Nottingham not cooperating? its been 4 days

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Christoff

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I am sure this has been discussed on this website I just can't find it. I have seen lots of fermentation completion time, temp and attenuation talk, but not fermentation start time. I have a apx 2 gal nut brown second runnings at 1.040 that hasn't done much in 4 days. I use the 2nd runnings to experiment and use different hops/yeast/steeping malts to compare to the first batch. I have never used Notty but have used windsor a few times. I put windsor in the first runnings and it did its windsor thing. Done in 3 days. I pitched 10 g of notty into the 2 gal 2nd runnings on Jan 1 8am but now I am not day 4 and not much has happened. There wasn't much of a krausen, just thin bubbles that did form over the entire surface but really no thick krausen. I've never seen the airlock bubble, just very little pressure. I've checked that the lid was on tight, the bung pushed in all the way. I swirled it ~1.5 days ago (can't remember exactly), I tried turning up the heat from in the room from 61 to 65 yesterday. Still nothing. I have not done a gravity test, will do today, but is this normal? I am going to wait this out a bit before pitching anything else but curious about any experiences like this that didn't come from the bad batches of 2010. (update: gravity is at 1.016 as off 11am)
 
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I've seen reports that sometimes there is very little krausen on a batch. I don't remember the yeast that they used. Take a hydrometer sample and give us an update.
 
I've seen reports that sometimes there is very little krausen on a batch. I don't remember the yeast that they used. Take a hydrometer sample and give us an update.
I wasn't expecting that. 1.016 reading on my hydrometer. There was almost no indication anything happened, beyond the thin layer of bubbles forming on the surface. The lack of krausen you read is a Notty thing? I've read that you have to becareful it doesn't blow out the airlock (i don't think I am getting it confused with windsor).
 
I have used Nottingham a lot and in my experience it produces very little head whereas Windsor has had a huge head when I have used it. Notty has always finished in 4 days ... Windsor less than two!
 
I have used Nottingham a lot and in my experience it produces very little head whereas Windsor has had a huge head when I have used it. Notty has always finished in 4 days ... Windsor less than two!
that's good to know. Do you think I should be concerned that I opened the carboy given the lack of femrentation at this point? Or will there be enough residual CO2 and fermentation that the head space will get full again and O2 won't be an issue. i am bottling sunday-ish
 
that's good to know. Do you think I should be concerned that I opened the carboy given the lack of femrentation at this point? Or will there be enough residual CO2 and fermentation that the head space will get full again and O2 won't be an issue. i am bottling sunday-ish

Honestly I have visited one of the oldest breweries in the UK and they still have their beer fermenting in semi open containers... that is they have a couple of wooden semi circular closures over the top of the vat and the fit is loose in the extreme 😆 There are also major brewers in the UK that have totally open fermentation vats so I think you will be fine. Most of the time with situations like you mention it is the fear that something may happen to spoil your beer rather than it ever actually happen. I have never ever had a beer infected in all the time I have been brewing and that covers many years and literally hundreds of brews and I have opened my fermentation vats loads of times . The oxygen thing is an American phenomenon that and diacetyl. I had never heard of these terms or problems before I started on here. A member on here sent me a video of a very famous brewery in Belgium and the American visitor asked a question about diacetyl in the beer , the brewer gave a quizzical diacetyl ?? look and ignored the question. The brewery in question normally bottle their beers in colourless glass bottles but to sell it in America they put it in green bottle because of the belief that beer gets skunked by UV light in clear bottles he was laughing at the notion. I have just bought a new batch of crown caps with oxygen absorbing inserts... I can remember when the inserts were cork and the beer was just fine 😁 I have said it a lot of times but beer in the hands of homebrewers is the new HiFi ... homebrewers chasing their tales seeking brewing PERFECTION 😁
 
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Honestly I have visited one of the oldest breweries in the UK and they still have their beer fermenting in semi open containers... that is they have a couple of wooden semi circular closures over the top of the vat and the fit is loose in the extreme 😆 There are also major brewers in the UK that have totally open fermentation vats so I think you will be fine. Most of the time with situations like you mention it is the fear that something may happen to spoil your beer rather than it ever actually happen. I have never ever had a beer infected in all the time I have been brewing and that covers many years and literally hundreds of brews and I have opened my fermentation vats loads of times . The oxygen thing is an American phenomenon that and diacetyl. I had never heard of these terms or problems before I started on here. A member on here sent me a video of a very famous brewery in Belgium and the American visitor asked a question about diacetyl in the beer , the brewer gave a quizzical diacetyl ?? look and ignored the question. The brewery in question normally bottle their beers in colourless galls bottles but to sell it in America the put it in green bottle because of the belief that beer gets skunked by UV light in clear bottles he was laughing at the notion. I have just bought a new batch of crown caps with oxygen absorbing inserts... I can remember when the inserts were cork and the beer was just fine 😁 I have said it a lot of times but beer in the hands of homebrewers is the new HiFi homebrewers chasing their tales seeking brewing PERFECTION 😁
ha That does not surprise me at all, and also something I have suspected.
 
Not cooperating? I'd say it's finished.
Yeah. I figured it wasn’t prior to my gravity reading. I was pretty surprised by the reading considering what I had read about notty gave me the impression it works pretty vigorously.
 
You brewed on 1/1/2023 and want to bottle Sunday 1/8/2023? With possible fermentation issues?

I’d slow it down, you are rushing it. If it hasn’t dropped further, finish it out with whatever yeast you have, more Nottingham, Windsor or whatever.

