Just How Potent is a Packet of Nottingham? (Experiment)

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BierMuncher

...My Junk is Ugly...
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I just finished brewing my 10-gallon batch of Old Speckled Hen today (last day of vacation).

I mashed high for a malty profile and wanted to follow Orfy's advice about using Nottingham for a clean ferment, but only had one packet.

So rather than risk two different flavored kegs, I decided to experiment with splitting the packet between the two.

I hydrated for about 2 hours and boy, it smelled like a raw dough factory. Anyway, I've pitched equal amounts and I will keep an eye on the progess of the fermentation.

It's a 1.052 OG beer, including 2# of Invert sugar and 1/2# of raw cane sugar.

With a high mash, I expect a finishing gravity of around 1.014-15.

I'll post the progress.
 
well, if peter piper picked a precise point for the potent packet of nottingham to peak, i'm guessing he'd go with 16 hours ;)

what did you do for aeration?
 
BierMuncher said:
So rather than risk two different flavored kegs, I decided to experiment with splitting the packet between the two.

Why not just make a starter and split that? You risk ester formation from pitching small.
 
Cheesefood said:
Why not just make a starter and split that? You risk ester formation from pitching small.

true, but since he didn't.....


if he was splitting a vial between two batches then I would be rather worried of underpitching. But since it's a packet of nottingham It will work. He may be a tad short, but not enough to where you are going to notice off flavors because of it.
 
I say you get about a 5 hour lag before experiencing slight activity.

I recently had a 36 hour COMPLETE fermentation (1.058 to 1.010) with a slight overpitch of Nottingham.
 
I'd also like to add that Nottingham seems to generate about 9-10 degrees of heat during the first couple of days. My chest freezer is at 59 degrees ambient and the sensor taped to the bucket shows 68 degrees. That's about 30% warmer than WLP029.
 
Sorry guys. I've been busy cleaning kegs, filling kegs, cleaning carboys and sampling brews.

It's now 9:36PM my time, exactly 7 hours post-pitch.

No airlock activity.

Just took a peak and there appears to be only the sightest hint of some fine CO2 bubbles just below the surface of the wort.

I aerated in my normal fashion. Poured about 2 gallons out of one of the buckets into a seperate pot and then poured the buckets violently back and forth from about two feet until I had to stop to prevent the suds from frothing over the side.

She's good and aerated.

The ambient is right at 70 degrees...normal for the brewshop.

I'll check again in the AM and post when I get to work.
 
Sorry again guys. I’m paying the price at work for being on vacation (354 unread emails)

Anyway, last time I posted it was 9:30(ish)PM and 7 hours post pitch, with no real activity.

Last night at midnight (9.5 hours post pitch), I woke for the first…uh…”break” of the evening and took a peek. There was airlock activity. Nothing violent, but certainly steady and predictable. Took a look under the lid (I primary in buckets) and there was a nice ¼ inch of thick cream colored krausen. Needless to say, I went back to sleep with a smile on my face.

Woke up again at 4:00AM (13.5 hours post pitch) for another “break” (hey, I had a few HB’s before bed). Now the airlocks were on a steady pulse. Slightly faster than one-per-second. I didn’t look into the airlock that time.

Woke up at 6:45 (16.25 hours post pitch) and the airlocks are humming along. Took a look under the hood and the krausen is now a nice 1” thick and showing very dark “crusting” on top.

I’ll check again and follow the process until fermentation is complete, but early prognosis is that one packet of Nottingham is certainly sufficient for a 10-gallon batch of medium gravity (1.052) beer.
 
Popped home at lunch, (22 hours post pitch) and the airlocks are going crazy. Nearly a solid burnt toast color covers most of the krausen now.

Could we be looking at a 48 hour terminal gravity?
 
I had no doubt this would work. Believe it or not, pitching more than 1 packet of dry yeast in a 5 gallon batch is over-pitching. 1 packet is more than enough for 10 gallons.
 
48 hours post pitch.
Gravity is now at 1.014. (My original FG estimate).

Seems there is still enough activity to get me another 1-2 points by the end of the day.

Conclusion - A single packet of Nottingham, properly hydrated 1-2 hours ahead of pitching, is enough to completely ferment a 10-gallon batch of medium bodied (1.052) beer in a satisfactory time frame < 72 hours.

On a slightly down note, I’d hoped to have FG at 1.014-1.016 for this style beer. Looks like the Notty is going to take me a bit drier than I’d hoped.
 
BierMuncher said:
Last night at midnight (9.5 hours post pitch), I woke for the first…uh…”break” of the evening and took a peek.
Woke up again at 4:00AM (13.5 hours post pitch) for another “break” (hey, I had a few HB’s before bed).

How long has it been since your last prostate exam?

Eat some soy in the mean time. Lots of soy.
 
BierMuncher said:
48 hours post pitch.
Gravity is now at 1.014. (My original FG estimate).

Seems there is still enough activity to get me another 1-2 points by the end of the day.

Conclusion - A single packet of Nottingham, properly hydrated 1-2 hours ahead of pitching, is enough to completely ferment a 10-gallon batch of medium bodied (1.052) beer in a satisfactory time frame < 72 hours.

On a slightly down note, I&#8217;d hoped to have FG at 1.014-1.016 for this style beer. Looks like the Notty is going to take me a bit drier than I&#8217;d hoped.

It's good stuff.
That's why I mash high when I use it.

Taste it going into secondary and add a little malto if needed but I don't think it will be.
The OSH is a little drier than a Goblin.
 
I was wondering if maybe you could bottle without priming at near FG? Especially if you knew where you wanted to end up...
 
I have always wondered this myself Crazy. Maybe we will finally get an answer.
 
Crazytwoknobs said:
I was wondering if maybe you could bottle without priming at near FG? Especially if you knew where you wanted to end up...

I think the only what you could do that with confidence is with a recipe you have done over, and with consistent (and subsequently predictable) results.

Final gravity is defined by just that&#8230;the final gravity. Predicting the FG is hit or miss. I&#8217;m not sure misjudging would be worth trying to shave a few days of the priming procedure off the process.
 
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