Nottingham Yeast

[fastricky]

I've had the same issues with Notty recently... I get full-on fermentation every other time within 12 hours so it's gotta be the yeast.

 

[UncleDave]

I heard about the Notty price hike a few weeks ago and decided to stock up. I wish I remember where I read about it, because it seems like a Danstar representative explained that Nottingham had been reformulated and this was part of the reason for the increase in price.

Found it. Hope it is ok to link to another forum, but scroll halfway down the page and you will see the Notty representative discuss the "new and improved" version. First hops, now yeast! - ProBrewer Interactive

 

[chefchris]

Well, looks like I've joined the club. Took almost 24 hours to show signs of life. Still not kicking yet, but it's fixing to do it's thing. Kind of dissapointed. Might just wash the yeast and see how it acts after repitching it, plus it'll be cheaper.

 

[z987k]

I heard about the Notty price hike a few weeks ago and decided to stock up. I wish I remember where I read about it, because it seems like a Danstar representative explained that Nottingham had been reformulated and this was part of the reason for the increase in price.

Found it. Hope it is ok to link to another forum, but scroll halfway down the page and you will see the Notty representative discuss the "new and improved" version. First hops, now yeast! - ProBrewer Interactive

Very ok to link to any site, especially probrewer.

He really only mentions new and improved, but never mentions what is new and improved.

 

[vtchuck]

Sunday: Brewed a 10 G batch of my house APA and divided it into 2 5 G buckets... pitched rehydrated Notty in one and an ale yeast from a local brewpub in the other.

I have done this before with these two yeasts and in that case the Notty started faster than the other yeast.

After 48 hours, there is no activity in the Notty bucket... not even a yeasty smell... the other is doing fine. I pitched another packet and crossed my fingers.

I started with 4 packets, all w/ the same lot #108036008V / 8/2010. The color of the packs were different, with 2 being a lighter gold color. There was static cling with both packs.

So if things don't improve by tomorrow, I've got an 11g Windsor, a 6g Muntons , an expired (01/09) 15g Coopers or a Wyeast Thames Valley starter that I was going to use w/ a bitter.

 

[Mike M]

I used Nottingham on my brew this Sunday. It was kicking within 24 hours. Sorry I don't know the lot numbers.

 

[jaba]

Brewed up a dry stout last night, pitched nottingham at ~9:30pm, plenty of signs of activity this morning by 8am. Re-hydrated the yeast as the directions say on the packet, then pitched it into ~70 degree wort and put it in my basement which is at 65. The yeast was not refrigerated. It was sitting on the shelf at LHBS, and then sat at my house for a couple of hours.

Lot 1081140110V
Exp 01-2011

 

[vtchuck]

I have activity this morning after re-pitching last night. Lots of surface foaming ...but it smells funny to me, not the yeasty, beery smell I'm accustomed to experiencing.

 

[camiller]

My LHBS wants 7.95 for a packet of new Nottingham. US-05 it is for me if I want to use neutral dry yeast now.

Your LHBS is fricking crazy or does not want to sell Nottingham. That's more than what I pay for a vial of White Labs.

Yep. They charge the same amout for Notty as they do for White Labs now. For 2 bucks apiece I just bought a couple of US-05. I love Notty yeast but certainly not at that price.

That is simply insane. Perhaps their supply chain is shorter and a price increase got to them faster but at my LHBS (disclosure I work there on Saturdays and do ALL the ordering) the three wholesalers we deal with have Notty wholesale priced at 0.75, 0.85 and 1.01 as of about 3 min ago (I was signed in as a retailer).

Edit: I know white labs has a strain called Nottingham (WLP039), any chance the cashier simply rang up the wrong product?

 

[EdWort]

I know white labs has a strain called Nottingham (WLP039), any chance the cashier simply rang up the wrong product?

That sounds like the culprit, or my first thought.

 

[stagstout]

I agree.
I too have had to wait 24 to 36 hours before signs of fermentation with my Notty. I don't have the number on me, but if I recall it exspires on 2011.

I have just come to expect a long lag time, it still makes a great beer though.

