62% Attenuation with Nottingham...Call It Done?

[Beerthoven]

[thread=39097]Brewed[/thread] [thread=31793]EdWort's Haus Pale Ale[/thread] two weeks ago. OG was 1060. Checked the gravity this weekend and it was at 1023, for 62% attenuation.

I swirled the primary and will check the gravity again tonight when I get home from work, but I doubt it will drop much further.

Is this attenuation high enough to bottle or should I pitch another packet of yeast?

FWIW, mash temp was 154, pitching temp was 65*, and it has been at 68* for the last two weeks. Fermentation started well and I had a good kreusen for about a week.

 

[Professor Frink]

I'm not sure about the ideal temp. for Nottingham, but it's always gotten to at least 75% attenuation for me. I would warm it up a bit and wait another week, maybe pitch another pack of Nottingham, it's pretty cheap.

 

[Beerrific]

I have had a little trouble with Nottingham not attenuating to what I thought was a good level. If you can, I would let it warm up to the mid 70s and give it a good swirl...that worked for me.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've never had Nottingham go less than 80%. What was your oxygenation/aeration technique?

 

[Beerthoven]

I've never had Nottingham go less than 80%. What was your oxygenation/aeration technique?

Poured from kettle into bucket, poured from bucket into carboy through a strainer. Shake carboy for several minutes.

FWIW, the Nottingham techsheet claims that aeration is not necessary.

 

[EdWort]

I would do the warm up routine to about 70 degrees or so. Every batch I've made ferments down to 1.015 or better. More like 1.010 or 1.011 and it reaches that stage in under a week (sometimes 48 hours). Like Bobby, say's you should be getting 80% if not at least 75%.

The beer will be a bit sweet at this stage, but I would be more concerned if you are going to bottle it.

Give it a good rouse and let it finish at room temp for a day or so.

 

[Beerthoven]

Thanks everyone. If the SG is still low tonight when I get home, I'll rouse the yeast again and raise the temp. If I have to, I'll pitch another packet.

This is my first experience with Nottingham and wasn't sure what to expect, though 62% seemed low.

 

[Bobby_M]

I mean, dry yeasts do have a ton of cells to begin with but they still need some aerobic reproduction. I should clarify, I get 80% attenutation using Nottingham after gassing it with pure O2.

I think 1.020 is kinda high for a pale ale. A couple more points would keep it out of the cloying sweet area.

By the way, I'd check the thermometer for accuracy too. You might have mashed a few degrees higher which would explain the high FG also.

 

[Beerthoven]

I mean, dry yeasts do have a ton of cells to begin with but they still need some aerobic reproduction. I should clarify, I get 80% attenutation using Nottingham after gassing it with pure O2.

I think 1.020 is kinda high for a pale ale. A couple more points would keep it out of the cloying sweet area.

By the way, I'd check the thermometer for accuracy too. You might have mashed a few degrees higher which would explain the high FG also.

I hear ya. An O2 aerator is number 1 on my Christmas list. A pond pump is number 2.

My thermo and hydrometer are calibrated.

 

[Orfy]

I never use oxygen and just pour into the fermenter, never make a starter and with brews around 5.5 % I get between 1008 and 1012 dependant on ingredients and mash temp.

Not that it helps you but it shows what you should be getting.

 

[Beerthoven]

All right, so 4 days ago I pitched another rehydrated pack of Nottingham and kept it at room temp. Today the SG is still unchanged at 1.023.

Beer doesn't taste sweet. It doesn't taste good, though, either. It has an unpleasant aftertaste I describe as vegetal and SWMBO describes as soapy. Its definately still green.

My options are:

1) Bottle it;
2) Secondary it for a month or more to see if it improves;
3) Pitch a different yeast (I have some Safale US-05) and see if the SG comes down any.

I'm voting for 1...any other opinions?

I really don't know what happened here. Brew day went well, and my hydro and thermo are both calibrated. Ideas?

 

[Beerthoven]

Bump Bump Bu

 

[EdWort]

I would secondary it to bulk age it. Soapy does not sound good though. I've tasted mine at kegging and never had that before, but it is already chilled from crash cooling it.

What malt did you use? The same as in the recipe? Was it old?

 

[Beerthoven]

I would secondary it to bulk age it. Soapy does not sound good though. I've tasted mine at kegging and never had that before, but it is already chilled from crash cooling it.

What malt did you use? The same as in the recipe? Was it old?

I decided to age it for a little while. Its in a secondary now and it'll stay there for 2-3 weeks. That's the earliest I'll have a chance to bottle.

The recipe was the same as yours, except I had to sub Crystal-15 for Crystal-10. I don't think the grains were old, they tasted fresh when I crushed them with my kick ass Barley Crusher. They were from morebeer and I only had them a few weeks - stored properly.

The beer doesn't taste soapy to me (that's SWMBO talking), it just tastes green. I bet it will taste great in a few more weeks.

I've thought about it, and I don't think there is anything 'wrong' with the beer. It has just attenuated as far as it will go. 2 packs of Nottingham can't be wrong.

 

[Beerthoven]

Bottled on Sat 10/13, 5 weeks after brewday.

SG unchanged at 1.023. Tastes good. Off flavors reported earlier are gone.

This is the last update unless there are bottle bombs.

 

[bigben]

Keep us updated. I dont think you should have bottle bombs if the gravity hasn't changed in ...what, 3 weeks?

That's weird tho. I just did Ed's Haus Pale Ale, except it was PM and I used different hops. However my OG was 1.058 and I finished at 1.010.