Would you recommend nottingham yeast in 2020?

I used it a long, long time ago, so long ago I don’t even have notes on that beer anymore. Edit: I did find the notes. it just says “off yeast taste” then later notes say “off yeast taste is 80% gone” after weeks later.

I remember not liking it. But it is 2020, I want a cheap and clean yeast other than S05, and want to try nottingham for the heck of it.

Would you recommend it?

I had the same off experience years ago and never tried it again. I’d love to hear the Notty success stories! I’ve really enjoyed Fermentis’ 34/70 as a clean, go either way yeast. Or  Bry-97 as a dry Chico alternative.

I used Nottingham recently in half a batch of Rye APA, the other half with BRY-97.  I prefer the Nottingham.
I had not used this yeast in about 28 years, when it used to come in a packaged kit beer.  Now that it can be purchased fresh like any other dry yeast, I believe all the previous memories of off flavors are in the past.

I don’t have enough experience to comment in detail.
However, after 20 consecutive batches using this yeast,
I can confirm it’s slightly fruity to neutral (to the best of my ability).
These perceived results are from fermenting many styles, with 4.25 gallons,
at ambient 54-58F, for 3-4 weeks.  Yeast was always pitched directly into wort.

It’s complicated. Some people seem to really not get on with Notty, yet plenty of people use it happily (it’s very widely used in UK commercial microbreweries) and I’m not sure anyone’s quite figured out why.

So I’d suggest if you don’t get on with it, use BRY-97 or 34/70 or whatever.

One thing Notty is really useful for is as a “helper” yeast added at high krausen or so to help other yeast flocc out and to squeeze an extra bit of attenuation out of lower attenuation strains. Windsor followed by Notty is a classic combination of dry yeast for UK styles.

I use the Windsor/Notty combo a couple of times a year and never got any off flavors. I haven’t used Nottingham on its own in years, but that’s only because I’ve already settled on US-05 as my clean ale yeast of choice from years of use and familiarity.

Nottingham simply needs to be kept on the colder side in order to be considered clean.  S-O5 is well more heat forgiving in this regard.  That is (in my opinion) why in comparison of the outcomes of these two, S-O5 often wins.  I.E. Nottingham fails to live up to S-05 because people treat it as if it actually is S-05, when it is not.  Nottingham can be successfully used as an ale yeast substitute for lager yeast, and will ferment at 50 degrees F.  If kept at or below a cut-off point of about 62 degrees (at most) it is clean.  It simply is not SO5 like as to its temperature profile, and Lallemand does it a major injustice by implying otherwise.

PS:  If you simply pitch Nottingham in a refrigerated environment maintained at 62 degrees, it will heat the Wort to potentially as high as 72 degrees, and it will fail and taste awful.  The Wort itself needs to be actively maintained at (or below) 62 degrees for Nottingham, not the air environment around it.  It also does not explode and head out the blow-off tube when so maintained.  In fact, at the proper temperatures it doesn’t even need a blow off tube.  If you see it heading out the blow-off tube, this is a good indication that the beer will taste “off”.

I must have missed it somewhere but I’ve not seen the mfr suggesting Nottingham is a US-05 like.

I’m a big fan of BRY97 and I’d love to hear your thoughts comparing them.

I hope I didn’t in any way imply that, as I was arguing quite the opposite.  I said that in my opinion (subject of course to being right or wrong, as for any opinion) many home brewers seem to make that assumption.  And that Lallemand doesn’t help things by implying that Nottingham can successfully be used at temperatures generally up to the range seen for US-05.  In none of this does Lallemand imply that Nottingham is similar to US-05.

Interesting thread. I had given up on Nottingham yeast, but might revisit using it.

I guess I’m confused. I don’t think they’ve implied anything.

I believe they have a suggested fermentation temp range based on sensory analysis and their products can be successfully used within the guidelines provides.

If it is the same temp range as another yeast that is no implication they are the same strain. I’ve never heard anyone say they were based on temp range until you did here today.

Bry-97 and Windsor have the same recommended fermentation temp range as well. They aren’t the same either.

I’m sorry if I am missing the point.

The sensory diagram in the Nottingham data sheet shows basically neutral yeast flavors and the temp range listed in the data sheet is pretty wide. That implies neutral across the whole temp range. This is more true for some yeasts than others (true for 34/70, Bry-97).

I wish yeast providers gave more data across more conditions.

Reading homebrewer forums can tell you a lot more about how a yeast behaves across a variety of conditions: temp ranges, pitch rates, etc.

I don’t mean to throw Nottingham under the bus. Generalizations based on one test condition are common for lots of yeast’s data sheets.

I use it and like it.  I just ferment at ambient temperatures, but even in the summer it rarely gets above 70 at my place, and I tend to brew English style bitters in the late summer to drink in the fall, so it’s probably fermented cooler.

If they’ve done anything close to what Fermentis has done based on their presentation at HBC, they ck several temps, OG, and pitch rates to draw their conclusions.

Of course, I’m also assuming Fermentis has performed this analysis across their product line. The presentation only discussed 34/70.

Notty led me down the lager path.  I’ll need to find my notes.  Notty, Windsor was my choice for a boosted American style Ale.
After it reached acceptable FG it was xferd to a cornie and crashed. 3 days later it developed carbonation at 48*. Looked it up and found it to be active for both Ale and lager. Final product sent me down the lagering path. Haven’t looked back.
Jim

Ok, thanks

Definitely I think it requires a lower temp than s05. The instructions I heard over and over at one time were “Nottingham just rips through anything and is clean, its so easy, same as s05” etc, and I’m sure that it would have been fermenting likely around 65F. Also could have been an old packet

Is there a difference between BRY97 and s05?

Anyway, I’m not going to risk it on nottingham, got s05… again.

Yes. In my opinion, Bry-97 is slower to start and finish and is much cleaner than US-05. It is my go-to (house?) yeast. I use it in ~90% of my beers. Many of my “lagers” are actually ‘faux’ or ‘mochs’ which are probably more like Cream Ale-style or Kölsch-style beers (Ales treated as Lagers).

I used S05 for many years but after listening to a podcast (was that you Denny?) that mentioned the peachy flavor I couldn’t untaste it! So I switched to Bry-97 for clean ales. Haven’t tried it for my kolsch/cream ale recipes as I usually just use 34/70 but might have to give it a shot fermenting a little cooler. Honestly, now that I have a basement brewery that stays 65-68 year round, unless I’m brewing something that requires a specific yeast and a specific temp range I don’t even mess with temp control. I spent so many years brewing in Texas fighting the heat and then a little spot in southern Colorado that likes to stay below zero for waaaaay too long (I think it got to -40 something the first year we were there. That was a bit of a shock to the system after 110°  + Texas summers!) that I enjoy the simplicity of yeast that is a little forgiving as long as I keep it in a reasonable range.

I plan on a British pale ale next month using nottingham.