Nottingham Yeast

[Dynachrome]

I have had good results with Notingham's.

Two cups of warm water and it looks like they rehydrate and start foaming. That's what I've done for the last three batches that I drank and also for the one I bottled tonight.

 

[meddin]

Made a batch of Edwort's Haus Ale the other day. Pitched Notty, and had/have the most vigorous activity I have seen yet. Looks good so far!

 

[cclloyd]

A follow up to my conversation Sunday with the Danstar rep - today I received via priority mail three each sachets of Notty, Windsor and Munich yeast and a nice Danstar hat. I am impressed by the response and the fact that they believe in thier product that much. If nothing else I feel I have been fully compensated for the lost batch of mild (aside from the initial irritation of course). I guess they will get another shot - they put forth the effort so I will too.

 

[TheBandit]

I found this thread after seeing no action on my red ale for 48 hours. I too have Danstar Nottingham Lot 1080360088V 8/2010 exp. I also saw that static cling of yeast to the bag when I opened it. I thought I may nave had a bad batch. There was a slight pressure as seen in the bubbler. But then it was gone. 72 hours nothing. This morning 84 hours nothing. I went to work and came back to nothing at 90 hours. I took the lid off and hardly saw the fine bubbles. There was a bunch of yeast floating. I checked with the hydrometer and the reading was 1.010 down from OG 1.040. I guess I can relax now.

 

[goose1873]

I now sub with safale products (and liquid)...I'm a fan of consistancy

 

[smizak]

I hated this yeast in my Irish Red, first time I used it and it had an unpleasant ester, and I mother f'd it since then. But the nasty ester went away after a couple of months, left a nice pleasant, very subtle fruitiness, and it just won a gold medal last weekend. Sooo, sorry Nottingham.

 

[goose1873]

im still trying to get the "off taste" out of a batch that had a 72 hour lag...i'm just bulk conditioning and the yeast is cleaning it up...slowly. It's still on my sh*& list though...

I may forgive eventually but just love safeale products and never had a lag >12 hours on 20+ batches with us-05/04...

I'm sure i'll use notty again...just not in the foreseeable future.

 

[Ridemywideglide]

I have had good results with Notingham's.

Two cups of warm water and it looks like they rehydrate and start foaming. That's what I've done for the last three batches that I drank and also for the one I bottled tonight.

This is my usual method, and has worked everytime..

Made a batch of Edwort's Haus Ale the other day. Pitched Notty, and had/have the most vigorous activity I have seen yet. Looks good so far!

Same here, brewed Haus Ale, and BM's Centenniel on Wednesday. I had practiced making a starter with a pack on Notty the week before. I started with 1 cup ELDME in 1 qt water. Then stepped that to 2 cups in a half gallon. I ended up with a nice 2-3in thick layer in the botton of the growler..
I then split this between the 2 batches brewed.

It's not looking normal tho.. I have a thick layer of "conglomerate glop" on top of both, no krausen whatsoever, and very little bubbling.
I didn't get the date on the initial pack, but I tossed in another pack each lastnight that I received from BMW. They are lot 1080961099V exp; 12-2011.

Gonna check reading tonight and go from there..

 

[skybrew]

Just to up-date my earlier post, I received 3 packets of Notty for the 1 that I mailed back to them after I had no fermentation and holes in the packet. It was also a month to the day after I mailed it to them that I got the new yeast. I noticed that the packet's lot # and dates are now ink stamped instead of impression printed, so it looks like they have changed their packaging methods.

 

[birch]

Chalk up another one. Brewed a cascade pale ale Sunday and decided to pitch a pack of notty that I've had sitting around for a while. While I didn't take note of the batch numbers, I bought it last fall so the timelines match up, and here we are Tuesday morning and nothing. I'm fermenting in a 6.5 carboy so I can definitely tell there is nothing going on.

Guess I'll head to the LHBS over lunch and grab some S-05 to pitch tonight.

 

[SumnerH]

Chalk up another one. Brewed a cascade pale ale Sunday and decided to pitch a pack of notty that I've had sitting around for a while. While I didn't take note of the batch numbers, I bought it last fall so the timelines match up, and here we are Tuesday morning and nothing. I'm fermenting in a 6.5 carboy so I can definitely tell there is nothing going on.

Guess I'll head to the LHBS over lunch and grab some S-05 to pitch tonight.

It's too early to be worried about that yet.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

 

[jmo88]

It's too early to be worried about that yet.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

That thread bothers me a bit. If the yeast is healthy, the pitch rate and temperature was appropriate, a normal beer should be practically finished fermenting at 72 hours. If it's Tuesday morning and I dint see activity on a Sunday's brew, i'd worry too. Sure it might start couple days late, but that doesn't mean the yeast are behaving properly. Fast healthy starts are critical good flavor in your beer. Last fall, many people had late starts to their notty, ask them how their beer came out. I'm one of them, and my beer came out noticeably off.

