Brews Nottingham Yeast is good for

Good Morning everyone

I currently have a Orfy's Mild Ale in primary, and I would like to try my first hand at yeast washing. I went to Danstar's site and it seems to be a good all-around sort of yeast. What beers does it go well with? Im thinking all Irish/Scottish/English Ales, just dark ales in general. Is this a good assumption? Is there any style it does NOT go well with?

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I've used it in many brews, from APAs and IPAs to British style beers. My favorite use was to make a cream ale and ferment it at 59 degrees- it came out almost lager-like it was so "clean".

The only time I've been disappointed with nottingham was when I fermented it above 70 degrees. It doesn't have a pleasant fruitiness like some ale yeast have- it has a nasty ester profile if it's fermented too warm. Otherwise, it's a pretty good standard ale yeast for most beers.

I've used Notty for lets see:

Pale Ale
IPA
ESB
Amber
Porter
Stout

not sure if I would use it for an Irish Ale or not. Also there is something going on with Nottingham right now. You may want to hold off. Not sure..

I much prefer US-05 for the pales, ambers and IPAs that I make most often - Nottingham is certainly fine for those styles but it just doesn't taste quite as neutral to me as 05 so I tend to use the Notty more in porters, stouts, ESBs - more english styles. I personally haven't had any troubles with Notty of late - in fact I recently made a 1.095 RIS that I double pitched with Nottingham and it went to 1.020 within 2 weeks. It definitely doesn't seem to start and ferment as vigorously as it used to, but it's always done the job for me.

I also agree with Yooper on the esters - I've had a couple of batches with a sourish taste from fermenting it over 70. Other yeasts are a bit more forgiving IMO but at 62-66 I've never had a problem.

My favorite pale ale uses Nottingham fermented in the low end. I also make a fake lager with it by fermenting it as low as I can and cold storing it for two weeks.

I think as long as you keep it under 70 that yeast is clean enough to use for most lighter colored ales.

Ok - thanks for the replies everyone, I think I have a good handle on this - gotta work on keeping those ferm temps down!

I find it more malt forward where US-05 is more hop forward. I use it only for malty beers, like my porters. I will never use it in a APA again.

Conroe said:

I find it more malt forward where US-05 is more hop forward. I use it only for malty beers, like my porters. I will never use it in a APA again.

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Well, I just pitched a packet of Nottingham in an IPA in which I used 7oz of hops in the boil. All of the additions at 20 minutes and later. If this doesn't turn out hop forward then there is something wrong with this yeast..I am sure it will be fine.

YooperBrew said:

I've used it in many brews, from APAs and IPAs to British style beers. My favorite use was to make a cream ale and ferment it at 59 degrees- it came out almost lager-like it was so "clean".

The only time I've been disappointed with nottingham was when I fermented it above 70 degrees. It doesn't have a pleasant fruitiness like some ale yeast have- it has a nasty ester profile if it's fermented too warm. Otherwise, it's a pretty good standard ale yeast for most beers.

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+1 on the Cream Ale.

I have about replaced Nottie with US-05 as my go to ale yeast, though.

I have made some "pop skull" by fermenting Nottie at room temp.

I love it in the high gravity christmas spice ale that i brew.

YooperBrew said:

I've used it in many brews, from APAs and IPAs to British style beers. My favorite use was to make a cream ale and ferment it at 59 degrees- it came out almost lager-like it was so "clean".

The only time I've been disappointed with nottingham was when I fermented it above 70 degrees. It doesn't have a pleasant fruitiness like some ale yeast have- it has a nasty ester profile if it's fermented too warm. Otherwise, it's a pretty good standard ale yeast for most beers.

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couldnt have said it better myself. Ive gone as low at 57-58 degrees with this yeast and it still fermented dry and tasted quite clean.

I wouldnt use it for anything you want alot of yeast character in.

the best homebrew RIS I have ever had was fermented with nottingham.

corvax13 said:

Good Morning everyone

I currently have a Orfy's Mild Ale in primary, and I would like to try my first hand at yeast washing. I went to Danstar's site and it seems to be a good all-around sort of yeast. What beers does it go well with? Im thinking all Irish/Scottish/English Ales, just dark ales in general. Is this a good assumption? Is there any style it does NOT go well with?

Thanks for the advice everyone!

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While I might get flamed for this, you asked...

My response would be NONE. Notty is good for zero types of beer, because it is unreliable at the moment. They imprint their packets exp date which causes holes in the packet(use flashlight to see clearly through), letting air in and killling the yeast. I have tried notty 3 times from different lot #'s and each time I had to repitch after 3-4 days (no activity, no gravity movement).

On a side note, if I can get my hands on the new packets which are supposedly ink stamped avoiding the holes, I would LOVE to try it again as so many people love it.

No grudges, just answering your call for information honestly.Cheers!

jjones17 said:

While I might get flamed for this, you asked...

My response would be NONE. Notty is good for zero types of beer, because it is unreliable at the moment. They imprint their packets exp date which causes holes in the packet(use flashlight to see clearly through), letting air in and killling the yeast. I have tried notty 3 times from different lot #'s and each time I had to repitch after 3-4 days (no activity, no gravity movement).

On a side note, if I can get my hands on the new packets which are supposedly ink stamped avoiding the holes, I would LOVE to try it again as so many people love it.

No grudges, just answering your call for information honestly.Cheers!

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Well, I guess I can vouch for the 'new' packets. I bought a packet from Austin Homebrew and recieved it yesterday. I went ahead and brewed with it last night and there is good activity this morning. Should be sucessfull.

Well, this is good news - In my next yeast order I will ask about the Notty to see if it is the new batch. Unfortunately, I am limited to mail order for the most part.