what I'm seeing happen.

This brew was a bit of a bigger beer, but I pitched accordingly and have been fermenting a little cooler than normal, 65F as opposed to 70F. Also, I normally overpitch with Notty since I generally make smaller beers and just use the entire package. Other than a slightly higher gravity and cooler fermentation temp, my process was the same to previous batches.

I'm hopeful that it fully attenuates without any off-flavors. I have had great success with it in the past, so I hope this was just a fluke.
 
For those who are having luck with the nottingham, how long is your active fermentation going ?? As noted, mine was going like crazy monday at 4:00am (pitched sunday afternoon) but had slowed to almost nothing by yesterday afternoon. OG was about 1.047 @64-68 DG, havent checked it yet. Does this yeast work that fast ??
 
For those who are having luck with the nottingham, how long is your active fermentation going ?? As noted, mine was going like crazy monday at 4:00am (pitched sunday afternoon) but had slowed to almost nothing by yesterday afternoon. OG was about 1.047 @64-68 DG, havent checked it yet. Does this yeast work that fast ??

That is what I have experienced in the past with Nottingham.
 
I've pretty much only ever used Notty. Every beer I make ;)

Ive had them take 2 days to start up before.
 
I am wondering if the pitching temperature of the wort might be a common factor in this apparent slow start problem. My last batch the wort was 68 degrees when the yeast was added. The floor temp in my basement is also about 68 degrees and active bubbling started in just over 24 hours. All my other batches have started faster with Nottingham (less than 6 hours) but I was pitching my yeast at 74 degrees. What do you guys think? Is it at all likely that Nottingham is just starting slow as a factor of temperature?
 
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