2016 Nottingham ale yeast thread

[416Brewer]

I used Nottingham Ale Yeast to ferment a 5 gallon batch of low gravity blond ale. The characteristics of the fermentation were different then any yeast I've used so far. Just sharing my experience.

12-24 hrs after pitching

Wort is clear
Krausen looks yellowish and globby
No sediment on bottom
No action on blow off
Slow start

48 hrs after pitching

Krausen thicker
Little sediment looks like protein globs
Wort still clear
No action on blow off

72 hrs after pitching

Yeast party
Krausen looks more white
Wort looks cloudy and 'normal'
No action on blow off tube

At this point I swapped the blow off tube for an air lock. The air lock started to bubble (yay) and I went away for three days.

6 days after pitching

Air lock stopped bubbling
Normal amount of sediment
Fermentation over
More yeast then I've seen on sides of carboy

Fermntation Temp 18-19C

I'm sure final gravity will be fine.

I've heard Nottingham yeast is a 'beast' and to expect a very active fermentation. But I've never seen such a slow or soft fermentation.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Cheers.

 

[ncbrewer]

I used Nottingham Ale Yeast to ferment a 5 gallon batch of low gravity blond ale. The characteristics of the fermentation were different then any yeast I've used so far. Just sharing my experience.

12-24 hrs after pitching

Wort is clear
Krausen looks yellowish and globby
No sediment on bottom
No action on blow off
Slow start

48 hrs after pitching

Krausen thicker
Little sediment looks like protein globs
Wort still clear
No action on blow off

72 hrs after pitching

Yeast party
Krausen looks more white
Wort looks cloudy and 'normal'
No action on blow off tube

At this point I swapped the blow off tube for an air lock. The air lock started to bubble (yay) and I went away for three days.

6 days after pitching

Air lock stopped bubbling
Normal amount of sediment
Fermentation over
More yeast then I've seen on sides of carboy

Fermntation Temp 18-19C

I'm sure final gravity will be fine.

I've heard Nottingham yeast is a 'beast' and to expect a very active fermentation. But I've never seen such a slow or soft fermentation.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Cheers.

With kraeusen 12 - 24 hrs after pitching, it seems pretty normal. I guess the clear wort makes it seem like it hasn't started. (I use a bucket, so I can't see if it's clear.) As far as a "soft" fermentation, I've never gotten a blow-off with Nottingham at 65F.

 

[BaylessBrewer]

I just did a IPA with Notty and it was nothing spectacular in the activity arena.
OG was 1.074 and I pitched 2 packs into the wort @65*F and fermented @ 60*.
Had activity about 8 hours later and a nice even and active fermentation for about 3 days and then the krausen dropped. Gravity was 1.016 at that time. So I dry hopped and I'll be starting a cold crash tomorrow. Samples have tasted great so it's working.

 

[DarkStormBrewing]

I pitched 3 packs of Nottingham into 11 gallons of 1.043 wort of Bier Munchers Centennial Blonde on 2/13/16. I have seen no action so far. Brew day went well, but forgot yeast nutrient and whirlflock at 10 min. Lots of trub and headspace in 60L Speidel cube. Blowoff tube into Starsan seeing no action at 60 hours in. Fermenting at 63-64 temp controlled fridge with thermowell. Plan to take a reading at 72 hours. Fridge smells like wort, not yeasty and of co2. I'll update as it (hopefully) progresses.

 

[Jim311]

Used it twice in the last two weeks. One packet of Danstar Nottingham pitched into a 1.055ish OG Oatmeal Stout. Threw caution to the wind and pitched the dry yeast straight into the wort, defying all of the information on the package and that I read online that said my beer would be crap. It absolutely RAGED and was fermenting hard within 8 hours. It ripped through that wort and was down to a FG of 1.012 in 2 days. I transferred it to a keg on the 3rd or 4th day and am carbing it up. I tasted it and it's still very young but quite tasty. I got bored at the house the day I transferred the oatmeal stout to the keg and brewed up a SMASH blonde ale with cascade hops and 10 ounces of spare dextrose that came in around 1.045 OG. I poured most of the oatmeal stout slurry out of the fermenter, and dumped my blonde ale straight on top of the slurry, once again defying best practices. This one was fermenting within like an hour and also finished fermenting quickly, like 3 days or so. I haven't had time to deal with it and measure the FG but airlock activity is done and only some yeast rafts remain on top of the beer now. I'll probably cold crash it later this week and keg it up if I have time. I'm very impressed with this yeast as it's my first time using it. I normally use US05 on all my ales but I might have to switch to Notty if it turns out well on this blonde ale because it's just so damn fast.

