Nottingham Ale Yeast + Fermentables

[nicklawmusic]

I'm investigating my next homebrew which I think is going to be a Coopers IPA. I'm interested in trying a different yeast rather than the little packet you get with a beer kit.

With a yeast, such as a Nottingham Yeast, what do you have to do exactly? Are they just like the ones you add from a beer kit or is it more involved than that?

Also, what kind of fermentables would you use for an IPA? Light spray malt?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[RM-MN]

Do you want to do it quick or do you want to do it right? Quick is to sprinkle the packet of yeast on top of the cooled wort in the fermenter. Put the lid and airlock on and wait 2 to 3 weeks and you have beer.

The "right way" is to re-hydrate the yeast first, using half a cup of water that is between 80 and 105 F. Sprinkle the yeast onto the water and let it set for 5 minutes then use a sanitized spoon to stir the yeast in. Let it sit for 15 more minutes. Dump that into the fermenter. Put the lid and airlock on and wait 2 or 3 weeks and you will have beer.

The difference in the two is that the dry yeast cannot control the uptake of wort and nearly half will die. By re-hydrating the yeast, nearly all will survive. By doing the first method you will be underpitching the yeast and that may cause some off flavors and your beer may end up with a higher final gravity.

The type of fermentables don't matter much. LME can be just a little cheaper, DME is easier to store.

 

[nicklawmusic]

I guess what I was asking was whether the yeasts you can buy separately from the kits are dried, look the same, etc? I don't know that much about yeast other than the packets you get with kits look like little brown sprinkles.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[thadius856]

Haven't used Coopers yeasts, but dry yeasts in a packet should be roughly the same usage across the board.

 

[brewboy04]

Exactly the same from what I can remember only the Nottingham gives a better beer in my opinion


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[flars]

Coopers' yeasts are pretty good yeasts. Problem is the pack of yeast you get with the kit is often smaller than the standard. Go with an 11 gram pack of Nottingham.
An 11 gram pack is especially important to use if you add spraymalt to your ingredient list. The smaller packs don't have enough yeast to handle the extra complex sugars.
I would definitely add the spraymalt for the flavor contribution and more body. For an IPA the light spraymalt would be the better choice.
With Nottigham keep the fermentation temperature below 20°C (68°F). This will prevent some odd funky flavors and give a nice clean taste to your IPA.

 

[BigFloyd]

I like using Nottingham yeast, but must warn you about fermentation temperatures. That strain does best in the upper 50s-lower 60s. If you cannot keep your fermentation temperature (beer, not ambient) consistently below 68*F, do not use Nottingham. Period.

 

[thadius856]

Yerp. Nottingham is disgusting when fermented hot.

A brewer at work offered me a blonde he made with Notty. I asked him what he was doing for temperature control, and he said he keeps them in a closet. This was during the summer, and he told me his ambient swings between 74F and 80F.

I politely declined his offer of free "beer".

Edit: My first batch ever was an Irish Red kit from NB. 2 days into primary we had an attic fire that forced us to turn off the electrical service to the house for a few weeks. It was 90-100F days those couple weeks. While we attempted to keep the house cool as possible by keeping the windows open at night, drawing blinds and closing it up during the day, it still hit 85F in that closet by 5pm. The result was the most disgusting beer I've ever tasted. We secondaried, dry hopped and bottle aged for a year attempting to save it. But it was too late. Down the drain it had to go.

 

[bacchusmj]

I brewed the same beer with nottingham two years in a row (kind of a variation on BMs centennial blonde) and over this past year got a ferm chamber and temp controller. Nottingham says 66 is ideal but this year I fermented at 62 and the beer was much, much better. I actually had them side by side a few weeks ago and the difference was insane.

Nottingham is an awesome yeast, but as the dudes above said, its a finicky mother about temp.

 

[nicklawmusic]

What is the yeast like that comes with a Coopers kit?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew