Wow is nottingham fast or what?

[MaryB]

I have pushed Notty to 5 days then bottle. It was at FG for that recipe. Tasted the same as letting it sit 2 weeks...

 

[Mainer]

I'm getting old. It takes me half a month.

And here I was sitting on it for 336 hours, like a sap!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I'm fermenting a batch that is presently about 51 hours post pitching only a single pack of rehydrated Nottingham into ~6.2 gallons of 1.068 SG wort, and at 61 degree F. ambient air temperature the Notty is presently rocking the carboy at a whopping 111 bubbles per minute as counted in the airlock. I made no effort to aerate the wort, since Danstar states that it is not necessary with Notty. And for my first time ever, I also made no effort to remove any percentage of the trub, but rather removed my filter and let it all go into the carboy. Trub must make excellent yeast food.

The krausen got within about 1/4" of needing a blow-off tube imminently installed, but subsequently it has settled back to about 1/2" from hitting the airlock stopper on the 7 gallon Fermonster (which is a bit more than 7 gallons actual). So it appears that 111 bubbles per minute in a 3 piece airlock is potentially a bit past the actual peak, which I'm guessing happened at 48 to 49 hours post yeast pitching. Has anyone ever seen roughly 120 bubbles per minute? Peak fermentation at roughly 48 hours? And at 61 degrees ambient temperature no less.

Update: I was wrong. Right now it is ~61 hours post Notty pitch, and the bubbling rate is nigh on too fast comprehend, and krausen is beginning to come up through the airlock. Still 61 degrees F. ambient in the garage. It's 44 degrees outside, and pitch dark, so I just opened both garage doors and uncovered the carboy in an attempt to rapidly and aggressively cool down the fermenter.

Updating again: 66.5 hours post pitch, and I've cooled it down to where it's only at 100 bubbles per minute, and where the krausen junk is no longer climbing into the airlock. Finally, after 3 airlock changes in the past 5 hours or so.... With higher gravity worts you have to not only keep Nottingham ferments critically cold, but you also need to leave a lot of head space, or install a blow-off tube and jug assembly. I obviously did not leave enough head space, and I also did not provide for sufficient cooling.

 

[Jim311]

If it was at 61 degrees then it was right where it should be temp wise. Go any cooler and you risk off flavors. Notty just rages like that, you weren't doing anything wrong. You brewed a pretty big beer and it's putting in WORK! Sometimes you just have to use a blowoff with it. The reason it's one of my favorite yeasts is just how fast it is. You can turn over beers fast.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

If it was at 61 degrees then it was right where it should be temp wise. Go any cooler and you risk off flavors. Notty just rages like that, you weren't doing anything wrong. You brewed a pretty big beer and it's putting in WORK! Sometimes you just have to use a blowoff with it. The reason it's one of my favorite yeasts is just how fast it is. You can turn over beers fast.

But with 61 degrees ambient, simultaneous with 120+ bubbles per minute, it could have been as high as perhaps 71 degrees inside the fermenter at its peak. I've heard stories of Notty heating up a fermenter by as much as 10 degrees F. when its really cranking. Since all I can do at present is measure the surrounding air temperature, I'll certainly never know the internal temperature peak for this batch.

Latest update: ~70.5 hours post pitch and it has settled down to a leisurely 72 bubbles per minute. Definitely past peak now. Current ambient temp is 61 degrees. Next plan is to add dry hops tomorrow morning.

 

[RM-MN]

But with 61 degrees ambient, simultaneous with 120+ bubbles per minute, it could have been as high as perhaps 71 degrees inside the fermenter at its peak. I've heard stories of Notty heating up a fermenter by as much as 10 degrees F. when its really cranking. Since all I can do at present is measure the surrounding air temperature, I'll certainly never know the internal temperature peak for this batch.

Latest update: ~70.5 hours post pitch and it has settled down to a leisurely 72 bubbles per minute. Definitely past peak now. Current ambient temp is 61 degrees. Next plan is to add dry hops tomorrow morning.

