US-05 vs. Nottingham, side-by-side test

This is a split batch of my 11 gal Willamette Amber (my sort'a Fat Tire clone) with US-05 in one fermenter and Nottingham in the other.

Batch: 11 gal
IBU: 21.4
OG: 1.056
FG (US-05): 1.012
FG (Nottingham): 1.012

20 lbs 2-row
1 lb munich
1 lb cara-pils
1 lb biscuit
0.5 lb crystal 10
0.5 lb crystal 40
0.25 lb chocolate

2 oz. willamette 60 min
2 oz. willamette 20 min
2 oz. willamette 5 min

Aroma:
Notty: estery, malty
US-05: fruity, malty, a hint of honey

Appearance:
Notty: more cloudy, less head and lacing
US-05: clearer then Notty, more head and lacing

Mouthfeel/taste:
Notty: estery, full
US-05: light, crisp, sweet bread, hops coming through

Aftertaste:
Notty: sweet
US-05: Fruit, honey

Over All:
Notty: more estery, more malty.
US-05: crispy, fruity, hops coming trough better.
The difference between US-05 and Nottingham is visible, but is not huge. Notty has a lot of English notes. They both make a great, clean beer, both equally good, in this perticular recipe IMHO US-05 does slightly better

Side notes:
I fermented this beer at 67F. Nottigham took 9 days to ferment, US-05 was done in 3. Both beers landed up in about 1.012 FG, Notty was maybe a little bit lower FG (my hydrometer is not the best). I kept it in 67F for 2 weeks and then I moved it to ~40F for another two. Then I racked it into two corneys and primed it with 2.5 oz of cane sugar each, and then served it after 3 weeks.

Very cool. How long did you let them ferment? Did you secondary? Temp?

There was no secondary, only a "primary" for 2 weeks @ 67F and 2 weeks @ 40F. Then I kegged it and primed it in kegs for three weeks.

Why the 40 Degrees for two weeks after Fermentation? What was your goal for that step... just interested ?

The yeast in the one on the right made the glass seem less full. Which one was that?

skyebrewing said:

The yeast in the one on the right made the glass seem less full. Which one was that?

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It also looks distinctly like someone took a swig out of that one, too.

Based on the description, I'd say the one on the right is the US-05.

bschoenb said:

Why the 40 Degrees for two weeks after Fermentation? What was your goal for that step... just interested ?

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I simply fermented the beer in my basement for two weeks and then moved it into my garage for another two weeks for cold crashing. This way the beer was totaly clear by the time I racked it into kegs. Then I primed it and let it carbonate naturaly in kegs for 2-3 weeks.

skyebrewing said:

The yeast in the one on the right made the glass seem less full. Which one was that?

Click to expand...

I just took a taste sample from that glass.

GuldTuborg said:

Based on the description, I'd say the one on the right is the US-05.

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That's right.