Anyone use Nottingham dried yeast?

If so, how is it. The only thing that I can find on teh interweb is the catalog blurb . . . high floc, clean taste, etc.

Anyone use it regularly? Any comments about its performance? taste?

I just used it in a porter I brewed this weekend. Fermentation started rather quickly (I do starters even with dried yeast) and seems to be going well.

I noticed that the packet says that there is no need to aerate . . . I did anyway.

I am always very curious when using a new yeast strain.

From everything I've read, dried yeast doesn't need a starter or aeration. Something about the way it is made. The only thing you are supposed to do is rehydrate the yeast in water only.

I brewed an amber ale with it, and thought it worked great. Very quick working yeast and left a nice clear beer that was slightly dry, it made a very good beer. The only thing I noticed was it took my bottles about 3 weeks to fully carbonate, with other yeasts (1056) I've had full carbonation in 1 to 2 weeks at the same temperatures. But overall I'd use it again if I'm looking for a clean tasting, slightly dry beer.....my $0.02

I use Nottingham frequently. It has a neutral flavor and good attenuation, which is really all you need for darker ales. Dried yeasts have far more active cells (about 10 times as many) as liquid yeasts, so they don't need starters. The downside of dried yeasts is the lack of variety because most ale and lager yeasts can't survive drying. Since I don't make lagers and rarely make ales (like Belgians) that are dependent on yeast characteristics, I just keep some Nottingham and safale04 handy.

Your not supposes to aerate the wort before pitching dry yeast? is this right?

Bjorn Borg said:

Your not supposes to aerate the wort before pitching dry yeast? is this right?

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It says this directly on the package of dried yeast I used. Nevertheless, I aerated like I normally do.

I also make starters from dried yeast. I figure that it ups the cell count even more, which is never a bad thing. When I do this, I usually see some fermentation activity in the primary after just an hour or two. When I don't make starters, I usually pitch at least two packets of dried yeast. Overkill, probably, but I don't think you can pitch too much yeast.

I use Nottingham often - more than any other yeast. It works fine with no starter and no special requirement for aeration. I boil my wort, chill it and put everything in the fermenter. Then I simply open the yeast and sprinkle it on top of the fermenter and seal everything up. Normally it is bubbling away with at most a day, and the results have been excellent. I have not had to wait extended periods for carbonation once I bottle - usually, using about 3/4 a cup of priming sugar per batch, I have an acceptable head after a week or less in the bottle.

What styles of ale is Nottingham good for? I wanted to make a bitter, but I don't know if this is the right strain. I'd like to use dry yeast for this one batch, because I'm teaching a friend how to brew.

Monk said:

What styles of ale is Nottingham good for? I wanted to make a bitter, but I don't know if this is the right strain. I'd like to use dry yeast for this one batch, because I'm teaching a friend how to brew.

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I made a low gravity pale ale with Nottingham a few weeks ago and it turned out great. It is fairly dry and has little yeast character. If your looking for a dry yeast with a fruitier and sweeter flavor maybe check out Danstar Winsor or Fermentis Safale-04.

I made a cream ale with Nottingham yeast and it turned out really clean. The sample tasted like a classic cream ale--almost lager like because it was so clean.

I'd use it again.

I was told that a more flavorful yeast ought to be used for a bitter. I've used the english ale yeast from white labs in the past...is there something similar in dry form? I've looked at the windsor and I think I might use that one. Thanks for the help, guys.

Monk said:

I was told that a more flavorful yeast ought to be used for a bitter. I've used the english ale yeast from white labs in the past...is there something similar in dry form? I've looked at the windsor and I think I might use that one. Thanks for the help, guys.

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I think windsor or Safale-04 would be going in the right direction.