Nottingham yeast for cider?

[Lauritsen]

Have any tried using Nottingham yeast for apple wine or cider?

Whats your opinion of using nottingham yeast for this purpose?

 

[lumpher]

I prefer Nottingham over wine yeast. Doesn't dry it out so much and leaves some apple flavor.

 

[Terek]

i have a few times. i prefer us-05.
I did watch a chop and brew episode yesterday about a guy that has won many many many medals for his cider. He uses nothing but nottingham. It leaves the cider a bit sweet, instead of drying it out all the way.

this video is also a great watch. He is an artist with his cider. Im a BIG cider maker, and took a lot of his tips to my own brew room.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5Gkdk6bv7M[/ame]

 

[lustreking]

I use Nottingham for my cider. I haven't experimented with other ale yeasts, but never saw a need to.

 

[pshankstar]

I went to the LHBS this past weekend to pickup some Safale 04 to use for my first cider attempt but they were all out. Someone cleared them out of the 04 and 05 earlier that day. So girl there recommended the Nottingham yeast instead, which is what she uses for cider and I have read here of others using it too. This is only day three but it seems to be moving along!

 

[Mismost]

used it on my only 2 batches of cider and it worked fine. My problem is I just have zero experience with cider! So, I don't know if it's good, bad, or just OK....it does not gag you...it tastes Ok to me and they say it gets better in a year. Whatever, the Notty did it's job right.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I just did my first batch of cider and I used Cider yeast. With that being said I did learn that if you use cider/wine yeast you don't need much head space if you use ale yeast you will want to give yourself some room. Just a tip for when you decide.

 

[Phildo253]

I used to use lalvin champagne yeast, which is really good at producing high abv apfelwine, but it takes forever. I have a 14% apfelwine that is approaching 2 years old and is just now smoothing out.

I wanted to make something more along the lines of a quick scrumpy cider, that was a little sweeter, kept more apple flavor and I could easily carbonate and then pastuerize. I settiled on the nottingham ale yeast and havent looked back. My cider sits in primary for about 10 days until it hits 1.015, which is the level of sweetness that SWMBO has determined that she likes in a cider. I then add 3.7oz bottling sugar to the bottling bucket, rack to the bucket and bottle. 4-7 days later, i check the carbonation and pastuerize. They then sit for about a month and then cold crash and drink. Before a minth, they are still drinkable, but are much better after a month.

The nottinghams adds a nice wheat quality to the cider.

I have made a 7% with extra sugar, natural 4%, pineapple, blueberry, strawberry, spiced ciders all pretty much the exact same way and they all turn out great. Very drinkable and I get a lot of compliments from the unwashed masses.

 

[Lauritsen]

Issue is Nottingham isnt supposed to like alcohol level of 12%? Have you tried?

As I like The wine on the bit sweet side I would make it a bit higher as sweetening dilutes.

Also. Is Nottingham sensitive to temperature? IF room temp is too high. Will it affect?

 

[Maylar]

Keep within the yeast's published temperature range - don't use Notty much above 70°F. Alcohol tolerance isn't published but 12% sounds reasonable. I've read that it doesn't die gracefully tho when getting there - there are reports of sulfur smells.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Check out Scott Labs Cider Handbook, I used a few of the yeasts that they recommended for the three 6 gallon batches of cider that I have aging, they all came out great, click here .

 

[Dancy]

I just pitched the Nottingham last night in my first hard cider - -actually, the Graff recipe in that thread -- and as of this morning, no activity. I hydrated it in the appropriate water temp prior to pitching -- the wort and apple juice were a bit cool - 57F but warmed up to 63F by bedtime. No VISIBLE activity. What should I expect? Ordinarily, I brew beer with liquid yeast - Imperial, mainly -- and see more vigorous activity fairly soon after pitching.

 

[Maylar]

Did you use any yeast nutrient?

Notty can be slow to start when cold, but it's a very powerful fermenter once it gets going.

 

[bucketnative]

I used Nottingham in my last cider (it isn't bottled yet - on it's 3rd month in secondary). I started it at about 60 °F without nutrient. It took about 24 h to notice any real activity. On day 3, I noticed a strong sulfur odor, so I added some nutrient (1 tsp to 3 gal), and within a day, the sulfur was gone. So, I would pay attention to the air lock, and add nutrient if it starts going sulfurous.

 

[Dancy]

By the evening after my initial post, it was going crazy! It was just as rigorous the next day and now on the 5th day the airlock still has activity every 20-30 seconds or so. It IS a powerful fermenter as Mahler said. I did not use any nutrient, just hydrated it.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Yes. It works well.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Notthingham is my go to yeast for cider. It seems to leave more apple taste than other yeasts. Also, I have used it in other "cider like" beverages made from fruits, i.e. low abv country wines. It performs well on those too.

I have other yeasts in my fridge, but the first one I usually think about is Notty.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Have any tried using Nottingham yeast for apple wine or cider?

Whats your opinion of using nottingham yeast for this purpose?

Nottingham is also my go to yeast for cider & graff; I use it in almost every batch I make.
Regards, GF.

 

[dmtaylor]

Like most yeasts, Notty is just okay in cider. Try Cote des Blancs if you want something truly fantastic. And it's cheaper.