 

[Beeropolis]

That is simply insane. Perhaps their supply chain is shorter and a price increase got to them faster but at my LHBS (disclosure I work there on Saturdays and do ALL the ordering) the three wholesalers we deal with have Notty wholesale priced at 0.75, 0.85 and 1.01 as of about 3 min ago (I was signed in as a retailer).

Edit: I know white labs has a strain called Nottingham (WLP039), any chance the cashier simply rang up the wrong product?

I handed him the packet and asked if it went up. He scanned in the packet and looked it up in the computer and that's how it came back.

 

[reverendfrag]

I used Danstar Nottingham for my first batch, last week, and my valve started bubbling within a couple hours of pitching. I started the yeast as per the instructions on the pack.

 

[stagstout]

For the side of the argument, I too have noticed prolonged time for noticable fermentation. One thing that I wanted to point out was my current batch (Monday evening is when I pitched) which was using Notty has not had any signs of bubbling in the air lock as of Thursday evening.

Knowing from past uses...Notty always took about three days before I saw bubbling in the air lock, I did not worry. However, (since I use the pails) my water level although indicates difference in pressure has not made any bubbles after day three. So for the heck of it, I took a gravity reading. It went from 1.052 to 1.020 in three days with no rehydration. Just sprinkeled the dry yeast on my wort. By the way, it is EdWorts Haus Pale Ale.

So just a heads up, especially for those who are using the pails which prevents you from seeing the action, if your Notty seems to be lagging, take a gravity reading, you might be surprised.

Cheers
Steve

 

[BargainFittings]

I agree with Steve, take a gravity reading and see what is happening.

 

[chefchris]

Well, it took my package somewhere around 2-3 days to show visable signs. I brewed Ed's APA last Saturday and pitched the yeast the next day around 2 pm. (No Chill) I just checked the gravity and I'm at 1.011.

I plan on washing this yeast so I'll see if the lag time is the same for the next generation.

 

[jlpred55]

Well I have always had good luck with Notty until this past weekend. Always have had a little lag, maybe 12 hours max. This time it still isn't going. Been 74 hours now. Have a little activity and a couple of krausen spots but that is it. I rehydrated, and even added cooled wort to avoid temp shock. Took a gravity reading last night and I am sitting at the exact same gravity as when I pitched. I have some CO2 gassing off so the wort is protected but sheesh! The OG was only 1.046, it should have chewed through that by now! So I am going to repitch at lunch with a new package of Notty. The last one was good until 2011....if this keeps up I will quit using it. Too many other options to bother with this crap. Now if Fermentis would make a yeast like US-05 that would floc out better I would be a happy camper!

 

[Budzu]

Well I'm done with Notty. Totally done. Too many problems now... One I pitched over 2 weeks ago which was slow (3 full day lag) and still hasn't fully attenuated, and samples taste overwhelmingly phenolic. Another 2 carboys I pitched about 2 weeks ago also, almost as laggy and now still fermenting but smells like rancid meatballs. Oh and I just got results back from a comp of my 3 entries, one of which was an original with notty. It got dinged by every judge for diacetyl. My other 2 beers there didn't score anything less than 40's, one 46. My processes are all obsessively clean and consistent.
Notty for me is lately unreliable, inconsistent, slow, and well.. smelly. Notty just won't work for me as a competitive beer component. Back to WLP001 and repitching! That stuff never lets me down, and works beautifully up into its 5th generation.

 

[chefmike]

I have not had Notty yeast show any difference in my brewing process. Maybe slower, but not significantly that I have noticed.

I find it interesting reading the cited thread on the probrewer forum where the rep states that the yeast is "new and improved" (Sylvie Van Zandycke, Technical Sales Manager, Lallemand Brewing)compared to the rep here who stated no change other than packaging.

And I find it disturbing that the company raised the price of the yeast in the 500gram size over 300%. "from around $40 a half kilo to $145"

If that did happen with the 11g sachtets, I think it would be safe to say very few of us would use nottingham. I think it has always been a performance/price balance for me. Either of those suffers, business is going to be lost.

And how long will it take the company to hike prices on our side of the fence after they lose all the probrewer business. It does not sound like anyone is looking to stay with Nottingham over there.

Time for the company to rethink a few things.

 

[jwhirry]

Time for an update on my progress; I apologize that my results on these are fairly destroyed by repitching to both of these brews.