Let the beer have enough time that the bubbles slow way down so you don't lose the hop aroma through the airlock. Your beer can wait a couple weeks before you dry hop it with no ill effects.:rockin:

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Let the beer have enough time that the bubbles slow way down so you don't lose the hop aroma through the airlock. Your beer can wait a couple weeks before you dry hop it with no ill effects.:rockin:

I'm going commando with nearly 3 ounces of pellet hops (Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic). Shouldn't they be added early enough to benefit from some potential mixing action via the yeast?

 

[seabrew8]

I'm going commando with nearly 3 ounces of pellet hops (Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic). Shouldn't they be added early enough to benefit from some potential mixing action via the yeast?

Hops mixing with yeast?

I've been brewing with those 3 hops a lot lately it will be a fruit bomb!! With alcohol!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Hops mixing with yeast?

I've been brewing with those 3 hops a lot lately it will be a fruit bomb!! With alcohol!

This is my first American IPA (almost a DIPA) and I'm wondering how long they typically need to age after bottling in order to reach peak flavor.

 

[seabrew8]

This is my first American IPA (almost a DIPA) and I'm wondering how long they typically need to age after bottling in order to reach peak flavor.

You will have to define "typically". Peak flavour is subjective.

For carbonation. I would just open a bottle in 7 days and take it from there.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I've been brewing with those 3 hops a lot lately it will be a fruit bomb!! With alcohol!

When do you recommend dry hopping?

 

[RM-MN]

I'm going commando with nearly 3 ounces of pellet hops (Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic). Shouldn't they be added early enough to benefit from some potential mixing action via the yeast?

They'll add their aroma without any mixing. Just dump them in and wait somewhere between 3 and 10 days, then bottle if your FG reading is stable. The pellets will break apart and slowly sink to the bottom.

 

[Mainer]

I brewed an Australian Sparkling Ale Saturday with Cooper's Ale yeast, and it's running even faster than Notty! Inside of 8 hours, I had churning yeast activity and a solid 6 inches of krausen. 36 hours in, airlock activity has slowed precipitously and the krausen has almost entirely fallen out. I won't take a hydrometer reading til I think I'm approaching terminal gravity, but that was a wild ride!

Edit: (This was at ambient temp between 66 and 68 F, so well within the recommended fermentation range of 68-75.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I made my cream ale this weekend. It's the cream of three crops all grain recipe I found on this forum. I pitched some of the notty I harvested from the batch I made this thread about. It was about 1/2 a quart of thick slurry after I decanted the older beer off the top of the yeast. It should have been a massive overpitch according to the mr malty yeast calculator, but this one didn't take off quite as fast.

At about 24 hours post pitch there was definite activity and about 1 inch of krausen, but it wasn't rolling like the last batch. I checked this morning and it was fully churning though. So call it 36 hours to full fermentation activity.

There are a number of variables that could affect this one. It's my first all grain, so I have no idea how fermentable it is compared to the previous extract batches. I'm fermenting at 59-60 degrees to see how much of a difference that makes in the final product. And of course I pitched slurry instead of dry yeast.

I'm in no hurry for this batch to finish though. With the increased amount of time and effort involved in all grain brewing I want nothing but the best conditions for it. I must say I'm extremely excited to see how it comes out though.

 

[Mainer]

I made my cream ale this weekend. It's the cream of three crops all grain recipe I found on this forum. I pitched some of the notty I harvested from the batch I made this thread about. It was about 1/2 a quart of thick slurry after I decanted the older beer off the top of the yeast. It should have been a massive overpitch according to the mr malty yeast calculator, but this one didn't take off quite as fast.

At about 24 hours post pitch there was definite activity and about 1 inch of krausen, but it wasn't rolling like the last batch. I checked this morning and it was fully churning though. So call it 36 hours to full fermentation activity.

