Nottingham yeast and best process?

[haeffnkr]

Hello,
My first batch of miller light clone w/ s-05 is pretty good, nothing like this second batch with notty.

I just kegged my second batch.
It has been on gas about a week now.

I pulled a pint last night and tonight and it has this bad smell and funny taste.
Not sure I know what sulfur smells like but I think I do now.

I fermented at 60 in my basement then had it at 66 for a few days then cold crashed for a week so it was in the primary for 16 days... then kegged...when I pulled it out of the primary it tasted weird.

I just made BMs cream of 3 crops sunday, again used notty, keeping at 59 it for 4 days now.
Do you all recommend leaving it at 60 for a couple of weeks or getting a bit warmer to clean itself up or?

Trying to eliminate another mess, thanks for the help.
Kevin

 

[eastoak]

never hurts to let it sit.

 

[tabing75]

made a pale with notty about 3 months ago. it fermented at 61 then naturally it dropped a few degrees as fermentation stopped. after 4 weeks it was at 58. no sulfer to detect but it seemed like it took longer than normal to go from "green" to "great" beer.

strange thing is that i bottled two other batches on the exact same day. all three with the same volume and same amt of priming sugar. one used 1056 and one with safale 05. both 1056 and 05 were mighty fine after 9 days in the bottle. the pale with notty is now great after 5 weeks in bottle.

 

[haeffnkr]

Hello
thanks for the replies thus far.

I have searched a lot on Nottingham, some folks love it some dont.
Some ferment too high and some ferment in low temp range and still have issues.

So I am just trying to hear from folks as to what seems to work, for the folks that is works for

I guess I will just keep this current batch at 59-60 for 2-3 weeks and then rack to keg unless I hear a better idea.

My current smell seemed to develop after I cold crashed it... which seems weird.. most of the "bad smell" threads talk about smells during/right fermentation.
But mine was good when I put it in the fridge.

The half glass I poured last night, that stunk, this morning had no smell and was drinkable... so if I left the lid open on the keg will the smell go away? and note this keg is half carbed up.

thanks Kevin

 

[skydvr74]

Could it be your tap?

http://www.beervangelist.com/BeerLineQA.html

"Bacteria can reside in the beer lines even with the cold temperatures that draft beer is served. These bacteria can also affect the taste and smell of beer. They cause the beer to look “hazey” in the glass and create sulfur and sewer smells"

 

[suprchunk]

You made a lager with ale yeast? Just trying to get the gist.

 

[haeffnkr]

You made a lager with ale yeast? Just trying to get the gist.

I made 2 light beers that were lager like and yes, used an ale yeast.

One beer turned out a little funky so far and one is just 5 days old and I am trying to keep the last one from getting funky.

thanks Kevin

 

[suprchunk]

Okay, I was just wondering.

 

[RM-MN]

Notty turns out clean for me but I start it at ~62 for a week and then give it 2 more weeks at 72 so it cleans up. By chilling it when the initial ferment it over you are putting it to sleep and it never gets the cleanup done.

 

[haeffnkr]

Notty turns out clean for me but I start it at ~62 for a week and then give it 2 more weeks at 72 so it cleans up. By chilling it when the initial ferment it over you are putting it to sleep and it never gets the cleanup done.

Perfect.

I have heard doing this "clean up" for s-05 and was wondering if the same applied to Notty, I guess so

Do this process apply to any ale yeast?
How do you know if too long at 72-74 is bad or when the clean up is done?
I was initially worried that this would give off esters/bad flavors if not done right and make things worse.

thanks Kevin

 

[KraphtBier]

Starting low and then letting the temp rise as fermentation completes is a good practice for ale yeasts in general. As primary fermentation slows down and the specific gravity decreases to close to your final gravity you can allow your temps to rise to encourage full attenuation and a good cleanup of any weirdness. Iirc, most esters/phenols/off-flavors are produced by the yeast in the first few days of fermentation as the yeast reproduce to the level of concentration needed to ferment your beer.

Edit: I wouldn't take notty or S-05 above 70 (actual wort temp). Notty especially can throw some nasty flavors if fermented warm. Make sure you pitch at the right temps (low to mid 60s), hold your temps for a week or two, and then let the temps rise to finish up.