Schwarzbier: Last update it was at 1.022 and inactive also hydro sample was a bit harsh (I tossed most of it), I added a packet of US-05 and by the following afternoon there was a thin krausen on top again. This lasted thru most of last week. When I got back from a trip on Sunday I looked and it was clear, well as clear as a dark beer will get in a primary. So I pulled it Monday tested it FG 1.012 and transferred it to the keg. Hydro sample tasted great! *burp*... did I just detect band-aid? Hopefully that does not develop… maybe it was just something I ate. I had a band-aid beer a few brews back so I am a bit nervous. But I changed a lot of things since (bleach to starsan, bottling to kegging, new hoses).

Graff update and comments in a bit.

 

[jwhirry]

Graff: I had pulled the Graff as I said I would last week and tested it, it was still a bit high for what I thought I had read off the recipe 1.012, rethought this later and realized this was the high side of my goal. But I already mixed up a starter with DME and 2 packages of Nottingham I found at a LHBS with different lot and exp from the failed packages I have. No problem reaching a good krausen in the starter, I pitched it and set it back in the fermentarator and tried to forget about it for a few days. Of course I looked, but I never noticed another krausen.

I should of left it alone in the fermenter for a lot longer (like maybe a couple more weeks) but it looked like it was clearing Thursday, I expected 2 weeks for fermentation max and I wanted the fermenter for an APA I was going to brew that day. Hydro had it down to about 1.011, I set it in my keezer to help it clear. Later I sanitized a keg and transferred the now cleared Graff. Sample tasted and smelled pretty good. Unfortunately my auto-siphon is giving me some trouble… I have to say futzing with an auto-siphon in the middle of a transfer is not a good thing to do, and it took me a moment or more to notice I was drawing yeast and trub. I finished the transfer and set the carboy aside. I have since sampled the Graff and the aroma has changed… A friend described it as “hammy”, I tried not to agree but I do. I can’t find anything else better to describe the scent. I have been tossing the first glass to try and get a clear glass. The taste is dry cider but the smell is too “hammy” to enjoy it.

Should I just let it sit for a few weeks? Or should I transfer again, I doubt I transferred that much trub, but it is possible. Or should I try “dry-hopping” with an aromatic hop or spice that would compliment a cider or since it is in the keezer just add some apple juice or concentrate? I am even considering gelatin… Otherwise I realize these are still fairly young and surely need a bit of time to develop. I have heard the cider aroma and taste may take a few weeks to return.

Comments on Nottingham need to be revised... I am afraid I shouldn't comment beyond saying that the first Lot# failed me, while the majority may not be having a problem, I am a bit shy of trusting Nottingham to my brews for the time being. Nottingham has a performance reputation that it did not meet this time, 72 hours of lag if it came to life at all and possible under attenuation if it did. Beyond that I had other yeasties in there so my comments are voided. I will have to play around with US-05 and US-04 to see how I like them in different brews.

 

[wildwest450]

Your not supposed to make starters with dry yeast.

 

[Martin2D]

Just used this on a Bling Pig clone. Took 36 hours to go bonkers. Definitely a lot longer then the US-05 I used before they went crazy with the pricing.

 

[vtchuck]

I have activity this morning after re-pitching last night. Lots of surface foaming ...but it smells funny to me, not the yeasty, beery smell I'm accustomed to experiencing.

I had to dump the batch. It never cleared and smelled and tasted like grapefruit.... not the kind of mild citrus you get from Cascade. The other half of the batch came out fine. If I use Notty again, I'm doing a starter. Likely will bite the bullet & buy S-05 or WhiteLabs. Too bad

 

[enderwig]

I had to dump the batch. It never cleared and smelled and tasted like grapefruit.... not the kind of mild citrus you get from Cascade. The other half of the batch came out fine. If I use Notty again, I'm doing a starter. Likely will bite the bullet & buy S-05 or WhiteLabs. Too bad

That is exactly what happened to mine, it got so cloudy that you couldn't even see through the test jar, it looked and tasted like a glass of grapefruit juice. It got me on three batches. I just tossed the other 9 or 10 packs I had and started up a yeast farm! :rockin:

 

[chefchris]

Everything looks ok with my Pale Ale except I have these huge yeast glaciers floating on top of the beer. Everytime I look at it it scares me.

