second yeast for split altbier batch: Nottingham or S-04?

[ebbelwoi]

My first altbier turned out pretty well with K-97. This time around, I've made some minor tweaks, and I'm going to do a split batch. One will be K-97, and the other Notty or S-04 (that's what I've got on hand, so that's what my choices are).

I'm not necessarily looking for an altbier flavor out of the non-97 batch. I'd be fine with something less... continental. The grain bill is all German, though: mostly Munich and pilsner, with a little melanoidin, Carafa III, Caramunich, chocolate, and so on. All Weyermann stuff. Hops will be noble, at FW, 30 and 10 minutes. Fermentation chamber temp is 15C/59F.

Any thoughts?

 

[couchsending]

S-04 ferments well at 59 and actually tastes decent fermented that cold.

 

[brownni5]

Comes down to what you want - cleaner or more estery. I'm not arguing the above, but I'm surprised that S-04 would ferment that cool. Not too cool at all for Notty from what I've read. I'm not a fan of S-04, so I know what my choice would be between the two.

 

[STMF]

I would go with Nottingham.

 

[dmtaylor]

S-04 ferments well at 59 and actually tastes decent fermented that cold.

So will Notty. I'd go with the Notty. It's a pretty clean yeast, less contribution to final flavor than S-04 except perhaps for a slight peach flavor.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Just to follow up on this, I ended up doing all three, and did a blind taste test with two other people. K-97 and S-04 were neck-and-neck favorites, with the Nottingham a distant third. The Notty lacked a certain... je ne sais quaff...