Notty yeast advice

[NewkyBrown]

I have my pale ale fermenting in the basement at a nice steady 61F.
Been there 4 days and airlock activity is starting to slow now.

I will check the gravity at the weekend but my question is, should I leave it at that temp or start to raise it to clean up. I have never used this yeast before but know that it needs to be low temp to start.

Any advice is welcome, thanks.

 

[tmorrell]

I'm in a similar situation. I brewed an IPA this past sunday and closed the primary around midnight, using nottingham ale yeast. I didn't see activity for about 24 hours, but tuesday morning until around 3PM today my airlock was really active. I have a video of it at it's peak if you want to compare. Now (11PM on thursday) there is almost no activity. My temp started around 62 sunday night, 63 monday, 64 tuesday, and 66 wednesday and thursday. It fluctuates because I only have my basement to use at the moment, and my wife and kids can't keep the temp steady upstairs (I'm working on a temp controlled fridge). I'm at the mercy of my basement, so it's hard to regulate the temp.

I plan to check the gravity this weekend too, I don't want to disturb anything yet.

I'm curious about your statement regarding raising the temp to clean it up. When does that happen, and have I messed my batch up by having my temp rise to early?

 

[BigFloyd]

Notty is my favorite "go-to" dry yeast for lots of styles of beers as well as apple ciders. Good stuff.

You did well to run it at 61*F to start. Now that it's slowing down, you can go ahead and bump it up into the 65-66*F range to finish. The trick with Notty is to not pitch into wort above 67*F nor let it get warmer than that during active fermentation.

Wait one more weekend before you check gravity. The extra bit of time will allow it to fully finish and give the yeast an opportunity to clean up the natural chemical by-products of fermentation (which they eat after they run out of sugars).

 

[GenIke]

Unless you're in a hurry, just let it sit at 61 for a couple weeks and you'll be fine.

 

[tmorrell]

Just curious, if it gets warmer than 67 what should one expect in the long run? In my case, with my starting temp closer to 63, and slowly rising during active fermentation, should I expect poor results? Is there anything I should do about this now such as find a way to drop the temp from it's current state of 66?

 

[BigFloyd]

Just curious, if it gets warmer than 67 what should one expect in the long run? In my case, with my starting temp closer to 63, and slowly rising during active fermentation, should I expect poor results? Is there anything I should do about this now such as find a way to drop the temp from it's current state of 66?

From what you described, you should be fine. At this stage, DO NOT drop the temp. It won't help anything and could cause the yeast to crap out prematurely. Let it ride where it is.

Fermenting with Nottingham too warmly can produce some pretty funky ester flavors that become progressively worse as it gets up towards 80*F. Pitch temp and the first 3-5 days are the most critical. I've tasted a few beers done by some of our new local homebrewers. Notty pitched/run in the mid-70's. They were disgusting enough that I didn't finish any of them. I taught them all how to build STC-1000 controller outlet boxes for fridges and they now make some really tasty stuff.

 

[NHBrews]

I recently brewed a simple pale with 95% Maris, 5% Flaked Wheat and only Galaxy hops that I fermented with Notty at 62F ambient for 3 weeks (last week with Galaxy dry hop) that came out very clean. I've also heard raising temp towards the end of fermentation can help clean up Notty, but at a low 60s ferment think it may not be necessary.

 

[tmorrell]

BigFloyd, thanks a lot for the response. I'll take your advice and keep the temp where it's at. I don't believe it ever got about 70, most likely not above 68. I got a 70 reading 1 time but it was probably because I just opened a duct vent that was directly above the primary. I closed it and it read 68 minutes later and then settled back down to 66 for the rest of the day.

I'm going to look into the STC-1000 controller. I program control systems for a living (and also travel to do so), so I'm currently brainstorming ideas to remotely monitor/control the temp of what will be my primary fridge.

 

[NewkyBrown]

Thanks for the replies. I'll let it sit at 61 for a couple of weeks then.
I'm lucky as there is an area in my basement that stays a constant 60-61F.
It's a funny yeast- one day it's bubbling away like crazy, the next it has completely dropped clear with no activity.