Nottingham Yeast

I viewed the post about the Nottingham yeast how it exhibit slow fermentation characteristics. I have two packages of this yeast that i received with my extract kits that i never use because i use Wyeast smack packs. I want to start making my own yeast starters. Can i use these packets to make a starter, I figure this is a way to utilize them and to learn how to make a starter. Also would like to know of some books on the basics of yeast culture. Thanks

Only certain production runs of Nottingham had the problem.

sure you can do it but make a 1L starter although some people recommend not making a starter for dry yeast but if you just want to experience making a starter especially with notty I say go for it

There is no need to make a starter with dry yeast. You just want to rehydrate the dry yeast with about a cup of 90 degree water, let it sit for 5 minutes or so, and then pitch. A lot of great beer is made with dry yeast, including several award winners in the latest HBT competition. You want to make a starter with your liquid yeast, not dry yeast.

It's a great cheap way to practice with a starter to get a little experience in. Go for it!

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

It's a great cheap way to practice with a starter to get a little experience in. Go for it!

Click to expand...

+1!!!

Plus a lot of folks including biermuncher wash and harvest their dry yeast, especially now that it has doubled in price. Gwoing and jarring it may not be a bad idea. Of course THEN the dry is no longer dry and needs to be treated as a liguid yeast and a starter made before brew day.

Agreed, giving notty a starter will only make it stronger not needed, but great practice. I personally don't ever even rehydrate my dry yeasts, I just chuck them into the cooled wort at pitching temps. It kicks off every time by the next morning, and my last double batch was a 10 gal and a 5 gal each, and did notty in both, and they both kicked off hard this last Sun morning, or sat eve, and are already done w/ like probably 90% of the fermentation, its slowing down well now and starting to clear. Only 4 days later...

Edit: of course I didn't take a gravity reading, so its possible its still finishing, but I don't touch it until at least 3 if not 4 weeks anyway

Echoing pompeiisneaks... I made 11 gallons of pale ale this weekend and split the batch into two carboys. I used a Nottingham packet in each carboy; the first one I pitched directly onto the cooled wort, the second one I pitched it with re-hydrated yeast.

When I checked them the next morning, the rehydrated yeast had a thicker kruesen, but within 48 hours they looked the same.

Brent