Muntons vs. Nottinghams

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Ol' Grog

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Got three Brewers Best kits in yesterday. I've used them a lot in the past but this time all three came with Muntons dry yeast, formerly these exact recipes included Nottinghams. I picked these three as my favorites and was wondering what kind of difference would I taste? I got backup packs of Nottinghams, Windsor and Coopers. I prefer a sweeter, maltier type of brew. In fact, I usually lower the hop schedule from the recommended recipes to keep them around 15 to 20 IBU's. I've read that Windsor has a more fruiter taste as compared to Nottinghams but I've haven't read anything on Muntons. Anybody?
 
I've used Muntons in the past but I can't remember why I chose it. I do know that it is very flocculant so it drops out and forms a thick sediment that doesn't easily disturb.

I use Windsor for British ales and I think it's great if you want something that doesn't attenuate as much as Nottingham. All my beers were too dry there for a while- fermenting too completely, so I used Windsor and it left the sg a little higher. If you want a maltier beer, I bet that would work well for you.
 
Muntons is pretty neutral if you keep it below 70F - otherwise fruit-city. As mentioned it flocculates REALLY well so I've had to rouse the yeast occasionally on some batches I used it with. It will not finish as dry as Nottingham so it should give you a maltier brew.
 
bradsul said:
Muntons is pretty neutral if you keep it below 70F - otherwise fruit-city. As mentioned it flocculates REALLY well so I've had to rouse the yeast occasionally on some batches I used it with. It will not finish as dry as Nottingham so it should give you a maltier brew.
That's my experience as well. I have also had some attenuation problems with it in the past, so for a dry yeast, I think you really have to watch your temps when using the Munton's yeast.
 
I have a few packets of Munton's in the fridge, left over from kits when I opted for a different yeast. I'm a little wary of using them...Munton's own description of the product says it's best for beers that contain dextrose or other simple sugars. The following sentence is what scares me off:

"If all malt brewing is undertaken we would recommend that you use our Premium Gold Yeast as this yeast will struggle to ferment some of the more complex sugars in all malt recipes."

I suppose I'll hang onto the packets as backup, and toss them once their expiration date has arrived. Or would I be wasting a decent product? I'd be curious to hear more about other's experiences with this yeast.
 
BlindLemonLars said:
I have a few packets of Munton's in the fridge, left over from kits when I opted for a different yeast. I'm a little wary of using them...Munton's own description of the product says it's best for beers that contain dextrose or other simple sugars. The following sentence is what scares me off:



I suppose I'll hang onto the packets as backup, and toss them once their expiration date has arrived. Or would I be wasting a decent product? I'd be curious to hear more about other's experiences with this yeast.

My first (and only) was using a muntons no-boil kit. I substituted the corn sugar with DME as per the alternate directions, but did not see any advice about switching out the yeast from the directions. The instructions said the FG should be 1.009, but for me it was 1.015, if it was struggleing, that could explain it. I have some concern about bottle bombs.

The beer has been bottled for 1 week now, and I tested two last night, there was a satisfying *pssst* when opened, but the beer was only mildly carbonated, so I guess no real problem yet, but I would agree that it seemed to *struggle* at the end.
 
That would explain that brand as being more "maltier" than others. Interesting and thanks for all the comments. Cleared up a lot. Now I just have to decide what I want. I've had a few batches that had an alcoholic taste. Might have been the yeast. May have to some tweaking.
 
I had nothing but problems with the Munton's, especially when doing a wheat. My fg never came out as anticipated. I would use Windsor or Nottingham. I have had good success with them both. Although the way to go would be a Wyeast Activator pack...:)
 
Wow, Nottingham is the beast!

I pitched some a few days ago onto 5 gals of pale ale. It's a 6 gallon carboy so I didn't think I'd need a blowoff. Boy was I wrong. This stuff took off like a rocket bubbling and foaming all over the place.

It really is pretty aggressive and I can see why it attenuates so well.
 
BlindLemonLars said:
I have a few packets of Munton's in the fridge, left over from kits when I opted for a different yeast. I'm a little wary of using them...Munton's own description of the product says it's best for beers that contain dextrose or other simple sugars.

Now I'm curious as to why Brewer's Best decided to use Munton's in their Ivan's Belgian Tripel kits. The FG was supposed to be 1.013-1.018. I ended up with 1.020 but it actually tastes much thicker than that.

When I bought the kit from my lhbs, the owner included a pack of Coopers yeast free. He said to pitch both to ensure good fermentation. Anybody see any problems with doing this? I've since harvested that yeast and re-pitched it in my current batch, brewed specifically for a friend:

6lbs Light DME
.5 lb Crystal 20L
.75oz Hallertau 6% @ 60
1oz Hallertau 6% @ 10

I'm now wondering if I made a mistake in reusing that yeast. :(
 
fezzman said:
Now I'm curious as to why Brewer's Best decided to use Munton's in their Ivan's Belgian Tripel kits.

When I bought the kit from my lhbs, the owner included a pack of Coopers yeast free. He said to pitch both to ensure good fermentation. Anybody see any problems with doing this? I've since harvested that yeast and re-pitched it in my current batch, brewed specifically for a friend:

I'm now wondering if I made a mistake in reusing that yeast. :(

Munton's is probably chosen based on cost (cheap).

Shouldn't be any problem using two packs of yeast. Both have similar characteristics and the combination of two packs should ensure no problems with getting started.

I wouldn't say it was a mistake reusing the yeast unless it turns out poorly, however dry yeast, especially the cheaper brands are so inexpensive and easy to use that it doesn't make much sense to take the chance of carrying over an infection by reusing the yeast.
Craig
 
Well, after reviewing my notes, it seems that the brews I make with DME all have the "alcohlic" taste. That was with Nottinghams yeast. I'm wondering if the DME has a lot of fermentables as compared to LME since they are more concentrated? Save the Nottinghams for the wheat brews that I make that is all LME.
 
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