Dry Yeast Experiment

Today I started a little experiment, I brewed up an IPA recipe I have been toying around with for a while. Here it is if anyone is curious:

Side note: I tried out Deathbrewers Brew-in-a-bag for my first attempt at partial mash. I have 8 AG batches done, but am looking for ways to save a little time since I can't seem to find as many contiguous 6 hour blocks as I would like. I got crap for efficiency, not sure the stovetop brew in a bag got me any points or not. The time savings was negligible, and for anyone doing PM because of the fear of AG, its only 1% harder, go get yourself a cooler already .

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 54.5 %
2.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 18.2 %
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
1.00 oz Chinook [11.00%] (60 min) Hops 31.5 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [11.90%] (30 min) Hops 26.2 IBU
1.00 oz Chinook [11.00%] (20 min) Hops 19.1 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.90%] (15 min) Hops 12.6 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.90%] (5 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.90%] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 lb Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM) Sugar 9.1 %
1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Measured Original Gravity: 1.069 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Bitterness: 94.4 IBU


In any case, back to the experiment part...

I divided up the wort into roughly equal parts in 3 PETE Absopure jugs, and pitched Nottingham, S-05, and S-33. The S-33 one is full of Hop particles and trub, but wtf, its an experiment right?

I will periodically post back gravity readings, clarity, pics maybe? and in a few months time, taste notes.

Woah...

The S-33 is already krausening. 4 hour lag time? That has never happened for me before

S-05 and Nottingham not so much going on yet.

Overnight update:

The Nottingham has reached the bottom of the airlock, so I switched to a blowoff.

The S-05 has about one inch of krausen.

The S-33 made it partway up the blowoff tube.

It has been a week, the S-33 was the first to drop Krausen which surprised me. It is also the one with the least volume most trub from the kettle, coincidence? circumstance?

All 3 appear to be finished, I moved them to a warmer spot to make sure they were done, this coaked a little pressure into the airlock and a few bubbles to rise to the surface. Will check SG after 2 full weeks.

Took gravity readings today two weeks in.

US-05 - SG 1.012 Very clean tasting, allows the Hops to take front and center. Still green tasting, but pretty good for 2 week old.

Nottingham - SG 1.010 Slightly more fruity than the US-05. Still clean, and green and hop forward.

S-33 - SG 1.019 Hmm. Disappointed? Yeah. Very sweet. green. I think I will give this one a nice swirl and bring it upstairs.

US-05 is favorite so far. Nottingham is a close second. I think the S-33 should have some more kick left, I hope I can get a few more points out of it.

what went wrong with your BIAB attempt?

DeathBrewer said:

what went wrong with your BIAB attempt?

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Nothing went wrong per se...

A little background. I have been doing AG for the last 6 - 8 months, so that process is familiar and predictable now. Work has been very busy (Q4 blues) so I have been doing a few extract batches to keep the pipeline full and try out a few different styles. I figured I would give Partial Mash a whirl to see if that would result in a better final product than extract and steeping grains.

I got crap for efficiency, and the time spent was almost equal to that of an All Grain day. I do not blame the BIAB process, but my execution of it . Hopefully it didn't come across as a slight to your process. I may try it again in the future, but hopefully with the new year (and Q1 upon us) I will have a bit more time to do something besides work. Cheers.

now worries...just let me know if there is anything i can do to help. i've found it to be much faster and easier, but yeah...i've been using it for a long time and have it pretty fine-tuned. even my thread is out of date

Week 3, tested the S-33 still at .019 despite being warmed/swirled and generally agitated when I remembered.

I racked all 3 into clean carboys with 1oz whole Centennial. First time dry hopping with whole hops. Pretty amazing the difference between 1oz of pellet and 1oz of whole leaf. Seems like I will be losing more beer, but thats a price I am willing to pay for Centennial .

I plan on bottling in 7 days, shouldn't be anything going on then right?

Nice write up on your results.

I use US-05 on my IPA and a blonde. I had been using WLP001 forever and the homebrew store was out one day, grabbed the US-05 and haven't switched back.

I am hoping to have an apples to apples comparison of several dry yeast strains in a style I like . That way I can try to learn and share the different characteristics and flavors of various yeasts. I hope to keep updating for at least 6 - 12 months or until its gone .

I have now tried one of each, the S-33, US05 and Nottingham versions. Each are good, and slightly different, but still not quite ready. They still taste a little green. I will reserve judgement for another month or so. S-33 definitely has a little funky yeasty flavor, Nottingham tastes pretty good, US05 tastes the most green.

All are well carbed. I am drinking an 05 right now and it has nice lacing and a nice thin head 20 minutes after pouring. The Nottingham last night was similar. The S-33 I had last week, I did not remember the nice lacing. It was carbed, but almost looked like a keg pour.

Thanks for the update

I popped a bottle of the Nottingham-IPA last night. It was Very bitter . Right now, it could use a little more balance. 1.010 is pretty dry, but I have high hopes for this brew. I still taste a little twang, maybe from extract? I have a bottle of US-05 in the fridge, I plan to taste that one tonight. The S-33 never fully attenuated, so that one is very sweet.

The weird thing is that I just did a split with a low gravity blonde and I found the US-05 to be more fruity than Nottingham. Notty was significantly cleaner and less fruity.

Great thread!!!

Bobby_M said:

The weird thing is that I just did a split with a low gravity blonde and I found the US-05 to be more fruity than Nottingham. Notty was significantly cleaner and less fruity.