 

[RM-MN]

I think the clean up period applies to any yeast. You want to start them out cool because then they ferment slower for the initial part of the ferment. If you start them warmer, they eat the sugars faster, generate more heat which makes them eat sugars faster which generates more heat... Sort of a runaway process. Once most of the sugars are gone the yeast need a little help to break down the other compounds produced while eating sugars and warmer temperature help. The flavor of the beer is determined by that faster sugar eating part of the ferment so you don't get the bad flavors by letting it warm up.

Too long at 72 is when your yeast autolyze, when the dead yeast cells begin to rupture in sufficient quantities to give the dead meat odor. The best guess of when that happens is "a long time". One of the members of another brewing forum posted that his beer that had been left in the primary for 227 days still had no off flavors.

 

[TrubDog]

I'm in the "love Notty" camp. I use it more than any other yeast. Being it's winter I ferment in my upstairs bathroom which stays pretty constant at 62. During fermentation it usually hits around 68 and then settles back down to about 62. I just leave it there to do its thing for about 3 weeks and it always cleans up nicely. I never cold crash. In the summer I ferment in the garage where it averages around 66 - same process, just a little higher temps. Never had any off flavors and always been very happy with the outcome. All my beers are kegged.

 

[haeffnkr]

thanks for the replies.

My 2 experiences with Nottingham thus far at 59/60 is that it takes OFF.
I made sure I aerated better this time and really "boiling" earlier this week but thes slowed down to almost a stop by yesterday.

Is it important to move the batch to a warmer spot soon as you sense/see things slowing down a lot or wait a week or?
I imagine if you wait too long the yeast will start of die or is that not really true and the warm temps will wake things back up?

thanks for all the help !
Kevin

 

[shataway]

I split my 11g batch of Centennial Blonde with 5.5 gallons pitched with Notty and the other 5.5 gallons pitched with US-05. The US-05 cleared after two weeks in the keg but Notty had not. The US-05 tasted great but the Notty was bitter. I added gelatin to the Notty to help it clear and it took the bitter taste with it. I used to prefer Notty over US-05 because it cleared better...

 

[haeffnkr]

I split my 11g batch of Centennial Blonde with 5.5 gallons pitched with Notty and the other 5.5 gallons pitched with US-05. The US-05 cleared after two weeks in the keg but Notty had not. The US-05 tasted great but the Notty was bitter. I added gelatin to the Notty to help it clear and it took the bitter taste with it. I used to prefer Notty over US-05 because it cleared better...

What temps did you ferment both batches at?

 

[shataway]

Both fermenters in the same chamber with a 62F air temp for 18 days.

 

[KraphtBier]

thanks for the replies.

My 2 experiences with Nottingham thus far at 59/60 is that it takes OFF.
I made sure I aerated better this time and really "boiling" earlier this week but thes slowed down to almost a stop by yesterday.

Is it important to move the batch to a warmer spot soon as you sense/see things slowing down a lot or wait a week or?
I imagine if you wait too long the yeast will start of die or is that not really true and the warm temps will wake things back up?

thanks for all the help !
Kevin

What was your OG? Has the krausen fallen? You don't really have to worry about your yeast dying. Once there isn't anything in solution to ferment they flocc out and go dormant, not die. Unless you are storing your beer in the upper 70's or 80's for long periods of time I wouldn't worry about autolysis. Personally, I would wait a week or so and then let the fermenter warm up for another week. Take gravity readings to see where you are at that point (remember to drink the hydro sample!!).

 

[haeffnkr]

Both fermenters in the same chamber with a 62F air temp for 18 days.

Hmm... seems a little too cold for S-05, from what I read. Notty should be OK..but no warmer clean up temps for either batch?

What was your OG? Has the krausen fallen? You don't really have to worry about your yeast dying. Once there isn't anything in solution to ferment they flocc out and go dormant, not die. Unless you are storing your beer in the upper 70's or 80's for long periods of time I wouldn't worry about autolysis. Personally, I would wait a week or so and then let the fermenter warm up for another week. Take gravity readings to see where you are at that point (remember to drink the hydro sample!!).

I brewed Cream of 3 crops last Sunday 2/5, I was expecting to hit 1.045, I got 1.047 and the recipe called for 1.040.

This has been at 59 for 6 days, 65 yesterday and just moved upstairs this morning - I keep the house at 72 during the day.

So to answer your questions -
1.047
Yes sort of fallen.
I get a bubble every 15-20 seconds now..so things are still moving.
Shaking things up while going upstairs probably helped moving.

thanks for the help -
Kevin