Nottingham Yeast

[KopyKat]

Anyone received replacements yet? I sent mine September 3rd. I just emailed Keith Lemcke with a "what's up" regarding the dozen I sent.

 

[Mongo64]

I had similar results after using my first packet of the suspect lot# of Nottingham. Took 3 days before I saw any evidence of fermentation.

Did anyone else notice a difference in the smell/taste with this yeast batch. I've made several batches of the Centennial Blonde, but this was my first batch with the slow yeast. I always noticed a nice nutty smell with the yeast cake, but not this batch. It had a funky almost clove like smell and the taste was not good. I just bottled yesterday, I hope it gets better.

The two things i did different with this last batch was use the Nottingham with the new lot# and I now have better temp control during ferment keeping it at 66-68. I think my prevoius batches ranged 68-72 with the old Nottingham.

 

[Reedwalker]

I bought two packets of this batch.

The first one I rehydrated using John Palmers' method. I had normal fermentation. I haven't used the second pack yet, It's been in my fridge for a month or more.

Frankly, after my first results, I'm none too much concerned.

 

[balto charlie]

So this is why I had to pitch my Braggot onto a fresh yeast cake to get it going. Pack was from that batch. Thinking I'd be safe pitching my Haus Pale Ale with a packet from a different batch, I am disappointed to see no activity in 24 hours on this one either. I'll give it the full 72 before I worry, but I've never had any Notty not kick off overnight. 1080360088V 08-2010 is the batch for this packet.

I just pitched with this same lot of yeast last night. Notty has always taken off w/in 12 hrs. This morning nothing, nada, nary a bubble. It just started started slowly this evening 24 hrs after pitching, so all is good. BUT this ain't the same old Notty.

 

[jlpred55]

I had similar results after using my first packet of the suspect lot# of Nottingham. Took 3 days before I saw any evidence of fermentation.

Did anyone else notice a difference in the small/taste with this yeast batch. I've made several batches of the Centennial Blonde, but this was my first batch with the slow yeast. I always noticed a nice nutty small with the yeast cake, but not this batch. It had a funky almost clove like smell and the taste was not good. I just bottled yesterday, I hope it gets better.

The two things i did different with this last batch was use the Nottingham with the new lot# and I now have better temp control during ferment keeping it at 66-68. I think my prevoius batches ranged 68-72 with the old Nottingham.

Yup same thing happened to me on my Blonde Ale. Tastes like a weak Hefe- clove taste etc. The taste does condition out a little more, but it is still there. But the estery smell seems to be ever present. I think mine has been in the bottle about 2 months. I would like to send this whole batch to them to drink as a thank you for ruining my batch. I am going to let it sit for another month as see but don't get too excited to drink it.

 

[Daddymem]

Great, I hope this didn't ruin my Braggot and my Haus Pale Ale. The cellar smelled funkier than it has ever smelled. Braggot was planned to be bottled this weekend, maybe I'll give it some more cleanup time.

 

[ace3's carboy]

Yup same thing happened to me on my Blonde Ale. Tastes like a weak Hefe- clove taste etc. The taste does condition out a little more, but it is still there. But the estery smell seems to be ever present. I think mine has been in the bottle about 2 months. I would like to send this whole batch to them to drink as a thank you for ruining my batch. I am going to let it sit for another month as see but don't get too excited to drink it.

I have a strong sense that my slow staring nottingham is going this route. I pitched it in my cider, took about 72 hours to kick off and there was a distinctively lemon-y smell coming off of the airlock. I am racking to secondary tomorrow, and will get my first chance to see how bad it actually is

 

[WollenBrew]

I also pitched the Nottingham last night at about 9:30pm and have seen nothing. I will wait until 72 hours has passed, but plan on re-pitching with US-05. I pitched exactly as instructed by the package on a Scottish Wee Heavy from Northern Brewer. The brew went beautifully, but just prior to pitching, I took a look at my yeast (which I had re-hydrated) and it just had a strange smell that was unlike other yeasts I've had experience with. I do understand that this is a heavier beer (OG of 1093), but I'm not even seeing any colonies on the top. The Nottingham has completely sunk to the bottom, my wort is clear and NOTHING is happening. Again, I'll RDWHAB and wait until the 72 hour time period, but I have a feeling... nothing is going to happen. I have informed Northern Brewer and asked if they might consider sending different yeast with the kits that offer the Nottingham by default. This is just very disappointing considering how many good things I've seen about Danstar yeast. I hope they get their sh*t together and fix this issue as it doesn't seem to be specifically related to one particular batch (mine was from a different batch #). I don't know, just venting.

