Nottingham Yeast

Thats some good stuff. I didn't do a starter, just rehydrated a half hour before pitching. I had activity within a couple of hours. I was a little concered since I haven't used dry yeast since I was doing kits but if the taste turns out good I'm converted. I can't beleive I've been wasting money on the smack packs.

Actually they say that you should really never do a starter for dry yeast. Yeah, nottingham is great stuff, as is Safeale US-56.

And smack packs aren't necessarily a "waste of money". You just need to use good judgment and know when they're necessary and when they're not. I used nottingham for my double IPA because I know for a fact that none of the yeast characteristics are going to shine through, it'll be all hops and malt and alcohol. But on the other end of the spectrum, if I had used anything other than Wyeast Abbey II for my Rochefort 10 clone, then the beer would be pretty boring and mundane. You really just need to know when specialty yeasts are necessary and when they aren't. Since I don't have a local HBS, it's hard for me to get specialty yeast on the fly...so I keep a stash of dry yeast around. But if I plan far enough ahead, I can do a specialty recipe and the liquid yeast will be here in time. Wheat beers, belgians, etc., are very yeast-expressive styles, so liquid strains are anything but a waste of money...

Nottingham Rocks! I use it in my Haus Pale Ale and I just sprinkle it on the wort. Keep it simple as possible. Works every time.

no need to rehydrate either. Just cut the top and dump in as you are racking to a primary. Give it a good shake and you should see signs of fermentation within 5-6 hours

Chimone said:

no need to rehydrate either. Just cut the top and dump in as you are racking to a primary. Give it a good shake and you should see signs of fermentation within 5-6 hours

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Definitely not a necessity (I agree). However, rehydrating dry yeast is beneficial if you need your yeast count up and you don't want to pitch multiple packets. There are probably about 200 billion viable yeast cells in a fresh packet of Nottingham, but you only get that number if you rehydrate. Without hydration, the count of viable yeast can be as much as only half that, especially for a higher gravity wort where they are needed most (i.e., say about 1.065 and above).

I know you can stir it in or just leave it on top. Has anyone aerated their dry yeast with O2? I'm sure this would help with higher gravity beers.

FlyGuy said:

Definitely not a necessity (I agree). However, rehydrating dry yeast is beneficial if you need your yeast count up and you don't want to pitch multiple packets. There are probably about 200 billion viable yeast cells in a fresh packet of Nottingham, but you only get that number if you rehydrate. Without hydration, the count of viable yeast can be as much as only half that, especially for a higher gravity wort where they are needed most (i.e., say about 1.065 and above).

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say wha....?

learn something new every day I guess. Can you point me to where it says that please?

I use Safale S-04 mostly, and always rehydrate and infuse pure O2 into the wort before pitching.

Buford said:

I use Safale S-04 mostly, and always rehydrate and infuse pure O2 into the wort before pitching.

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Thanks Buford!
I've never used dry yeast before and was curious. I plan on making EdWorts Haus Pale ale soon and was wondering about the dry yeast. I have always aerated my wort after pitching with liquid yeast. Appreciate the response.

Chimone said:

say wha....?

learn something new every day I guess. Can you point me to where it says that please?

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Danstar yeast has a great website with some very detailed FAQs. I think I gleaned most of it there. Unfortunately, their site seems to be down right now so I can't pinpoint it (I'll keep checking).

Otherwise, it crops up every now and then on Basic Brewing Radio podcasts, and Jamil has mentioned it at least once on his podcasts.

I think when you just sprinkle it on top of the wort the yeast go into osmotic shock. There is a lot of sugars outside the dry yeast cells in this case. As the yeast begin to take on water, they realize this and in an effort to equalize to this environment will purge the water from themselves in an attempt to "dillute" their surroundings. In this case it can cause damage to cell walls and death, decreasing the number of viable cells. This becomes a greater issue when more sugars are in the environment, hence the problem with higher gravities.

A similar situation occurs when rehydating with distilled or RO water, where there is nothing in the water, therefore outside the cells (sugars or other solutes). In an effort to "dilute" thier insides and equalize to the environment, the yeasties will rapidly take on water and swell or burst, leading to decreased viability. This is why it is a good idea to rehydrate, and why it is best to use boiled, then cooled tap water.

I think I gleaned most of that from basic bio, but also it was mentioned by Jamil on his show at some point in time. Hopefully that makes sense and doesn't come under debate...

Thumbs up to Nottingham, it's cheap and a work horse. For the most part it may not always be the most ideal choice but never far off. I decided at the beginning of the year to pick a primary yeast, learn it's traits and brew based on that. Saw no reason why a proven dry yeast could not full fill this so started with Nottingham.

Chimone said:

say wha....?

learn something new every day I guess. Can you point me to where it says that please?

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Chimone -- just found that podcast by Jamil where he mentions not rehyrdating Nottingham yeast according to the manufacturers direction. It was the English Mild podcast at 40:00 (http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/Jamil08-14-06.mp3).

Also, the Danstar page is back online. Here is the FAQ I was looking for:
http://consumer.lallemand.com/danstar-lalvin/beerfaq.html#rehydrate

Cheers!

FlyGuy said:

Chimone -- just found that podcast by Jamil where he mentions not rehyrdating Nottingham yeast according to the manufacturers direction. It was the English Mild podcast at 40:00 (http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/Jamil08-14-06.mp3).

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Yea I misunderstood you in your first statement. I thought you meant that rehydrating would double your yeast count in a way a starter would. Sorry, was just a bit confused is all.

Yes thanks for the link anyways though. I'm gonna kick back and listen to it now