Should I go ahead and use this Danstar Nottingham?

Today I was going to use 1 pack of Danstar Nottingham for 11 gal of brew, so yesterday (I was brewing yesterday too) I used the rest of the second runnings for a "starter". Today I see no visible signs of life in the yeast! The powder seem to fall on the bottom of the jar and simply stayed there.
Whenever I activate US-05 (what I usually use) the powder mixes with water fast and gives it a milky color. The Nottingham didn't even mix with the wort. It's just laying on the bottom! Should I go ahead and still use it? Or just use US-05 instead?

What is the lot number and date?

I've always reconstituted Notingham in sterile water at 74 - 80 deg. It always looks like watery bread dough (yeast slurry) when I pitch.

I just sprinkle straight in wort. It has never failed me.

Your case is a tough call. I'd just pitch another yeast. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks you guys. I decided to go with US-05, luckily I had 2 packs at home. Here are some photos of the wort: as you can see 24 hours after pitching the powder is laying dormant on the bottom, the wort is clear, and there is no activity on the surface. The only reason I bothered making a "starter" with dry yeast is all the bad things I heard about Notty last year. I just wanted to make sure it's a valuable yeast. It's a good thing I did.
The lot# is 1080961099V
Exp 12-2011

For 11 gal with questionable Notty, I would use 4 satchels. If you have reliable Notty, 2 satchels would do. If you handled yours well, it should have started becoming active within a few hours to a day, so it seems to be dead or close to dead.

looks fine to me...after seeing it I woulda just pitched it. Just an FYI, for dry yeast if you want to check viability all you need to do is sprinkle it in a cup of water. You'll see it rehydrate within 30 minutes usually.

TheMan said:

looks fine to me...after seeing it I woulda just pitched it. Just an FYI, for dry yeast if you want to check viability all you need to do is sprinkle it in a cup of water. You'll see it rehydrate within 30 minutes usually.

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Do you call that rehydrated?

That looks like a big cake on the bottom, are you sure that it didnt ferment out over night? I just had Notty finish fermenting out a 1.069 ESB in under 3 days at 65°.

Scooby_Brew said:

Thanks you guys. I decided to go with US-05, luckily I had 2 packs at home. Here are some photos of the wort: us you can see 24 hours after pitching the powder is laying dormant on the bottom, the wort is clear, and there is no activity on the surface. The only reason I bothered making a "starter" with dry yeast is all the bad things I heard about Notty last year. I just wanted to make sure it's a valuable yeast. It's a good thing I did.
The lot# is 1080961099V
Exp 12-2011

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Just for grins, why don't you drop a table spoon full of corn sugar (dextrose) or DME in it to see if you get a reaction. If not, it's dead...

azscoob said:

That looks like a big cake on the bottom, are you sure that it didnt ferment out over night? I just had Notty finish fermenting out a 1.069 ESB in under 3 days at 65°.

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That does look like more than a packet

That is the lot number that folks are currently having issues with. However, it seems to be about 50/50 on wither any one package of this yeast is bad or not. (not hard data--just and observation)....

I'm starting to see some activity now - not much, but at least something is alive in there. When I opened the jar a day and a half after pitching I heard some CO2 escaping. Not much, but at least it's there! I can also see some activity on the surface, I see at least one small spot with foam. Also, when I stir it now I can see small bubbles of CO2 escaping. Maybe I should make a starter with it? I'm gonna feel bad pooring it out now

It does work,
It just doesn't work like it should. It takes a long time to start, takes a long time to finish, and takes a long time to condition. As long as you have good sanitation, everything should be OK. I just don't like waiting that long if I don't have to, so I'm using US-05 till it gets worked out.

nottingham is probably the best general yeast. it's fast reacting, clean, and great for many styles. 1 of my favorites along with s04

lumpher said:

nottingham is probably the best general yeast. it's fast reacting, clean, and great for many styles. 1 of my favorites along with s04

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When it's working properly

true, rover. they did go through a cluster recently. i was in a bad mood when they had that bad batch

update: after starting to see some signs of life in my "mini-starter" (a day and a half after pitching) I decided to do a "real" starter and pitch the Notty from the jar into a growler with 3 quarts of fresh wort. Now, 2 days after first pitching, the yeast is working although very slowly. The wort is cloudy, stuff is moving around in there, I can see some "bubbly" spots on the surface and the airlock is burping about once a minute. As I said, it's slow, but it's going.
BTW, on the same day I pitched the Notty into the first starter I brewed an 11 gal batch of IPA and pitched one pack of US-05 in it. Right now that thing sounds like a machine gun, with probably one CO2 burp a second. I know, CO2 is not the only sign of healthy yeast, but still... what a difference.

azscoob said:

That looks like a big cake on the bottom, are you sure that it didnt ferment out over night? I just had Notty finish fermenting out a 1.069 ESB in under 3 days at 65°.

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Nope, that's not a slurry on the bottom. When you shook it, it looked like undissolved powder in the wort. Very different looking from a yeast cake.