 

[Daddymem]

I'm with you WollenBrew. I pointed out to the CSR I was dealing with that I had the exact same problem with a Notty from a different batch and she insisted that the batch mentioned was the only one that had a problem. I disagree and will be changing to S-05 for my clean yeast until the problem is fixed.

 

[The Pol]

I typically use the -05 as well... just picked up the Notty since it was cheap and clean.

I am not going to waste time (or money) buying Notty again, there is really no benefit as it is just a simple, clean yeast. I will start buying it again when -05 starts having quality control issues, hate to say it.

It is a redundant product, it has no niche, and this has turned me off.

 

[WollenBrew]

Update: I took a quick look at the Wee Heavy last night and noticed a semi-transparent layer had formed on top with what looked like some yeast colonies. This morning, I went down and woo hoo! a 1/4 inch layer or krausen. I'm not excited about the fact that the fermentation is taking off so slowly and at this point, I'm kind of disappointed that I don't need a blow-off tube, 'cause I just love really active fermentation. However, I'm happy that we do seem to have some activity.

If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd be interested in hearing. Should I leave well enough alone or re-pitch with some -05 to get a more active ferment? My guess is that I should let it be and test SG on Sunday and see where I'm at?

 

[yogensha]

I just went to my LHBS to pick up some sachets of Nottingham before seeing this thread. They were out and when I inquired, was informed that they had "been recalled."

 

[ace3's carboy]

I just racked to secondary. Went from 1.064 to 1.020 on my cider and the flavor was just fine. No concerns other than the very slow start.

 

[DBbrewing]

A fellow homebrewer decided to try the recalled yeast to see what happens and guess what? It went 1 week and nothing so he had to pitch some other yeast, hope nothing else got in there since he waited a whole week.

 

[Zaxenexaz]

I just recently bottled some EdWort's Haus Pale Ale that used this yeast and it's the only all grain batch I've done (out of 10 or so) that is completely undrinkable at this point. I don't know what exact tastes I'd attribute to it, but it's not good.
It could be coincidence and this is jsut the first beer I screwed up, but it also coincides with the only batch I've used this yeast on. Time will tell in a few weeks if it turns out to be at all drinkable.

 

[Hound_Dog]

I just recently bottled some EdWort's Haus Pale Ale that used this yeast and it's the only all grain batch I've done (out of 10 or so) that is completely undrinkable at this point. I don't know what exact tastes I'd attribute to it, but it's not good.
It could be coincidence and this is jsut the first beer I screwed up, but it also coincides with the only batch I've used this yeast on. Time will tell in a few weeks if it turns out to be at all drinkable.

I had the same problem on the same recipe. Mine tastes like a five day old banana milkshake, and smells like you just stuck your head in a dumpster. It has only gotten worse as the beer aged. I'll have to look at my notes but I think it's been in bottles for five or six weeks now.

 

[Daddymem]

Just wonderful news. Mine should be ready to bottle this weekend, guess I'll find out soon. And this is one out of their "bad batch" lot number but it had the same lag.

 

[Mongo64]

Well, I've made the same Centennial Blonde Ale with Nottingham yeast and it always turned out good. I just got a chance to taste my first batch made with the suspect lot# of the Nottingham yeast.

I noticed a bad/funky smell and taste when I bottled this batch. I bottled anyway, and after one week of bottle conditioning I thought I'd give it a try. It was entirely undrinkable. It had a very strong off taste, something between rotten onions and clove. I'm thinking I'd rather dump the whole batch that ever taste that again.

 

[Budzu]

know what we need? A new thread titled: "How many gallons have been dumped due to bad Notty?" 15 for me

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

By "dumped" I hope you mean into your stomach!

 

[Hound_Dog]

By "dumped" I hope you mean into your stomach!

Honestly, the beer is so bad that I can't bring myself to drink it. I can deal with drinking beer that doesn't taste great, but this is a whole different level of bad. If you want, you are more than welcome to come and get it, but honestly I could use the 22oz bottles that it's in for something else right now.

 

[klemcke]

Thanks for the frank comments on this forum, and to alerting us to the fermentation problems of this batch of Nottingham several weeks ago. Just a bit more on the cause of the problem in case some of you haven't seen this posted elsewhere.