 

[passedpawn]

That thread bothers me a bit. If the yeast is healthy, the pitch rate and temperature was appropriate, a normal beer should be practically finished fermenting at 72 hours. If it's Tuesday morning and I dint see activity on a Sunday's brew, i'd worry too. Sure it might start couple days late, but that doesn't mean the yeast are behaving properly. Fast healthy starts are critical good flavor in your beer. Last fall, many people had late starts to their notty, ask them how their beer came out. I'm one of them, and my beer came out noticeably off.

I could have typed this exact post: my sentiments exactly. Or, in HBT parlance, +1

 

[ArcaneXor]

It's too early to be worried about that yet.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

It *can* take 72 hours, but if it does, it's a sign that you didn't pitch enough viable and vital yeast. I get nervous when it goes beyond 24 hours without activity and will take corrective measures after 48.

 

[passedpawn]

Chalk up another one. Brewed a cascade pale ale Sunday and decided to pitch a pack of notty that I've had sitting around for a while. While I didn't take note of the batch numbers, I bought it last fall so the timelines match up, and here we are Tuesday morning and nothing. I'm fermenting in a 6.5 carboy so I can definitely tell there is nothing going on.

Guess I'll head to the LHBS over lunch and grab some S-05 to pitch tonight.

Might want to take a quick hydro reading. You wouldn't be the first person to miss a fast ferment. Although, if you are like me, you check the thing on the hour every hour.

 

[birch]

Might want to take a quick hydro reading. You wouldn't be the first person to miss a fast ferment. Although, if you are like me, you check the thing on the hour every hour.

I'm gonna pick up some S-05 over lunch, and check it when I get home. If it has taken off today then no problem, but if not I'll check the SG before I re-pitch. I'm pretty confident that there was nothing going on in there as of this morning, though.

And to mirror the sentiments of others, while it *CAN* take 72 hours, that doesn't mean it should or that your beer won't be affected. That's 3 days that infections can grow, and that's way too long for my preference. Add in the fact that I've never seen Notty take more than 12 hours to take off before, and it's just bothersome. Notty doesn't do anything special that worth waiting that long and risking your batch when you've got perfectly reliable alternatives.

 

[SumnerH]

That thread bothers me a bit. If the yeast is healthy, the pitch rate and temperature was appropriate, a normal beer should be practically finished fermenting at 72 hours. If it's Tuesday morning and I dint see activity on a Sunday's brew, i'd worry too.

I sort of agree, and so does that thread--it notes that "If you follow correct and advised procedures then I say most brews see activity in 6 to 18 hours."

But there's a difference between the sort of problem where you should think "Next time, I need to make sure I'm aerating well, pitching enough viable yeast, and have the wort at an appropriate temperature, because this isn't ideal" and "OMG, I need to pitch more yeast into this beer!".

A 36-hour lag from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning is in the former category, but it's a ways away from panicking and repitching IMO.

If things are still looking dead on Wednesday and the hydro says the fermentation didn't sneak past you, then's the time to consider pitching again.

 

[passedpawn]

BTW, there absolutely are bacteria in your carboy that are rapidly reproducing. I've accidentally grown bacteria in some well-sanitized equipment... they are there if you didn't actually sterilize by autoclave or similar.

It is a race against time... how quickly the bacteria grow vs. how fast the yeast create alcohol and poison the bacteria.

In 3 days the bacteria have gotten a big head start. I had my bad experience with Notty and will never go there again.

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

Well, wish I had seen this thread last week...

Went to LHBS dropped ~$35 on ingredients, wanted US-05, but they were out...

Brewed Friday afternoon... pitched

Lot No. 1087117102 EXP 06-2011 Made in Denmark

As of Monday morning... Nothing.

Came home tonight (monday night) surface almost has a layer of bubbles

Also yeast icebergs....

"that's odd" so I search to see if this is a normal Nottingham characteristic... find this thread... go out to the trash luckily the yeast packet was against the side of the bag so it was easy to get to... (and wasn't in the bag with the chicken remains from a little grilling)

I cut the packet open and there are at least 6 holes in the lot number and expiration date that are clearly visible when I hold a flashlight against the packet.

I pulled the stopper out and took a sniff... it smelled ok, so I have hope. In the 72 hours that it took to start, hopefully nothing else took hold, but I am not a happy camper right now.

I'm going to get into contact with Danstar and also bring the packet by my LHBS and show them the wonderful perforated packet...

 

[smizak]

That sucks man.

 

[kwhyte]

Well, wish I had seen this thread last week...

Went to LHBS dropped ~$35 on ingredients, wanted US-05, but they were out...

