what do you think of Danstar Nottingham Yeast

[LS_Grimmy]

Just pitched it in my 2 batches that I made yesterday. What do you think of the Danstar Nottingham?

Cheers,
Grimmy

 

[EdWort]

I use it all the time. Nottingham rocks! It's used in my Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale.

 

[zoebisch01]

It's a very good yeast with excellent attenuation and a minimal profile of it's own making it swell for many session Ales. That's the way I see it

 

[Got Trub?]

I'm a big fan too. I use it alot in my English style beers. I did a side by side ferment with it and the wyeast 1968 and found the beers almost identical in flavour. I continue to use the 1968 in my bitter as that yeast flocculates like no tomorrow and my bitter is crystal clear but for milds, stouts and porters I use the Nottingham

GT

 

[Nurmey]

Big fan here too. I really like it's neutralness (is that a word?) and get great attenuation from it.

 

[cowgo]

You can't beat it for ales.

Re-hydrate and pitch. I boil a pint of water and cover it at the start of the brew session. By the time I'm ready to put in the wort chiller, the sterilized water is cool enough to re-hydrate the Nottingham. It starts as fast as a Wyeast smack pack but it finishes much sooner and at a fraction of the cost. A good clean taste that accents the maltiness of the beer. I think it compares to a Wyeast 1056.

Works good for multiple generations too. I've racked wort on 3 successive batches with no problem.

 

[ajf]

And I don't like it for the same reasons that the others do like it. I usually use WLP002 because if gives a very estery flavour, and isn't so attenuative.
If you want a highly attenuative neutral yeast, then it is good.

-a.

 

[LS_Grimmy]

I use it all the time. Nottingham rocks! It's used in my Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale.

Hey that's actually funny the two batches I just made (soon to be my house brew) are pretty much the same except I use 1lb of 45L and use NB for bittering instead of the cascade at 60 min

Grain Bill
8 lbs. 2-Row
2 lbs. Vienna
1 lb. Crystal 45L
Boil & Hops
1.0 oz Northern Brewwer 8% at 60 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 15 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 5 min.

 

[LS_Grimmy]

Thanks for the input guys... I actually have been using White labs for a year now but I moved and the shops here don't carry liquid yeast. So instead of the big hassle of ordering I decided to give the dry yeast Nottingham a try. Glad to hear about the clarity and the clean taste. I am actually not a fan of the estery flavour so this switch might work out perfect.

I tossed it in right after the brew and 3 hours later I had already had some fermentation. 12 hours later is was going max and hasn't stopped for 24 hours. Can't wait to try it.

Again thanks for the input
Cheers
Grimmy

 

[LS_Grimmy]

...............

 

[brewt00l]

It's horrible and your beer will taste like crap......



....send it to me and I will dispose of this awful mistake!

 

[david_42]

If I could only have one yeast, it would be Nottingham. I use it or Salale-04 most of the time.

 

[LS_Grimmy]

lol.. nice try but I think I'll take my chances and drink it all to myself

 

[DAAB]

It's a good yeast but a little dull, I think i'd choose S04 to give the beer a little more charchter unless I wanted to make something particularly clean tasting.

 

[Ender]

nothing to say about the yeast, but nice spreadsheet Grimmy

Ender

-I'm smelling a lotta IF comming offa this plan-

 

[LS_Grimmy]

ah thanks Ender... I've been working on that spreadsheet for a whille now off and on. I Pretty much got it the way I want for the most part. Feel free to take it and edit as you please...


Cheers,
Grimmy

 

[faber]

Nottingham rocks. It's my default ale yeast now. I like it for clean, crisp session ales and when I want the malt to shine through.

I'll still do liquid yeasts w/ starters for lagers, but I don't mind the convenience of the dry.

 

[DeathBrewer]

nottingham is the shiznit...i was a liquid yeast guy for a long time, but now only for belgian, wheat or other specialty brews. most of my regular ales now use nottingham.