Our subsequent investigations have shown that in the packaging process of Nottingham batch #1081140118V, the device used to imprint the lot number and expiration date caused tiny punctures in the sachet packaging material, allowing air to get into the package. Prolonged contact with air will affect the performance of the yeast, resulting in changes in fermentation performance over time. This has affected a minority of the yeast sachets in this batch but as a precaution we have decided to replace the entire batch of Nottingham sachets. This was an isolated incident and prior and subsequent batches were not affected. The printing device has been upgraded with a different type of printing ribbon to prevent a reoccurrence.

We again apologize to those who have been affected by this problem and hope you will continue to use Danstar yeast in the future.

Keith Lemcke
Danstar & Lalvin Yeast

 

[Daddymem]

I think it probably goes further than that. I have a batch 1080360088V with 08-2010 date that did the exact same thing (in a different beer, EdWort's Haus Pale Ale) as the 1081140118V batch I had that I needed to pitch on a yeast cake since it didn't take off within 72 hours. Just shy of 72 hours before any action at all and the basement smelled to high heaven. I don't know if it has made a bad beer or not yet as I need to bottle it this weekend. I've got the package here and I can see the text that imprinted the info embossed the package enough you can see the text from the inside of the packet. Side by side with an unopened packet from the bad batch, the imprinting is just as severe. I could have potentially 13 gallons of beer ruined and I am not in the least bit happy about it.

Replacing bad yeast packets is all fine and dandy, but when $20-$50 of ingredients have been ruined per batch because of $3 yeast, it is irrelevant.

 

[WollenBrew]

+1 to Daddymem, my Nottingham for my Wee Heavy was from the same batch as yours (88V). So far, though, the worst I've had is the slow start. I did have fermentation within 36 hours, however, initially the yeast smelled "off" when I rehydrated. Secondly, I have no idea of the taste. So far, no awful smell. The fermenting beer does have a decent smell to it, but after reading all of the posts, I'm concerned about the outcome based on the fact that the yeast had a smell to it initially that just didn't seem quite right. However, being new to brewing, I assumed that things were fine and that because it was a different yeast than I had used before that it must be okay... this is, after all, the mighty Nottingham we're talking about. But, if the beer is awful and doesn't get better with age, then yes, I'm none to happy as well. Maybe the wee heavy isn't the most expensive kit from Northern Brewer, but it's not the cheapest, either.

 

[Daddymem]

Take a look at the inside of your package. Different text characters embossed at a different rate on mine. Some appear to almost go all the way through the package and some aren't visible from the underside at all. I'll bet each package could be a different case...did a letter puncture the package? Did two? Did a whole word? Probably makes a difference between packets from the same batch even.

 

[iasquith]

Iv'e just thrown away 20 litres of bitter made with 1080360088V exp 08-2010 it was undrinkable , worse even just bottled another batch using the same yeast and again its with a horrible smell , nothing as changed in my process and the manufacturer says there has been no complaints on this batch, pity I bought 10 packets of Nottingham I dare'nt risk using the others. on mine the characters of text are very deep as well .

 

[oloroso27]

Bummer - I was just about to try making Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale w/ Notty (never used Notty before) and came across this thread.... Does anyone have an opinion on what would be a similar (flavor profile wise) substitute made by Wyeast? Maybe 1275?

 

[The Pol]

Bummer - I was just about to try making Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale w/ Notty (never used Notty before) and came across this thread.... Does anyone have an opinion on what would be a similar (flavor profile wise) substitute made by Wyeast? Maybe 1275?

I use any clean yeast to sub for it. WLP001, 1056, S-05...

That is the nice thing about Notty... it isnt that "special", and the clean yeasts are all pretty equal.

 

[Hound_Dog]

I must say although Notty ruined a batch of mine, I had one pack of old Notty and pitched it into Orfy's Mild Mannered ale and had visible signs of fermentation in 8 hours and it has really taken off.

 

[njnear76]

I kegged the Blond I made 9/6/2009 the other day, which I made plenty of times. Fermented at 58-62F and it usually clears < 2 weeks. It is highly drinkable on bottling day even without the C02. Well, not this time.

It's cloudy, smells and tastes like apples, and the yeast sludge was identical to apfelwein sludge.

Is it even salvageable? Has anyone repitched and had good results or is this a lost cause?

Sucks because I made it for my old man who's coming to visit in a month. It's his favorite beer that I make and I wanted him to try it on my new kegerator. Darn you Nottingham. :-(