Servomyces vs Fermax yeast nutrient in Barleywine using Nottingham yeast

[max384]

I'm going to be doing a Barleywine tonight using Nottingham dry yeast (three packets, rehydrated). It's going to have an estimated OG of around 1.120.

On Danstar's website, it says: "Nottingham is suitable for primary fermentation for beers up to 9% ABV. The yeast would require extra nutrition above that level of alcohol such as an addition of 1g/hL of Servomyces."

My beer should be around 13-14%. I already have Fermax, so that's what I'd like to use. However, I can drive to the store to get Servomyces if necessary.

This is my first Barleywine, and the first beer I've used yeast nutrient in (I use the Fermax for wine), so this is an area I'm not proficient in.

Thanks.

 

[giraffe]

Getting from a 9% tolerance to 14% seems dicey, even with nutrient. It may do it, but not reliably. Id pitch one packet of something more alcohol tolerant in addition to the nottingham, us-05 wlp090 or something. That way you'd still get the nottingham flavor, but have some insurance that some yeast will keep going.

 

[max384]

Getting from a 9% tolerance to 14% seems dicey, even with nutrient. It may do it, but not reliably. Id pitch one packet of something more alcohol tolerant in addition to the nottingham, us-05 wlp090 or something. That way you'd still get the nottingham flavor, but have some insurance that some yeast will keep going.

I think I'll pitch the Nottingham and hope for the best. If I don't get to my desired FG, I'll pitch something with a more voracious appetite.

At this point, my LHBS is closed, so I'm going with the Fermax nutrient.

So far so good. I hit 77% mash efficiency. I usually average around 80%, so I was expecting a bigger drop in efficiency for such a big beer. I had actually planned on using some table sugar in this beer, but with the better than expected efficiency, I think I'll scrap that.

 

[max384]

This barleywine was a four hour boil, and I missed my target final volume by 0.7 gallons. I have 5.3 instead of the 6 that I had planned. Between this and the higher efficiency, I ended up with an OG of 1.138!

Hmmm... Looks more and more likely that I'll be needing another yeast...

 

[user 141939]

If i were you I might have just diluted back up to 6.

Interested to see if the nottingham will do it. Please let us know! I had it work for me up to 11.5 %. Used regular nutrient and aerated again after 10 hours or so.

I kind of feel like it did it no problem.

 

[max384]

If i were you I might have just diluted back up to 6.

Interested to see if the nottingham will do it. Please let us know! I had it work for me up to 11.5 %. Used regular nutrient and aerated again after 10 hours or so.

I kind of feel like it did it no problem.

My brew day went longer than expected, since sparging took WAY longer than it usually does with this big of a grain bill. While waiting out the four hour boil, I may have overindulged a wee bit on some homebrews... and as such I didn't even think of this as an option...




Beersmith is estimating FG to be 1.025. If I reach this FG, my ABV will be 15.3%... I'm thinking that I'll need to use another yeast... But we'll see.