Notty vs US-05?

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Yesfan

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Has anyone compared these two strains? I brewed a brown ale last week and thought I would split the batch in half and add Notty to one and 05 to the other to see if I would notice. That's the only thing I did different. Will there be a noticeable difference between the two? I pitched both yeasts at 62F.


I've brewed this brown ale before about three years ago (NB's nut brown ale) and, to be honest, I hated it. I love brown ales, but mine was bad enough for me to think about dumping. At that time, it was only my second batch into the hobby, so now I wanted to give it another go wondering if the first go around was something I didn't do correctly. The original recipe calls for Notty, but I wanted to see what it would be like with a different yeast, hence the splitting.
 
I did two versions of a wheat pale, one with Notty and one with US-05 (both rehydrated) and fermented at the same temps. Both attenuated around 80% and tasted/smelled very similar, with the exception of the different hops used.

However, I will mention that these were very hoppy brews, so any subtle differences could have been masked.
 
The last few beers I've done there's been an off taste that hasn't set right with me. My beers haven't been no where as bad as that first brown ale, but I feel like they could have been better. Those that have stood out to me, seem to have had Notty as the yeast, so it got me thinking


I'm not pointing the finger at the yeast, but just thought I would try something different to see if it's an improvement. That last brown, btw, I fermented at around 74F. Looking back and knowing now what I didn't then, I'm sure the high temp played a role in that batch being horrendous.
 
The last few beers I've done there's been an off taste that hasn't set right with me. My beers haven't been no where as bad as that first brown ale, but I feel like they could have been better. Those that have stood out to me, seem to have had Notty as the yeast, so it got me thinking


I'm not pointing the finger at the yeast, but just thought I would try something different to see if it's an improvement. That last brown, btw, I fermented at around 74F. Looking back and knowing now what I didn't then, I'm sure the high temp played a role in that batch being horrendous.

That would do it.
 
The last few beers I've done there's been an off taste that hasn't set right with me. My beers haven't been no where as bad as that first brown ale, but I feel like they could have been better. Those that have stood out to me, seem to have had Notty as the yeast, so it got me thinking


I'm not pointing the finger at the yeast, but just thought I would try something different to see if it's an improvement. That last brown, btw, I fermented at around 74F. Looking back and knowing now what I didn't then, I'm sure the high temp played a role in that batch being horrendous.

Notty is known to have unpleasant flavors in the higher temperature range (68F+ although some people report a few degrees higher or lower as their cutoff point)

US05 is supposed to remain clean up to 72F but I've never let it get above 69F during active fermentation.
 
The last few beers I've done there's been an off taste that hasn't set right with me. My beers haven't been no where as bad as that first brown ale, but I feel like they could have been better. Those that have stood out to me, seem to have had Notty as the yeast, so it got me thinking


I'm not pointing the finger at the yeast, but just thought I would try something different to see if it's an improvement. That last brown, btw, I fermented at around 74F. Looking back and knowing now what I didn't then, I'm sure the high temp played a role in that batch being horrendous.

If you're stuck with fermenting at 74*F, Nottingham (which is my go-to dry yeast for many styles) would be my last choice. It'll give some pretty noticeable off-flavors at that temp.
 
If you're stuck with fermenting at 74*F, Nottingham (which is my go-to dry yeast for many styles) would be my last choice. It'll give some pretty noticeable off-flavors at that temp.


The first time I brewed this beer I was stuck at that temp. That was about three years ago. This last batch with Notty (and US-05) I pitched at 64F. I have a temp controlled freezer now for my brews. It's set at 62F.
 
On a side note, does US-04 also suffer from temps above the mid 60s?

No. It's a few degrees higher more tolerant than Notty. I'd still not want it much over 70 while active. I usually pitch at 60, let it settle in at 63 and finish around 68-69.
 
I've split a batch between Notty and 05. Both were similar, the 05 a little drier and hoppier. It (05) also attenuated further. I more or less use them interchangeably, depending on weather. I ferment in the basement, using ice packs in warm weather. US05 in summer, Notty in winter. I too have had unpleasant flavor from Notty over 70. Some report fruitiness from 05 under 64. Let us know how it works out.
 