You don’t want fermentation in the bottle causing bottle bombs. You need time to let it stabilize and finish, there is no rush.
 
i am bottling sunday-ish
I think bottling Sunday is fine, just not this Sunday. Given another week, much of the trub the yeast stirred up will settle as will a lot of the yeast. You don't really want all the trub in the bottles. Given another 2 weeks, a lot more of the yeast will settle out and when you pour you will have almost no wasted beer that is full of trub and yeast, just a tiny bit at the end of the pour.
 
You brewed on 1/1/2023 and want to bottle Sunday 1/8/2023? With possible fermentation issues?

I’d slow it down, you are rushing it. If it hasn’t dropped further, finish it out with whatever yeast you have, more Nottingham, Windsor or whatever.

You don’t want fermentation in the bottle causing bottle bombs. You need time to let it stabilize and finish, there is no rush.
A lot of what I have read suggests notty and Windsor are done in a week, which was partly why I did the second runnings. I need the carboy. I take it this is not correct? I generally let me y beers sit for apx 3 weeks, but there was intention to finish quick with using this yeast
 
I think bottling Sunday is fine, just not this Sunday. Given another week, much of the trub the yeast stirred up will settle as will a lot of the yeast. You don't really want all the trub in the bottles. Given another 2 weeks, a lot more of the yeast will settle out and when you pour you will have almost no wasted beer that is full of trub and yeast, just a tiny bit at the end of the pour.
I’m pretty green when it comes to brewing and trying to remember all the information can be tough. Isn’t cold crashing going to help with the trub and yeast dropping out? Or is it just yeast that will drop out with colder temp
 
Cold crashing will clear your beer, but so will time. Back when I used to bottle my beer, I found that cold crashing will clear the beer too much, and not enough yeast remained to carbonate the beer. At the very minimum, leave your beer in the fermenter for two weeks. If (when) you start kegging, you can cold crash without worries. But, still leave the beer for at least two weeks.
 
I need the carboy.
For not too much money you can add a fermenter bucket. That will do two things, it will allow you to have another beer fermenting while this one has a chance to mature a little more, and it will show you how much easier it is to clean and move a bucket with its included handle. I have added buckets to increase the amount of brewing I can do when my schedule allows it, not having to wait for one to be empty. I only have 4 currently but I am thinking of going back to 5 fermenter buckets.
 
You don’t want fermentation in the bottle causing bottle bombs.
This.
Bottle bombs are a safety issue, so I don't take unnecessary chances. I've often seen recommendations to plan on bottling after three weeks. Take a gravity sample three days ahead, and another on bottling day. If gravity is stable and at a reasonable level, and the beer is clear or slightly misty, bottle. If not, wait and check again later.
 
Cold crashing will clear your beer, but so will time. Back when I used to bottle my beer, I found that cold crashing will clear the beer too much, and not enough yeast remained to carbonate the beer. At the very minimum, leave your beer in the fermenter for two weeks. If (when) you start kegging, you can cold crash without worries. But, still leave the beer for at least two weeks.
Thanks. I have a few kegs just not enough room for as many as I like. Second runnings generally end up in a bottle and I’m less concerned about them. They are for experimenting with hops and yeasts so I figure out the flavour profiles better. I may just transfer to a 1 gallons and be done.
 
This.
Bottle bombs are a safety issue, so I don't take unnecessary chances. I've often seen recommendations to plan on bottling after three weeks. Take a gravity sample three days ahead, and another on bottling day. If gravity is stable and at a reasonable level, and the beer is clear or slightly misty, bottle. If not, wait and check again later.
I put all my bottles in their original boxes and then heavy duty rubber maid containers to keep It safer. (unless they are in the fridge). The OG is stable so I figured this shouldn’t happen if it’s not fermenting any more. I could be very wrong though
 
Fermentation is frequently over and done with in less than a week. However that doesn't mean it's ready to come out of the fermenter. Taste and clarity get better with time. You can hurry the clarity along some if you wish to cold crash, use gelatin or do some other things.

If you are just wanting an drink with alcohol then you can do that by day 3. But it's likely going to be nasty.
 
Sorry newbie here, what are 2nd runnings?
When you remash your grain from your batch of beer. Also know as parti-gyle. I make starter wort and actually pretty tasty beer by remashing my grain. Lets me experiment with yeast and hops and do a moderate comparison with the first runnings. I’d you brew a high gravity first beer you can get a low gravity second beer. Or Add some other malts to switch up flavour. I just did a nut brown and then ran my grain again but added chocolate and special b to see what it would be like (as I saw some other recipes suggesting this in theirs).
 
Not surprised Notty didn’t show much. At 10g of 1.040 wort and only 2.5 gallons, it didn’t even break a sweat. In my experience, Notty can take more abuse than a farm full of disobedient donkeys.
 
Sorry newbie here, what are 2nd runnings?

Need not be a remash, nor a partigyle. It's simply what comes off as a result of rinsing the grain bed.

The wort run off the mash is the 1st running.

A sparge rinses the drained grain with fresh water. The runoff from that is the 2nd (or 3rd) running.

Partigyling is taking each of these runnings, boiling them individually with hops, then blending the gyles for fermentation.
 
Need not be a remash, nor a partigyle. It's simply what comes off as a result of rinsing the grain bed.

The wort run off the mash is the 1st running.

A sparge rinses the drained grain with fresh water. The runoff from that is the 2nd (or 3rd) running.

Partigyling is taking each of these runnings, boiling them individually with hops, then blending the gyles for fermentation.
Thanks for the clarification!
 
Not surprised Notty didn’t show much. At 10g of 1.040 wort and only 2.5 gallons, it didn’t even break a sweat. In my experience, Notty can take more abuse than a farm full of disobedient donkeys.
Hahaha! I momentarily blanked when I was sprinkling the yeast and poured too much. I would have thought it would have had the opposite effect though, showing more action quicker. Not almost nothing.
 
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