Dry yeast - Nott vs Windsor vs Safale US-56

[Jayfro21]

My LHBS has the first 2, but does not carry Safale brand dry yeast. I used Cooper's on my first batch and it was finished in 3 days, from 1054 - 1015, so pretty good. The reason I ask is that I will pretty much be brewing ales, and not ones that need a specialty yeast, and if US-56 is much better, I can order a bunch from Northern Brewer and store it in the fridge. By the way, does anyone know how long it will store in the fridge? Thanks!

Jason

 

[Funkenjaeger]

I've only used windsor once, and I really didn't like it. It has very poor attenuation and flocculation... so it leaves the beer with a high FG and quite cloudy. I'm sure there's some beer that it's good for, but there's nothing I would use it for again.

Nottingham is extremely popular though. It's very versatile, so you should be fine to use it for a lot of styles - I've seen people use it for both english and american styles. I personally use US-05 and S-04 when using dry yeast, because that's what I've been able to get locally, but I wouldn't hesitate to use Nottingham most of the time if I had it.

 

[ThomasRau]

Safeale is a bit more tolerant of warmer fermenting temperatures, but I have used both it and Nottingham with great success.
Stored in the fridge a packet of dry yeast will be good for at least a year.

 

[david_42]

Nottingham is good for any ale that you want relatively dry and few to no esters, same as US-05 & S-04. Windsor, as Funkenjaeger notes, leaves you with a sweeter, higher body ale. Great for Southern Browns, Milds and Stouts. Not so good for Pales, Bitters and IPAs.

 

[Soulive]

Go with Nottingham and/or US-56. They can stay good in the fridge forever

 

[APendejo]

Nottingham is good for any ale that you want relatively dry and few to no esters, same as US-05 & S-04. Windsor, as Funkenjaeger notes, leaves you with a sweeter, higher body ale. Great for Southern Browns, Milds and Stouts. Not so good for Pales, Bitters and IPAs.

I make my extract/steepgrain best bitter with Windsor and it has basically become my favorite go to beer. The blend of malty bitter is just about perfect for my taste. I may have to try a batch with US-56, yea, I know , but I still have a bunch of packs in the fridge. Got me kind of wondering tho, because my best bitter with the Winsor is already drier than a popcorn fart, where will the US-56/05 send it?
AP

 

[brewt00l]

Got me kind of wondering tho, because my best bitter with the Winsor is already drier than a popcorn fart, where will the US-56/05 send it?
AP

Windsor is supposed to be a moderate attenuating yeast...so if you're getting really dry beers with it, you might be over attenuating as is. US05 is a higher attenuating yeast than Windsor.