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

2 months ago I brewed 2 separate pale ales of a 1.052 SG. Pitched single package of Notty directly in without rehydrating. They both were unimpressive fermentations in terms of krausen development and activity, but both achieved target FG.

Last weekend brewed a 1.068 SG IPA, pitched 2 packets of Notty (without rehydration) airlock activity within 4 hours, by 24 hours there was 4-5 inches of krausen and intense fermentation activity. At approx. 40 hours, all krausen dropped out, little signs of fermentation. I have not taken a FG but I will keg and drink by this weekend.

 

[DarkStormBrewing]

72 Hours in i have a tiny bit of krausen formed...still worried about the slow start

 

[DarkStormBrewing]

Ended up with a slight green apple character in the finished beer. I have never tasted this in any of my beers before (over 30 brews). Very disappointed in the Nottingham performance and lag.
I have loved this yeast from early on, but maybe it's time to use the liquid British ale yeasts instead. Isn't wlp007 the equivalent?

 

[Jim311]

The green apple flavor can be common in "young" beers. I bet it will age out. Give it some time.

 

[vwmasstransit]

I've used Notty 5 times now and never been disappointed. Works as advertised and reached expected FG every time.

 

[jwalk4]

72 Hours in i have a tiny bit of krausen formed...still worried about the slow start

My money is that it won't finish.

Nottingham has been a poor performer for me in the past. A few things that will slant the odds in your favor:

Re-hydrate the yeast according to instructions (I can dry pitch Fermentis yeasts, but never with Danstar).
Make sure the temp stays steady, or naturally free rise, but never the other direction.

 

[DarkStormBrewing]

It did end up finishing out, but I'll be shying away from it in the future. Beer has a slight green apple/acetaldehyde character to it...

 

[user 141939]

Just fermented a barleywine with fresh notti packets. Harley any krausen and what was there dropped after about 2 days. I got concerned and took gravity reading after 1 day, it had already gone to 1.055 from 1.102. I swirled daily and rose temp 1-2 degrees per day for a week. Landed at 72 degrees and hit my FG of 1.022 on the nose after about a week.

Not sure if I would have or not without the swirling and aggressive temp raise. Two weeks later and it's a green apple bomb. Hopefully that goes away after the next two weeks of primary.

I made the same beer last year with notti, fermentation was MUCH different. Had about a foot of krausen on that bad boy and it lingered for two weeks. The recipes/pitch rates/ and ferm temps at the start if fermentation were pretty much the same. I didn't taste the first one for a month so I can't compare that. However at a month there was zero apple.

 

[Jim311]

I'm amazed at all of the negative experiences with Notty. Mine have all been absolutely raging fermentations. Then again, I've only used one packet, but pitched slurry I saved from each batch. But none the less, each of those fermentations has been insane and finished faster than any other yeasts I have used so far.

 

[user 141939]

Well you know what they say...

 

[rmarshall100]

Ended up with a slight green apple character in the finished beer. I have never tasted this in any of my beers before (over 30 brews). Very disappointed in the Nottingham performance and lag.
I have loved this yeast from early on, but maybe it's time to use the liquid British ale yeasts instead. Isn't wlp007 the equivalent?

It ain't finished! Let it rise to 70 degrees and just take it easy for a few days. No need to rush, right? Let the yeast do the job of cleaning up after itself. After a total of 10 days to 2 weeks from the pitch, cold crash and keg. I think you'll be a much happier brewer.

 

[slym2none]

I pretty much use only Notty. I hydrate, and usually see activity within 24 hours. My first AG batch, I have never seen such churning & roiling in a beer. This last batch, I pitched an entire packet (2.5G batches, I make) 'cos predicted OG was 1.078 and had activity in less than 12 hours.

Last year, I definitely had some lag issues, but I think it was because I didn't pitch enough. My beers tend to all be over 1.060, and I was pitching half a pack. I know now not to do that, only beers under 1.050 OG will get half-packs. Over that, the whole thing will go in.