German Altbier yeast question

I bought a BB german alt so I can brew thursday or friday. (lost track of time and didn't get my order in). When I opened the box it had Nottingham yeast. I was just wondering if I should use this or what would you guys recommend?

Recipe:
FERMENTABLES
3.3 lb. Light LME
3.3 lb. Munich LME
SPECIALTY GRAINS
8 oz. Caramel 40L
2 oz. Black Malt
HOPS
1.5 oz. Brewers Gold 55 minutes
.5 oz. German Hersbrucker 20 minutes
Yeast Nottingham

Don't know what Nottingham will do to it, but here is my experience with brewing alts. My first two alts, I used German Ale yeast (one Wyeast pack and one K-97 dry yeast). The yeast left a very noticeable flavor and aroma. For my next batch, I am going to use the same recipe as my last except I am going to use US-05 to see how it turns out with a "clean" yeast flavor.

I think most people would say that Nottingham will tend towards a clean fermentation, so it should work. It will let the flavor of the malt and bitterness from the hops shine.

Yesterday I got a taste of my dark hybrid lager at 4 days in the bottle. The bench capper does seem to have solved my carbonation problem.
Anyway,the WL029 German ale/kolsh yeast def gives a nice little lager-like crispness. The beer needs more conditioning,but the malt/hop balance is pretty decent so far. I think maybe it'd be ok in an altbeir too.

Notty fermented on the very cool side should work fine (58-60F). You should have very few esters with an Alt, so the cool temps will greatly help. I would try my hardest to cool the wort to fermenting temps first so you don't impede the yeast.

I used WY2565 Kolsch yeast for last years Alt and I thought it turned out very good. Looking back at my notes, I fermented at 58F for 2 weeks, raised to 65 for a couple of days, then dropped it to 33 for 4 weeks w/ gelatin. I'm going to brew it again in a month or two.

The WL029 yeast I used has an ideal range of 65-69F. It appears to be the only one that ferments well in that range. But that crispness is nice.

what will your primary fermentation temperature be?

I can keep temps about 60-62 fairly easily with a swamp cooler in my basement. I found using different sized bottles for ice and can keep in different temp ranges. I drilled my lid for an extra grommet and stick a thermometer through it to get the correct temps. Worked great so I need to get 2 more thermometers.

grem135 said:

I can keep temps about 60-62 fairly easily with a swamp cooler in my basement. I found using different sized bottles for ice and can keep in different temp ranges. I drilled my lid for an extra grommet and stick a thermometer through it to get the correct temps. Worked great so I need to get 2 more thermometers.

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if you can shoot for 58-60 (62 at the very highest), i think you'll be satisfied with Nottingham. i made an altbier with an english yeast fermented very cool (wyeast 1028 @ 58) and it scored very well and won a couple of ribbons in competition.

Thanks to everyone for your help and experience. Unfortunately SWMBO badly broke her leg requiring surgery so all brew days are cancled for a while.
Raise a glass for her quick recovery.

Ouch that really sucks. Hope she recovers well! Give her plenty of homebrew to keep her comfortable.