I've been bouncing back and forth between the two. They're very similar IMO.

The biggest difference in taste I've found was Pliny clone. Brewed 6 gallons with US-05, then a couple weeks later I brewed a batch with Notty. For some reason, the one with Notty tasted a bit more "yeasty". Could have been something else in my process, though.

Others since then have been very similar.

I have noticed that Notty floccs/cakes to the bottom of bottles MUCH tighter than US-05. When going from bottle to glass I find that I have to be really careful to avoid pouring yeast into my glass with US-05.
 
Yesfan: I have had poor results with almost any yeasts at over 70 degrees. Either boil-over or off-flavors seem to be common. I had a ruined batch of Ed Wort's house pale that tasted like bananas. (that was Notty yeast and a heat wave pushed my closet up to about 74 deg.)
Since then, I have found that a wet towel wrapped around the fermenters with a fan on them, can cool the batch about as much as you like. I do live in a dry area, where evaporation is effective.
After brewing about 50 batches with Saf 04, 05, Notty and a couple of others, I have found that 63-65 degrees seems to be optimum.
 
I used Notty and Saf 05 almost interchangeably and have found them to be really similar. I like beers with IBUs from 40 to about 100 so any hairsplitting differences in flavor are probably missing. I have a batch of India Red with both yeasts going right now.
Notty does not like fermentation temps above the mid 60's. Saf 05 seems a bit better.
I do not like brown ales at all so the finer points of yeast on that style are wasted on me.
 
After over 600 gallons of brew over the years, I'm finally trying Nottingham.

My brewpi profile starts out at 62f for four days and then ramps up to 67f over 4 days.

Notty is not vociferous at 62f... I was a bit worried about it so I took a few gravity readings at 62f. OG was 1.040, at 48 hours it had dropped to 1.021, and at 36 hours it had dropped to 1.015. I had a different batch going at the same time with US-05 and it was blowing the airlock off at the same ambient temperatures.

Screenshot from 2015-03-28 08:44:08.png
 
Basic brewing radio did a podcast with one beer fermented with 6 yeasts, the taste test winner was the So5, I'm pretty sure Nottingham was included as well as some liquid yeast, they were using a beer with late hop additions, and the flavor was better with the So5 (according to the panel on the show) you may get different results depending on your tastes and the style of beer you are brewing. The podcast was from August 30, 2012:

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2012
 
I've split a batch between Notty and 05. Both were similar, the 05 a little drier and hoppier. It (05) also attenuated further. I more or less use them interchangeably, depending on weather. I ferment in the basement, using ice packs in warm weather. US05 in summer, Notty in winter. I too have had unpleasant flavor from Notty over 70. Some report fruitiness from 05 under 64. Let us know how it works out.

Thought I would throw out an update.


I'm no beer judge, so take my comments with a grain of salt.


I did a comparison with my two beers at my cousin's house after helping him with an IPA he was brewing. We also compared my beers to three brands that I liked, BBC Brown, Newcastle, and Blackstone's Brown (based out of Nashville).

The Notty was a bit more fruity in test while the 05 was drier to me. The 05 tasted like something I would have in an American brown ale. I wonder if that yeast would be ideal in a chocolate brown ale. I kinda preferred the Notty, but thought both were good. We then put up the Notty over the name brands to see how it would fair. I was surprised how well it held up to the others. While I like Newcastle, I actually preferred my Notty version over it. The BBC was the clear winner for me with the Blackstone not too far behind. I expected mine to rank dead last, but it fared better so I was pleased to say the least. Nothing against Newcastle (I love Newcastle) as it tasted good that night, but had this skunky aroma to it.

What this "shoot-out" did do was confirm what most of you in this thread have said...that Notty is best if you keep the fermentation temps in the mid to low 60s. The first time I made this batch three years ago, I was at the mercy of my ambient temps of my basement. The second time around, I was able to ferment this beer at 64F which was 10 degrees cooler than the first go around and the result was a much better tasting beer.
 
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