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The beer was still pretty green when I wrote that about the Nottingham. I will update after I sample the 05 this evening. The Nottingham was very clean and very dry last night.

pictures?
10

Heh, pictures huh?

Well. Its IPA looking. Imagine a nice IPA... there you go

Seriously, I will have to do a side by side one of these days to compare color, clarity, etc.

I am drinking the 05 right now. It tastes a little rounder than the Nottingham last night. A little sweeter. The Nottingham seemed much more bitter. This one seems a little more balanced. The 05 and Nottingham seem like different beers altogether. Hard to say which one wins the taste test right now. I am pleased with all but the S-33.

Bobby_M said:

The weird thing is that I just did a split with a low gravity blonde and I found the US-05 to be more fruity than Nottingham. Notty was significantly cleaner and less fruity.

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Which did you prefer, because I am about to make a blonde.

s3n8 said:

I am drinking the 05 right now. It tastes a little rounder than the Nottingham last night. A little sweeter. The Nottingham seemed much more bitter. This one seems a little more balanced. The 05 and Nottingham seem like different beers altogether. Hard to say which one wins the taste test right now. I am pleased with all but the S-33.

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Nice info. Do you think the problems you are having with S-33 are due to the trub you mentioned in the first post? I noticed the S-33 stalled and you were going to swirl it and move it up stairs. What was the FG of the S-33?

I warmed, swirled, stirred, warmed, swirled... FG of the S-33 never dropped below 1.018 or 1.019. I really don't think the trub had a negative impact. I have dumped the whole lot into the fermenter before and never had an attenuation problem. This is the only time I have ever used that yeast on a 'big' beer, so I am not sure what to expect attenuation wise.

US 05 stopped at a respectable 1.012.

Nottingham went to 1.010.

Patton191 said:

Which did you prefer, because I am about to make a blonde.

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Since there is not a whole lot going on in a blonde, I would suggest using a yeast with a little character. Thats just me though. I made a Belgian Blonde yesterday, used Wyeast 1388.

Just finished one of the S-33 IPAs. Yeah, disappointing. Almost sticky sweet.

Nottingham is almost too dry right now. Hop forward is the only way i can describe it.

US-05 seems to be the most drinkable right now.

I am wondering what 3 - 6 months will do to this brew. I bet as the hops continue to mellow the Nottingham will be fantastic. The S-33 is most likely going to continue to get sweeter as the hops mellow.

I know I said this on another thread about s-33 but I had the same problem. I have one I am somehow trying to coax it down from 1.022 and another in primary I have not checked.

I am not pleased with s-33 either.

Keep up with the notes! Good thread.

I did a similar experiment last year. I brewed a bunch of 12 gallon batches and compared numerous liquid and dry yeasts with a series of IPA's. I was looking for a yeast that was consistently good and dried the beer well. My results led me to choose the Nottingham yeast. Nottingham works really well. It consistently produces the driest beer and a good neutral flavor. When you properly re-hydrate the yeast, it starts really fast, finishes clean and ferments completely. Following my testing, I use Nottingham exclusively for my American style beers. The stuff rocks.

s3n8 said:

I warmed, swirled, stirred, warmed, swirled... FG of the S-33 never dropped below 1.018 or 1.019. I really don't think the trub had a negative impact. I have dumped the whole lot into the fermenter before and never had an attenuation problem. This is the only time I have ever used that yeast on a 'big' beer, so I am not sure what to expect attenuation wise.

US 05 stopped at a respectable 1.012.

Nottingham went to 1.010.

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After 5 weeks I went to bottle a s-33 beer with an FG of 1.022 and out of nowhere krauson appeared and the airlock is clicking at about once every 8 count. Don't know when or where it will stop but I will post new final gravity. Almost lost hope and created bottle bombs. I'm cornfused

Quick update on this one. My neighbor and I brewed up a Kriek last weekend and sampled several homebrews and commercials as well. This was the first time I have been able to pour all 3 side by side (no pics, sorry, they all look identical). The S-33 is still not good. Too sweet. The Nottingham is very good, drinkable, dry, and hoppy. I definitely would be happy with this one if... I didn't also have the US-05 right next to it. I really like the 05 better. Its got better body, mouthfeel, and taste, just a hint sweeter and a hint fruitier. So after 5 months:

US-05 ahead by a nose
Nottingham a close-ish second
S-33 meh.

I used S-33 and US-05 on the same wort back in March. The US-05 went from 1.054 to 1.009 after 28 days in primary; the S-33 went from 1.054 to 1.010.

The s-33 has a definitely more pronounced flavor though.

tkone said:

I used S-33 and US-05 on the same wort back in March. The US-05 went from 1.054 to 1.009 after 28 days in primary; the S-33 went from 1.054 to 1.010.

The s-33 has a definitely more pronounced flavor though.

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Sounds like yours attenuated well. Mine did not. So is the more pronounced flavor good or bad?

I have not updated this thread in a while, but I still have a couple bottles of each yet. I am drinking a bottle of the nottingham-IPA right now. It has lost some of the hop flavor and certainly lot of the aroma. Still has a firm bitterness, but is missing that fresh IPA pop. I had a bottle of the S-33 and its still too sweet, and now that the hop pop is fading, its cloying. Not had any of the 05 in a while, have one in the fridge, probably drink it next weekend and try to remember to update.