nottingham problems

I had a marathon brew session this past Sat(https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/parti-gyle-help-157201/).

The first 10 gal batch ( 2-5 gal primaries) took off and after about 4 hours I had to put blow off tubes in. I used dry winsor yeast rehydrated.

The second batch I just pitched dry Nottingham right into the carboy.

After almost 2 days I gave up on the notty and re-racked one of my 1st batches into a carboy and then racked my notty batch onto my windsor yeast cake. This then took off in less than 1 hour.

I called my local guy and he told me that there was a recall on certain batches of the Nottingham yeast. He assured me that I had recieved fresh yeast.

After reading about some others slow Nottingham starts I'm wondering I=if there are more problems with this yeast.

Maybe one of the store reps could give us an update.

Bull

What is the date of your Nottingham? If you go to the Danstar web-site, maybe there is a number on your package that was recalled. I have seen the number on the web the last few months, but never wrote it down. I buy Nottingham by the brick and the number didn't match mine. A lot of homebrewers got some free sachets of Nottingham after they contacted Danstar.

Conehead

Well I'd have to dig through my garbage can to find the package and for less than 2 dollars I'm not going to bother.

I just wonder if there is more going on with this yeast.

Bull

bullinachinashop said:

The first 10 gal batch ( 2-5 gal primaries) took off and after about 4 hours I had to put blow off tubes in. I used dry winsor yeast rehydrated.

The second batch I just pitched dry Nottingham right into the carboy.

Click to expand...

Maybe it had something to do with not being rehydrated. You rehydrated one but not the other, how come?
I think if you had rehydrated both then there might be an issue with Notty, but this just might be a process issue.

I just pitched a pack of notty rehydrated on 4 gallons of a mild two days ago and it started in about 7 hours. its not a violent fermet but still fermenting.

I made an imperial stout a week ago and pitched 2 packets of Nottingham per my 5 gallons and it went crazy. It blew around 1/2 G out of my carboy. Maybe you got one left over from the bad batch, or maybe you weren't patient enough, you should wait 72 hours before you get carried away.

What was the temperature of the wort when you pitched the yeast, and what temp was it before you racked to the other cake? I had a batch that I was fermenting at 56F that took almost 2 days to kick off, but once it started it was going like crazy. Is it also possible your bucket lid was leaking, therefore no airlock bubbles?

I am using some notty right now with no problems.

Are you sure it was not fermenting? Did you check gravity? Or maybe your temps were weird???

I rehydrated some notty yesterday and added it to my Blonde Ale (O.G. 1.064) and it started fermenting, well bubbling atleast, in about 8 hours.

Temp was 69F at both the pitching and at the transfer.It was in a glass carboy with a stopper and airlock. There was no visible signs of fermentation and my gravity hadn't changed.

I think I just got a bad packet.

As far as rehydrating, I typically rehydrate prior to pitching but after 8 hours of brewing and forgetting to start it, I just pitched it dry.

I've done this many times in the past and other that a little delay in it kicking off, I haven't ever had any problems.

Bull

For what it's worth, I inadvertently pitched a recalled packet of Notty last month, and then another (also recalled) when it didn't take off. At that point, I just said, screw it, and pitched a fresh packet when I could get my hands on one (4+ days after pitching the first packet).

Let's just say it turned out a little weird. I'm hopeful that it'll clean up in the bottles, but we'll see.