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Recent Nottingham Woes

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk

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Have you been having problems with Nottingham?

  • No problems here, it's still a madman

  • I have many problems, but yeast isn't one of them.

  • Me too, I miss the Nottingham that I know and love.

  • I don't use Nottingham

Results are only viewable after voting.
Latest batch took 3 days until I saw airlock bubbles. Two days later it's blowing off like crazy. Heck it's been 3 days already of foam in the blowoff tube. I'm a happy camper.

I would not worry about the lag, but you might want to look at your aeration technique. I recently built the venturi aeration device and I think that really helped my yeast colony explode.
 
I've had no problems whatsoever with fermentation starting off. I usually pitch in the evening, and when I check on it the next morning I've got a nice krausen starting to form. My only gripe is that the new packaging seems to be statically charged or something. The damn yeast sticks to the inside of the bag which is really annoying. It's not a lot of yeast, but I'd say 1/16th of the yeast get's left inside.
 
Is it possible that the problem is not with the yeast but with the powdered nutrient stuff that goes with it? That could explain the new lag times but same fermentation vigor.
 
TwoHeadsBrewing said:
My only gripe is that the new packaging seems to be statically charged or something. The damn yeast sticks to the inside of the bag which is really annoying. It's not a lot of yeast, but I'd say 1/16th of the yeast get's left inside.
Click to expand...

I noticed that. I had to tap the bottom of the pack repeatedly to get all the bits to come out.
 
Notingham is now my favorite yeast for many recipes. I find it amazing how fast it starts (approx. 5 hours) bubbling and how active it becomes. Very thorough.

Since this is a powder yeast and should be properly established before use, could it be "user" error that it is not working properly for some people?
 
Updating my IPA that had a rehydrated pack of nottingham pitched Sunday afternoon. I've always had great success with nottingham (quick and complete ferments), I've fermented it anywhere from the 64F to near 70F. This beer (1.055) I am fermenting this quite cool, 57F, so I expect a much slower evolution.

At 28 hours after pitching there were a lot of dime sized yeast specs atop the yeast and there was light visual fermentation evident by 36 hours. At 42 hours there was a 1/4" krausen with light visual fermentation continuing.

I'll vote when I go to rack this beer to the secondary in about two weeks. But for now I'll say this is definitely slower to take off and get going than previous batches, but this is the only batch I've fermented this cold with nottingham. I can't draw any conclusions on this one data point (as far as 'new' nottingham vs 'old' nottingham).

Anyone else have experience fermenting with nottingham at 57f?
 
I may not have suspected this without your thread, but I did an experiment splitting a 10 gallon batch in half, using S-05 and Notty.

The S-05 kicked ass, like 2-1 in bubble action, blowing the Notty away. They finished within 1 point-Notty being higher. I saved the cakes after racking to kegs, keeping the yeast just below ferm temps and a couple days later, threw a 10 gallon batch of house Ale on them. The S-05 again took the lead, but I can't say that the Notty hasn't performed adequately-just that the perceived rate of S-05 ferm was much faster and earlier than the Notty. They both had about 1 month in primary.

This was from the batch that preceded the supply shortage, as I had gotten a lot beforehand. I cannot say for sure that this was the old packaging batch, however, just that it was dated much earlier than my subsequent purchase.
 
I brewed a batch about 3 weeks ago with Nottingham, though I can't say for certain if it was the new or the old because I don't use it often. It was a twenty gallon batch of blonde at about 1.042 with 5 gallons and one pack of yeast per fermenter. I aerated with O2 and did not rehydrate the yeast. Pitching temp was around 65 deg F.

Lag time was approximately 48 hours and the fermentation was not particularly vigorous. This is a highly unusual lag time for my process with this type of beer. I ended up ramping the ambient temp from ~62 deg F to ~68 deg F to increase activity toward the end of the ferment.

As for the results, attenuation was within two points of what was expected for this strain (1.010 if memory serves). At 3.5 weeks the beer is drinking and tastes fine. Flocculation was horrible, but I haven't used this yeast often enough to know if that is par for the course. I did not go to any great lengths by crashing, filtering, or fining, but even so the flocculation was below average when compared to the S04 or S05.

Given the results and the cost difference, I would not hesitate to stick with the Safale strains if this is typical of the "new" Nottingham. The beer still tasted great, but the lackluster fermentation, longer lag and finish times, poor flocculation, and higher cost do not make it my first choice for dry yeast.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
I just had a thought: do they have batch numbers on the packs?

I'll take a look when I get home. It might be certain batches that have issues.
Click to expand...

My package has a Lot Number: 108360088V Exp: 08-2010

OP: Do all of your remaining packages have the same Lot Nums??
 