There are a number of variables that could affect this one. It's my first all grain, so I have no idea how fermentable it is compared to the previous extract batches. I'm fermenting at 59-60 degrees to see how much of a difference that makes in the final product. And of course I pitched slurry instead of dry yeast.

I'm in no hurry for this batch to finish though. With the increased amount of time and effort involved in all grain brewing I want nothing but the best conditions for it. I must say I'm extremely excited to see how it comes out though.

Oh, yes, that's rather cold for Notty. Not too cold, mind you, but at the lower end of the range. Cold enough to slow it down.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Lallemand states (or used to state) that you can ferment down to 50 degrees F. with Notty. A youtube video shows it chugging along at 52 degrees F.

 

[MaryB]

House ale I brewed on the 6th with 1.054 OG went into kegs last night at 1.005 FG. Sat at 30PSI all night and I am drinking a few glasses now. Could stand to carb a little longer(bumped CO2 back up to 20PSI) but tasty and done! Even if the first couple pours are a wee bit yeasty! 9 days grain to glass! Notty is a fermenting beast!

Same recipe with T-58 and danged if it doesn't taste somewhat like Fat Tyre! Bit more funk but not quite a saison.

Both were fermented warmer than I prefer but still good stuff.

 

[SlitheryDee]

So this one took 4 days to wind down to basically zero activity. A day longer than the last one, but it was pretty cold the whole time too. Bumped the temp to 75 this morning, and I'll be taking gravity samples sometime next week to see if I'm ready for cold crashing. I'll be travelling next weekend, so it would be ideal to get gelatin in it by Thursday so it can work through the weekend before I bottle.

 

[kh54s10]

Why is everyone so concerned with how fast a yeast works? I pitch the proper amounts of yeast at the proper temperature. Even using the same yeast in different brews I get different results. Sometimes it starts quick and ends quick, sometimes it lags and ends quick, sometimes it starts quick and takes a long time and sometimes it lags and takes a long time......

In the end it is whether the beer is good. If everything else was good, I have noticed no real difference in how fast or slow the yeast does it's thing.

 

[Mainer]

Why is everyone so concerned with how fast a yeast works? I pitch the proper amounts of yeast at the proper temperature. Even using the same yeast in different brews I get different results. Sometimes it starts quick and ends quick, sometimes it lags and ends quick, sometimes it starts quick and takes a long time and sometimes it lags and takes a long time......

In the end it is whether the beer is good. If everything else was good, I have noticed no real difference in how fast or slow the yeast does it's thing.

Not concerned. Just impressed.

 

[Mainer]

Why is everyone so concerned with how fast a yeast works? I pitch the proper amounts of yeast at the proper temperature. Even using the same yeast in different brews I get different results. Sometimes it starts quick and ends quick, sometimes it lags and ends quick, sometimes it starts quick and takes a long time and sometimes it lags and takes a long time......

In the end it is whether the beer is good. If everything else was good, I have noticed no real difference in how fast or slow the yeast does it's thing.

I mean, I guess if you're brewing a hop-head IPA, faster is better. Rush those fresh alphas to the glass while they're new. Not that I do a lot of IPAs, but in that case I can see the virtue in speed.

 

[kh54s10]

I mean, I guess if you're brewing a hop-head IPA, faster is better. Rush those fresh alphas to the glass while they're new. Not that I do a lot of IPAs, but in that case I can see the virtue in speed.

Impressed that Nottingham is fast.. OK, but that really doesn't mean anything.

Even fastest to slowest fermentations is usually only a few days. So I don't think it would be an issue even with a hop-head IPA, especially since a lot of the hops are after fermentation.

As I said in my first reply. I have used Nottingham several times. Sometimes it seems fast and other times not so much.

Then again, I put my beers in my fermentation chamber, open it the next day to see if it is going, once it is I don't check again on it until day 14 when I am looking to package it.

 

[Mainer]

Impressed that Nottingham is fast.. OK, but that really doesn't mean anything.

Even fastest to slowest fermentations is usually only a few days. So I don't think it would be an issue even with a hop-head IPA, especially since a lot of the hops are after fermentation.