Even though I only experienced lag time I doubt I will use it again. It's not worth the risk.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Omahawk]

I brewed an IIPA last night and pitched a rehydrated Nottingham packet, it is starting to show decent activity at 12 hours. Lot 1080360088V, Exp 08-10.

 

[BNVince]

Brewed a Robust Porter yesterday and pitched some Nottingham. 27 hours later I have no airlock activity. Nottingham has taken off for me in the past. Weird.

 

[Pete08]

I brewed a 1.068 amber the other day, then dry pitched Notty like I usually do. I was approaching 40 hours with no visible activity. I rehydrated a second pack of Notty, all I had on hand, according to directions, conditioned it to the temp of the wort, and in it went. Within a few hours, I had activity. I don't know if it would have taken off eventually, or if rehydrating the second pack helped, or what.

 

[jlpred55]

Ok I am going to revisit my notty post again. After the 78 hour lag time it is doing it's work, I think. Checked gravity today. Was sitting at 1.014, It should get be down to 1.010 or so, minimum. OG was 1.046. It was a modified version of BM Centennial Blonde. It smelled great and is still cloudy from the active fermentation. It is a little slow compared to what I am used to w/ the notty, it has been 10 days, but no big deal. So here is the real thing that confused the hell out of me. I drink the hydo sample and me thinks I made a hefeweizen. No crap! I am defintely getting banana. No other fruit, no off flavors, nice crisp malt and banana. I am really wondering what the hell went on. Temp was at 62 the whole time, which is about 5 deg lower than what i normally ferment notty at. I am not too worried since it tasted great but nothing like it has in the past. I am thinking one of these options:

-It was a badly timed hydro pull and I am just getting some of the residual left behind from the yeast that hasn't been cleaned up and it is mixing with the all centennial hops to give a banana flavor.
-Or those little chunks of weird looking krausen floating around is a small infection that took hold prior to the notty going off and is lending a unique influnce to the brew.
-Or I just got a wild fermentation that started and overpowered the notty completely.
-Or my change in fermentation temps did it.
-Or I need to take my skirt off, let me leg hair grow and freaking relax...

Only time will tell. I will take another gravity ready on Thursday or Friday to see where I am at, see how the beer is clearing and what the taste is like. If it is done I will cold crash and then bottle that sob.

 

[carbon111]

So here is the real thing that confused the hell out of me. I drink the hydo sample and me thinks I made a hefeweizen. No crap! I am defintely getting banana. No other fruit, no off flavors, nice crisp malt and banana. I am really wondering what the hell went on. Temp was at 62 the whole time, which is about 5 deg lower than what i normally ferment notty at.

This is why I don't want to use Notty anymore. I did an IPA with nottingham, fermented it cool and ended up with a brew monkeys would adore.
A few months later and the bananas are finally starting to fade a bit...but not much.

I mentioned it onlist before and everybody said I must have fermented it too hot...but I know for a fact I hadn't. :/

A couple other of my Notty brews have a faint whiff of banana to the nose as well. My beers made with some Wyeast strains in the same time period do not exhibit this flaw.

I'm shopping for a new dry yeast. Going to try S-05 in my next Pale Ale.

 

[shek]

I usually stick to WLP001, but decided to use notty for BierMuncher's Cream of Three Crops, and it took at least 48 hours to see any activity, when I typically see bubbling within six hours with WLP001. Brewed on friday, so I'm going to take a sample this friday and see how it went, this thread has me a little nervous.

 

[KYB]

I've never had a problem with Nottingham. This happened within 12 hours (5gal batch, granted it was an Imperial Stout with 4 packets )

Is everyone re-hydrating them how the packet says to? That's what I always do.

 

[Nemleu]

I’m new to brewing, and this is only my third batch. The first two were fantastic! This kit included Nottingham. The lot number isn’t totally legible, and I can’t read the first numbers. It does end in 110V. The Exp. Date is 01-2011. (Sounds familiar)

I pitched at 75 F, and my SG came in at 1.060. Just what the kit called for. After 40 hours there were no signs of life in my airlock. I checked the gravity and still read 1.060. I’m concerned but this forum has given me comfort knowing that it appears I didn’t screw up.