I've used 3 packets in the last three weeks and every one has been active within 6 hours and i've needed a blowoff tube on all three. Even fermenting 5 gals in a 6 gal carboy the bowl of starsan the blowoff tube was sitting in was full of hop residue and foam.
 
i've used the "new" nottingham on at least four batches and every one has fermented quickly. two of them are now finished beers and taste great, the samples for the other two taste equally great, no off flavors, no exceptionally long lag time.

i'd say that with dry yeast, 2 out of every 3 batches of mine take off within a few hours and are bubbling by the time i go to bed. that other third can take from 12-48 hours before taking off, but usually still make great beer.

this past weekend i pitched a brand new pack of us-05 and it took 24 hours before i got a krausen and consistent bubbling, but it's going strong now. conversely a few months ago i pitched an old pack of s-04 which took off almost immediately, required a blow off tube and then crapped out at 1.022 (og 1.06).

by the poll it looks like ~90% of nottingham users aren't having problems. if you've been having problems i don't blame you for moving towards s-04 and s-05 (which are great yeasts), but i wouldn't write nottingham off completely unless more people start to have problems.
 
john from dc said:
by the poll it looks like ~90% of nottingham users aren't having problems. if you've been having problems i don't blame you for moving towards s-04 and s-05 (which are great yeasts), but i wouldn't write nottingham off completely unless more people start to have problems.
Click to expand...

I already keep a few packs of s-04 and us-05 on hand. I have been putting off getting the equipment for slanting liquid yeast for awhile now, and I finally jumped the gun last night and ordered what I needed. I will keep the packs of Nottingham that I have for emergencies, but liquid grown from slants will be my primary yeast now.
I just put too much time and effort into a batch to risk it to a $1.50 pack of yeast. I see by the poll that most people aren't having any problems, but there are a few others that are. I am leaning towards the idea of a tainted batch or 2, not nottingham having gone down the tubes.
 
I've only used this yeast 2-3 times. Always fermented fine, but I did not find it a particularly 'clean' taste. Maybe there was something with those particular batches. I dunno.
 
I haven't had any issues with it. granted I'm a newbie and only used it three times so far.
Just did a batch of applebee with notty ale yeast and had airlock activity in about 4 hrs, full roaring fermentation by the following morning.
Just at the 10 day mark now and it's starting to slow down a bit.
I also rehydrate ,but after 10-15 minutes I add about an 1/8th tsp of sugar.
A throw back from my bread making days.
 
My IPA did take longer to take off than previous experience with Nottingham as I have said earlier, but I can't draw a conclusion because I never have fermented Nottingham this cool (57F). It has fermented quite steadily at 57F and everything looks to be on track. Primary fermentation is winding down now, 6 days after pitching. I'll be dry hopping in the primary, letting it sit a week and then transfer to the secondary for a week to let it clear further/age.
 
I just tested it side by side with US-05. I did a 10 G batch and pitched one packet in each. From OG 1.046 the US05 finished 1.010 and the Nottingham finished 1.009. I'm not having any issues with it at all.
 
I used Notty in 2 batches back in Febuary and had long lag times and one of them stalled out. I'm pretty sure they were the new packages and I've never had a dry yeast take off slowly before. Perhaps it depends on how they were stored or a certain lot.

I just thought it was something I did or I had some bad yeast.
 
I made a batch of Centennial Blonde last weekend and it took about 24 hours for the Nottingham to kick in. It finished by Friday at 1.009 which is good for me. I remember the older packets starting faster but I leave them in the primary for at least a week so it doesn't matter to me.
 
I just brewed Centennial Blonde late Saturday. It' been 45 hours and there's no activity at all. I had one of the orange packets. Rehydrated per instructions. Used servomyces in brew and aerated using a paint stirrer for about 15 minutes. Ambient temp about 66F but the strip thermometer says it's 70F (whats with that?). There's about a 1 inch layer of krausen formed.

My 4th brew so still a newbie.

Does the krausen forming mean things are progressing slowly? Any advice on how long to wait before re-pitching?

Thanks.
 
Pitched 11g of nottingham into 5 gal of 1.043 beer and it took about 48 hours to start... only the second time I used notty, but it definitely started after 6 hours last time...
 
ballegre said:
I just brewed Centennial Blonde late Saturday. It' been 45 hours and there's no activity at all. I had one of the orange packets. Rehydrated per instructions. Used servomyces in brew and aerated using a paint stirrer for about 15 minutes. Ambient temp about 66F but the strip thermometer says it's 70F (whats with that?). There's about a 1 inch layer of krausen formed.

My 4th brew so still a newbie.

Does the krausen forming mean things are progressing slowly? Any advice on how long to wait before re-pitching?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I would say the the krausen means things are progressing. What are basing the no activity on? Air lock?
 
I pitched a Nottingham packet into a 5.5 gallon of 1.049 pale ale Sunday @ 5:00 pm. It was hydrated per package and it and wort temp was 72 degrees. By 5:00 pm today (monday) it had started. Ambient temp of water bath is 55 degrees. This only my third try with Nottingham, but no problems yet.
 

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