 

[brewhead]

knock it out nottingham will ferment water just about

i love the stuff - keep it on hand always

 

[postman]

I've used it once in my limited brew history. One of the most delicious beers I've drank yet! I'll be using it again this week.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

It's also great for making lager style beers without the lagering capability.

This yeast can be used as low as 14c and is extremely clean at that temp.

I use mostly s-04 for my ales since i like a bit of fruitiness in my ales.

Windsor (also made my danstar) I'm a bit on the fence about. I swear you could use that for a hefe since if the temp is anywhere near the top of the range it really gets banana'ee (is that a word?).

Mauri beer is another exceptional neutral yeast that can be used in climates where it gets hot and no AC is available.

Muntons GOLD (not the other muntons) is also very clean and highly flocculent.

These clean, neutral attentive and highly flocculent yeast are excellent if you want that kind of thing but have next to no character like other strains do.

 

[Melana]

We're into Nottinhgam!

 

[BrewFrick]

Nottingham is a beast in a little yellow packet. I was using it by just dumping it into the cooled wort dry, then I rehydrated it once and have always done so since. It will start a ferment in under 10 hours almost all the time, and if you want some excitement try putting another new beer on a fresh Nottingham cake, you will have a ferment almost instantly. It attacks the sugar like it has been in prison and the sugar's the first woman it has seen in quite a while.

 

[Hagen]

Being a malt fanatic, I use it almost exclusively. If you're feeling really silly, make a starter the day before. When I do that I have MAYBE a 3-4 hour lag time and then it's blastoff! It fills half the house with it's yummy goodness from the airlock.

 

[adx]

I actually think Nottingham attenuates a bit too much. I also go below my FG by 2 or 3 points when I use it. I would rather use Safale US-05 in it's place.

 

[Hagen]

I actually think Nottingham attenuates a bit too much. I also go below my FG by 2 or 3 points when I use it. I would rather use Safale US-05 in it's place.

I raise my mash temp 2* to compensate and I'm spot on every time.

 

[drayman86]

I used it once, and won't use it again. It seemed to impart a metallic sharpness to the pale ale we brewed. Both my brew partner and I agreed that the Nottingham yeast provided very little in the way of flavor characteristics and left us with a pale ale that was sharp, bitter, with a poor mouth feel; the pale was all hops and malt, with very little in between. We'll stick to Chris White's products from now on. Most comments I've read seem to like it for the fact that it's easy to use, i.e. just dump in dry.

 

[postman]

I used it once, and won't use it again. It seemed to impart a metallic sharpness to the pale ale we brewed. Both my brew partner and I agreed that the Nottingham yeast provided very little in the way of flavor characteristics and left us with a pale ale that was sharp, bitter, with a poor mouth feel; the pale was all hops and malt, with very little in between. We'll stick to Chris White's products from now on. Most comments I've read seem to like it for the fact that it's easy to use, i.e. just dump in dry.

Just the reverse for me with Nottingham. The reason I'm reusing it was due to the smoothness of the beer. I was trying a Liberty Ale Clone from Austin HomeBrew. Loved the recipe. Yeast is a big part.

I have brewed a beer recently with "very little in between." The hops were so overpowering, bitter and grassy odor. It wasn't even aggressively hopped. I think it may have been due to incomplete fermentation. Possibly due to low fermentation temps and/or not enough aeration when transferring to the primary. Not the yeast's fault here.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I like to use it on any ales that are neutral session styles. It's also got a good temp range 57-70F.

I always have a few packs as back-ups for anything I make.

http://www.danstaryeast.com/nottingham.html

 

[drayman86]

I have brewed a beer recently with "very little in between." The hops were so overpowering, bitter and grassy odor. It wasn't even aggressively hopped. I think it may have been due to incomplete fermentation. Possibly due to low fermentation temps and/or not enough aeration when transferring to the primary. Not the yeast's fault here.

