Nottingham Yeast

[uvmnick]

Hey all,

Need some expert advise. I did my 1st BIAB on Saturday, a rye brown ale. Everything went great, except for my whirlpool. I basically ended up dumping in all the trub into the fermentor, which I know doesn't really matter in the big picture. I pitched my Nottingham yeast at 64 degrees and I've maintained that temp during the first three days.

After day one I noticed that my big mouth fermentor lid was sliding up, wasn't fully off but it wasn't fully down either. I had activity but my krauesen never really took off and formed. As of this morning, it just seams dead. Some foam on top, but no krausen. No activity in the wort itself, i.e. you can't see it dancing swirling around.

My question - Does Nottingham yeast have traits like this where it doesn't go nuts with krausen? Do you think having the lid pop up some affected the yeast? Should I pitch more yeast? I know that the only way to know if fermentation is done is to take a gravity reading, but something just seems off. Should I just let it ride?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[cmac62]

I haven't used Notty a lot, but I frequently don't have much airlock activity and it a couple of weeks it always turns into beer. I'd let it go for a while and take a reading in a week or so. I also don't worry too much about trub getting into the fermenter. I try to minimize it, but if some gets in no big deal.

 

[uvmnick]

Thanks cmac. I'm not too worried about the air lock activity, I know you can't go on that. I'm worried about the lack of krausen, and how still is seems now. I guess patience is a virtue!

 

[bpgreen]

I use Nottingham a lot.

I tend to porch the yeast, put the lid on, and sick the fermenter in the basement until I'm ready to keg. I ignore it in between.

So I guess I can't answer your specific questions. But Nottingham hasn't let me down.

 

[thehaze]

Nottingham ferments aggressively and you definitely know when it's going. But seeing your fermenter was not perfectly sealed up, you did not get the chance to " see and hear " the fermentation, as all C02 escaped through the poorly sealed lid. It is probably finished by now. ( you did not say when you brewed it and pitched the yeast - you just said after day one and " as of this morning ... " which is when exactly after you pitched the yeast? )

Nottingham for me finishes in 3-4 days. It finished my latest hoppy Porter from 1.072 to 1.010 in a few days. It started fermenting in 5 hours after pitching 2 x sachets of yeast and 72 hours later it was at 1.012 and gave it a few more days to finish at 1.010 ( 8.1% ABV ).

I recommend taking a gravity sample and measuring it with your hydrometer, to understand if and how much it has fermented.

 

[Miraculix]

Nottingham ferments aggressively and you definitely know when it's going. But seeing your fermenter was not perfectly sealed up, you did not get the chance to " see and hear " the fermentation, as all C02 escaped through the poorly sealed lid. It is probably finished by now. ( you did not say when you brewed it and pitched the yeast - you just said after day one and " as of this morning ... " which is when exactly after you pitched the yeast? )

Nottingham for me finishes in 3-4 days. It finished my latest hoppy Porter from 1.072 to 1.010 in a few days. It started fermenting in 5 hours after pitching 2 x sachets of yeast and 72 hours later it was at 1.012 and gave it a few more days to finish at 1.010 ( 8.1% ABV ).

I recommend taking a gravity sample and measuring it with your hydrometer, to understand if and how much it has fermented.

Exactly what I experienced with this nice yeast. I also think it is probably finished. Take a reading and see where you are!

 

[uvmnick]

Nottingham ferments aggressively and you definitely know when it's going. But seeing your fermenter was not perfectly sealed up, you did not get the chance to " see and hear " the fermentation, as all C02 escaped through the poorly sealed lid. It is probably finished by now. ( you did not say when you brewed it and pitched the yeast - you just said after day one and " as of this morning ... " which is when exactly after you pitched the yeast? )

Nottingham for me finishes in 3-4 days. It finished my latest hoppy Porter from 1.072 to 1.010 in a few days. It started fermenting in 5 hours after pitching 2 x sachets of yeast and 72 hours later it was at 1.012 and gave it a few more days to finish at 1.010 ( 8.1% ABV ).

I recommend taking a gravity sample and measuring it with your hydrometer, to understand if and how much it has fermented.

I said I brewed/pitched on Saturday. Thanks for the insight on this yeast's activity. I figured it had something to do with the lid moving up. This makes sense because the lid only pushed up due to the active fermentation, not because it was put on incorrectly, etc. I will take a reading today to see where we stand.

 

[uvmnick]

Exactly what I experienced with this nice yeast. I also think it is probably finished. Take a reading and see where you are!

Thanks for confirming. The OG was 1.057, FG is supposed to be 1.014. I'm currently at 1.018. I will let it ride. Hopefully, this will also allow it to clear up some. Very hazy. Taste pretty good though.

 

[RM-MN]

The amount of krausen depends mostly on your recipe. Nottingham is quite capable of making a big krausen. The fact that your fermenter lid was pushed up confirms that this was an active ferment. Relax, go do something else besides looking at the fermenter, probably another 10 days or so, and you will have beer.

 

[Miraculix]

Thanks for confirming. The OG was 1.057, FG is supposed to be 1.014. I'm currently at 1.018. I will let it ride. Hopefully, this will also allow it to clear up some. Very hazy. Taste pretty good though.

You might have just missed the Kräusen, notti is an aggressive beast!

One of my favorites btw. If I would need to choose one yeast for live, it'd be probably this one.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I've got a light ale in primary with Notty (first time using it) day 8 sitting in 54°F in the basement.

I was worried about leaving the bucket down there in the first couple days preparing for the violent Notty fermentation as I didn't rig a blow-off even though my judgement said it may have needed it. It didn't blow the lid off thankfully and now it is cleaning up slowly. Had banana smells in the first couple days as well that have bled off. Haven't checked the gravity and I won't until day 12 probably but I'd imagine from what everyone is saying Notty comes in hard and then you just have to wait to let 'er clean up after herself.

 

[gunhaus]

Yup - I took to using cheap ratchet straps to keep that miracle of engineering known as the Big Mouth Lid where it belongs. As for the Notty - Betchya your fine. I use it and like it a lot. It is pretty hearty!

 

[gwinn758]

After I shake up the wort to get some O2 in there I add the yeast. I then spray the inside collar of the Bubbler with Starsan as well as the ribs on the lid. I then lightly dampen a paper towel with Starsan and the dry the collar and ribs. Once I put the lid on it stays in place during fermentation.