As I said in my first reply. I have used Nottingham several times. Sometimes it seems fast and other times not so much.

Then again, I put my beers in my fermentation chamber, open it the next day to see if it is going, once it is I don't check again on it until day 14 when I am looking to package it.

Yeah, like I said, speed doesn't mean all that much to me. I make a lot of dark beers, so I like to give mine time in the carboy to bulk condition anyway. I leave my beers in primary for at least three weeks, usually a month, sometimes six weeks before bottling or racking.

So yeah, for me the only thing I value about a speedy fermentation is sitting and watching the yeast churn to the point where you can see all the particulate flying around in the carboy. It's hypnotic.

 

[kh54s10]

Yeah, like I said, speed doesn't mean all that much to me. I make a lot of dark beers, so I like to give mine time in the carboy to bulk condition anyway. I leave my beers in primary for at least three weeks, usually a month, sometimes six weeks before bottling or racking.

So yeah, for me the only thing I value about a speedy fermentation is sitting and watching the yeast churn to the point where you can see all the particulate flying around in the carboy. It's hypnotic.

You are getting sleepy, very sleepy....

Oh! that's just the beer......

 

[SlitheryDee]

Why is everyone so concerned with how fast a yeast works? I pitch the proper amounts of yeast at the proper temperature. Even using the same yeast in different brews I get different results. Sometimes it starts quick and ends quick, sometimes it lags and ends quick, sometimes it starts quick and takes a long time and sometimes it lags and takes a long time......

In the end it is whether the beer is good. If everything else was good, I have noticed no real difference in how fast or slow the yeast does it's thing.

I dunno. It's just another data point I guess.

I kind of like taking a more active role in the process anyway. That means I'm watching for certain signs in order to perform the next step in my fermentation schedule. When activity stops I bump the temperature up. After a few days of that I start taking gravity measurements. When I get a stable reading I start cold crashing. When I'm done cold crashing I bottle. Having all these intermediate steps to look forward to makes the whole thing more enjoyable to me. A side aspect of that is that I notice when something happens faster than I previously thought it would, and I've learned more generally about the whole yeast life cycle than I would if I just blindly waited the requisite amount of time before doing anything.

 

[MaryB]

With 10 friends drinking my beer I occasionally have to push a batch to done in 10 days or less!

Why is everyone so concerned with how fast a yeast works? I pitch the proper amounts of yeast at the proper temperature. Even using the same yeast in different brews I get different results. Sometimes it starts quick and ends quick, sometimes it lags and ends quick, sometimes it starts quick and takes a long time and sometimes it lags and takes a long time......

In the end it is whether the beer is good. If everything else was good, I have noticed no real difference in how fast or slow the yeast does it's thing.

 

[RM-MN]

With 10 friends drinking my beer I occasionally have to push a batch to done in 10 days or less!

Get your friends brewing too. Then you won't have to rush your beer.:rockin:

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I'm still seeing about 2 bubbles per minute in the airlock at 1-1/2 weeks post pitching Nottingham. This is about the same as for my previous brew, which also used Nottingham. But then I try (within my meager means) to keep Notty rather on the cold side. Eventually it will hit zero bubbles per minute. Likely within about another week.

Peak of fermentation witnessed on the high side of 110 bubbles/minute. And that was with it cold (wherein ambient never rose above 64 degrees, nor fell below 55 degrees during the main ferment time period.). I can't even imagine trying to use Notty at room temperatures.

 

[kh54s10]

With 10 friends drinking my beer I occasionally have to push a batch to done in 10 days or less!

Whatever works, but I wouldn't consider fermentation complete in time to get one ready to drink in 10 days. Even with a fast Nottingham. And as I have said sometimes it seems fast and other times it seems slow/normal. YMMV.

 

[MaryB]

Drinking one now that spent 7 days in the fermenter then was kegged, tastes identical to a bottle that spent 4 weeks in the fermenter!