Interesting. I was checking my notes from that brew session and didn't notice anything unusual. We began aerating with an air pump set up a few brews before that, so confident it wasn't the aeration. Fermentation temps. were controlled to between about 68-71F. Might give the yeast another try. That's the great thing about this hobby (and this board); lots of information and experiences. Thanks for the reply.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

How high can it go as in ALC %?

 

[postman]

Interesting. I was checking my notes from that brew session and didn't notice anything unusual. We began aerating with an air pump set up a few brews before that, so confident it wasn't the aeration. Fermentation temps. were controlled to between about 68-71F. Might give the yeast another try. That's the great thing about this hobby (and this board); lots of information and experiences. Thanks for the reply.

Drayman86,

Good job keeping notes. I really liked your description of "lacking something in between" as that was how I thought of it as well. I even started a thread on why my beer was so smooth, trying to pin down the source of its deliciousness. I used Norther Brewer Bittering hops. Yeast or Hops???? We discussed our taste problem with a former microbrew master brewer who identified my previous conclusions. My notes from that brew are at my brother's house, so I forget the specific yeast. I've never used a pump before so I can't comment there. We did filter the wort for the first time though, which is slow and doesn't produce as much splashing.

This does lead to a solution though. Split the wort into two smaller batches and use different yeasts. It'd make a solid experiment. I could possibly do that, but I don't know how long yeast is good for in the fridge. I've got 2 packs in there since September.

Best Wishes Drayman. If you happen to use Nottingham down the road, restart this thread. Peace.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I hit 12% with it once.

 

[tranceamerica]

I've used nottingham and windsor. Both are cheap, and start quick. The nottingham drops out faster & makes a clearer beer - the windsor takes forever to clear. (still waiting on a month-old beer to clear right now with the windsor)

the nottingham is neutral - goes to the background of the taste. I think it's good.

the windsor gives lots of flavor - if you like that kind of thing. I think I could classify the beer as a bit more fruity and sweet - which my DW likes a bit better.

end of the story is that these two yeasts are great - and cheap. Really, I wouldn't use a liquid yeast unless I was doing a very special brew that required it. The dry yeast does not require a starter, and starts fast. I've had both yeasts start in 5 or 6 hours, and be going full blast in 12-16 hours.

the main downside for me, with the windsor, is how long it takes to clear. I end up drinking some of the beer before it's cleared, and there's too much yeast flavor.

 

[Saint Arnould]

+1 on the sweet/fruit/banana-ness of the Windsor. Just used it for a stout. It came out well, but definitely has some complex flavors, which I now attribute to the yeast. There is probably also some contribution from the 2 oz vanilla extract I added, too. We will see how this one mellows out......

I am now using my first Nottingham packet in an amber ale. I am hoping for the high attenuation that all have talked about, as I want a pretty clear result.

 

[Brewbeard]

Nottingham is sort of a love it or hate it type of yeast. I'm more on the negative side. I think it leaves too little in the way of body and I prefer my beer to have more fruity esters. For that reason, I usually go with Windsor. I'm willing to sacrifice attenuation for more body. Even if I want to go with a yeast that is neutral, I prefer Safale-05.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Nottingham is sort of a love it or hate it type of yeast. I'm more on the negative side. I think it leaves too little in the way of body and I prefer my beer to have more fruity esters. For that reason, I usually go with Windsor. I'm willing to sacrifice attenuation for more body. Even if I want to go with a yeast that is neutral, I prefer Safale-05.

I guess that depends on whether you are AG or not and can control you unfermentables more.

That said I still like the Fermentis Saf yeasts the best, but I'd use nottingham for a lager style brewed as an ale.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

Being a malt fanatic, I use it almost exclusively. If you're feeling really silly, make a starter the day before. When I do that I have MAYBE a 3-4 hour lag time and then it's blastoff! It fills half the house with it's yummy goodness from the airlock.

Starter on dry yeast??? Or do you mean on harvested notty?

 

[chickypad]

whoa, necromancer

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

whoa, necromancer

Bow chicka wow wow.
Heh heh, just saw the date on the post now.