Now I’m at 55 hours and WOW! I just noticed a bubble. After watching for 10 minutes with no more activity I felt like moron watching a test pattern on TV. (Now if you know what a test pattern is you know I’m not a youngster) From what I’ve read, I should be patient and within the next 24 hours it should be working well.

If not, should I pitch yeast again? I can’t purchase Nottingham in this area, is there a substitute I can use for American Nut Brown Ale? If it takes 72 hours for the yeast to start, will this influence the taste?

Thanks in advance, and if this brew does not work my enthusiasm for my new hobby will not be weakened.

 

[chefchris]

I’m new to brewing, and this is only my third batch. The first two were fantastic! This kit included Nottingham. The lot number isn’t totally legible, and I can’t read the first numbers. It does end in 110V. The Exp. Date is 01-2011. (Sounds familiar)

I pitched at 75 F, and my SG came in at 1.060. Just what the kit called for. After 40 hours there were no signs of life in my airlock. I checked the gravity and still read 1.060. I’m concerned but this forum has given me comfort knowing that it appears I didn’t screw up.

Now I’m at 55 hours and WOW! I just noticed a bubble. After watching for 10 minutes with no more activity I felt like moron watching a test pattern on TV. (Now if you know what a test pattern is you know I’m not a youngster) From what I’ve read, I should be patient and within the next 24 hours it should be working well.

If not, should I pitch yeast again? I can’t purchase Nottingham in this area, is there a substitute I can use for American Nut Brown Ale? If it takes 72 hours for the yeast to start, will this influence the taste?

Thanks in advance, and if this brew does not work my enthusiasm for my new hobby will not be weakened.

Since you've seen a small sign of fermentation I would ride it out for now. Mine took 2 or 3 days before it finally took off but the FG ended up at 1.011 so it still did it's job. We'll see how it tastes in a little over a week. Hopefully not like banana.

 

[BNVince]

Is everyone re-hydrating them how the packet says to? That's what I always do.

Okay I'll admit it. No, I'm not re-hydrating. I simply never have in the past.

Anyway, after 48 hours of no airlock activity on EdWort's Porter I peeked inside my plastic fermenter and didn't see a spec of Krausen. I pitched another packet of Nottingham.

It's possible that I pitched the first packet when the wort was at a high temperature. I had a bit of a mix up during the cold break and things went haywire. I could have sworn I pitched it at 80 (which is not ideal in the first place) but it may have been hotter.

I'll keep you posted.

P.S. If this porter ends up smelling like bananas I'll never use Nottingham again.

 

[shek]

I brewed friday night (8/7) and pitched a single packed of notty into 5.5G of 1.042 of the COTC as mentioned before. Didn't see any bubbling until late Sunday, AFAIK. It's still bubbling but pretty slowly. I'm going to give it the full week then take a sample and check the gravity (it's in a bucket). Ferm temp is upper 60's, the bucket is in a larger water bath, that I keep dropping large blocks of ice into. The notty was lot 1081140118V and the exp was 1-2011. Hopefully it did the job, since I'm trying to rush this beer a little for a friend's BBQ.

 

[Nablis]

I recently used some notty lot 1081140118v expires 01-2011. Rehydrated one and pitched @70. When it was rehydrated it didn't look normal it wasn't sticky at all. 24 hours later no activity, so tossed in another package of notty with no rehydration. Now its been 72 hours so I just pitched some us-05.

Very frustrating.

 

[springer]

I just racked Orfy's Mild ale into the kegs . 11 gallons in two BB's 1 package of Notty per BB rehydrated as per instructions one took off in about 10 hrs the other was going when I got home that night at 6 pm both at 64°. Don't know the batch #'s but they had an exp date of 8/2010 and 9/2010 . Also one package was lighter than the other can't remember which one though. So the 2 I pitched were in the norm from my prior experiences.


No off flavors with either.

 

[bob1852]

pitched some Notty last night into an IPA and had no activity this morning, which is rare for my relationship with Notty (yes I know air lock activity isn't the only way to determine if fermentation is happening, but ALL of my other Notty batches were bubbling within 12 hours).