Brewed Friday afternoon... pitched

Lot No. 1087117102 EXP 06-2011 Made in Denmark

As of Monday morning... Nothing.

Came home tonight (monday night) surface almost has a layer of bubbles

Also yeast icebergs....

"that's odd" so I search to see if this is a normal Nottingham characteristic... find this thread... go out to the trash luckily the yeast packet was against the side of the bag so it was easy to get to... (and wasn't in the bag with the chicken remains from a little grilling)

I cut the packet open and there are at least 6 holes in the lot number and expiration date that are clearly visible when I hold a flashlight against the packet.

I pulled the stopper out and took a sniff... it smelled ok, so I have hope. In the 72 hours that it took to start, hopefully nothing else took hold, but I am not a happy camper right now.

I'm going to get into contact with Danstar and also bring the packet by my LHBS and show them the wonderful perforated packet...

Definitely write them - that's the same lot I had trouble with and they said they hadn't heard of any problems with it. They blamed it on "something" that must have happened to it in transit to me. Maybe if enough people tell them they'll believe it. They did send me some replacement packets, but I doubt I'll use them since they obviously have a problem they haven't identified (or at least admitted) much less solved.

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

I sent them an email and I was able to get a photo with a flashlight behind the packet that actually showed the light coming out from the numbers...

In a dark room, I can see 20+ holes, but 4 of them were big enough that at the limits of what I could do with an f1.8 lens handheld I could get them to show up... I guess I could have upped the ISO setting, but I didn't think of it at the time...

besides the punctures at the lot number, there is also a similar sized hole at the edge of the packet where it looks like the back panel got slightly kinked before sealing and the foil got a hole at the inside edge when it was sealed.

 

[nutty_gnome]

I still wont give them my business. They sent me replacement packets but the printing still looks ratty and there are imprints on the lot number. I just can't trust them. N_G

 

[kwhyte]

I still wont give them my business. They sent me replacement packets but the printing still looks ratty and there are imprints on the lot number. I just can't trust them. N_G

I have to agree, as I said in my e-mail to them. Replacement packs are not really going to fix the problem for anyone who loses a batch from the issue, so I would hope they would do everything in their power to prevent that from happening. Instead, when this first came up they were slow to admit the problem and then claimed that it was limited to one batch and had been fixed. The many reports here and elsewhere since then indicate that is not the case, and they are again denying there's a problem until it gets too big to ignore. When I wrote them they didn't seem interested in any details, and made no effort at all to figure out what might be going on - they just told me I didn't have that "one bad batch" and that the problem was likely someone else's fault (shipper, LHBS, etc.). I think they feel like offering free replacements even while saying it isn't their problem counts as generous - maybe it will get them lots of false complaints looking for free yeast, but it won't win back anyone who has actually has experienced the problem.

 

[goose1873]

i use us-05 as a substitute...

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

Well, on the good side, tonight the krausen looks normal... so I guess to paraphrase Miracle Max... the yeast was only mostly dead, which means partly alive. I'm holding out hope that the beer will be fine despite the massive underpitching. (keeping fingers crossed)

Still, It took 90 hours to get to the stage that my other brews reached in under 30 hours, most in under 18.

The holes in the packet are obviously a problem, I was just lucky that they might not have been enough to ruin my particular batch. 24 hours post-email and I have not heard back from Danstar as yet.

 

[smizak]

I think someone posted that they changed the printer to laser/ink instead of that stamp. I've only used it once and the stamping was really heavily imprinted. I lucked out though, fermented fine. Still kind of shocked that they could let something like that happen, really, stamping dates on thin foil packages of a highly perishable product?

 

[Daddymem]

I think someone posted that they changed the printer to laser/ink instead of that stamp. I've only used it once and the stamping was really heavily imprinted. I lucked out though, fermented fine. Still kind of shocked that they could let something like that happen, really, stamping dates on thin foil packages of a highly perishable product?

Correct. The new packaging is inked on not stamped. Some of the replacement packets they sent me for my troubles were from a different lot than their admitted problem batch and those were stamped and some of those have been duds too. Thankfully they sent me a bunch so if one turns out to be a dud the next day, I pitch an inked one in and it usually takes off.

 

[dragonlor20]

Damn, where was this topic when I was planning this beer?

I just emailed Danstar with a picture of the package with the lot number and expiration date with a link to this post again. Hopefully they will reply to the email and possibly post again on this thread...

In the meantime, others who have used this yeast: Should I pitch another yeast or wait it out?

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

depends... which lot number?

If its the one I had, give it 18 hours and if there aren't signs of fermentation, pitch something else.

I got a response to my email saying that while the flashlight test shows holes, the foil is punctured, but not the lining on the inside. However, my brew took 72 hours to show signs of fermentation. However, after all the stress and teeth gnashing it may be ok... Ive still got my fingers crossed.