Nottingham ale yeast vs US 05

[peterj]

Well Nottingham is an English ale yeast too actually. I've never used Windsor but I've heard it has pretty low attenuation and I think some pretty Englishy esters. Not sure it would be great for APAs. But could be worth a try.

 

[azazel1024]

I have seen this sort of thing a few times here on the site, raising the temp by 5 degrees or so later in the fermentation. Is this really necessary? Does it really make a difference? Is it a yeast-strain thing, or do you do this no matter what you brew with? I ask because I have only seen a few people talk about it, as in a small minority of you guys.

What's the reason behind this? I am a noob at this and am only looking for information, this is no way a snub. I am honestly curious.

Depends. I've found with some strains, especially a lot of English strains (Windsor, I am looking at you!) that they WILL absolutely go dormant if on the cooler end of their fermentation temp. I've overcarbed a couple of beers as result because they didn't finish the last couple of points.

If your temps are near the upper 60's, I doubt you'd need to.

However, I am fermenting some of my ales in the low 60's, like S05 I like using around 62F and warming to around 68-70F can sometimes get you those last couple of points of fermentation.

For lagers, yes, you generally need to, and there you want to warm it to 62-65F.

 

[azazel1024]

Well Nottingham is an English ale yeast too actually. I've never used Windsor but I've heard it has pretty low attenuation and I think some pretty Englishy esters. Not sure it would be great for APAs. But could be worth a try.

IMHO, the few beers I've used Windsor in, I've been very unimpressed. My go toos are Nottingham and S04 if I am using dry yeasts. Going to start trying out some of the English ale yeasts soon (I have a vial of WLP005 waiting for an English Stout in a few weeks).

 

[RmikeVT]

For what its worth, I just kegged up an IPA that I split. One with Notty the other with S-05; no other difference. Both went from 1.070 down to 1.011, so 83% attenuation. The notty took off faster, finished and dropped out quicker than s-05, but this is common knowledge.

I could taste a slight difference in the hydro samples, S-05 definitely a bit cleaner and crisper bitterness. Notty tasted a touch maltier and fuller. Jury is still out until they are cold and carbonated.

 

[peterj]

IMHO, the few beers I've used Windsor in, I've been very unimpressed. My go toos are Nottingham and S04 if I am using dry yeasts. Going to start trying out some of the English ale yeasts soon (I have a vial of WLP005 waiting for an English Stout in a few weeks).

I've been using Wyeast 1318 lately and I'm loving it. To me it's the best tasting English yeast out there. You should give it a try if you can.

 

[azazel1024]

I've been using Wyeast 1318 lately and I'm loving. To me it's the best tasting English yeast out there. You should give it a try if you can.

I'll see if I can. My LHBS only carries White Labs, but I can tack on some Wyeast when ordering from Morebeer.

I'll give it a shot at some point, thanks!

It was interesting bottling my English Mild yesterday. There were some fairly pronounced differences between S04 and Notty. The Notty finished at 1.008 and the S04 at 1.009 (before bottling sugar). It was in the mid-40's for IBUs and SG was only 1.044. The Notty, even though it was further attenuated actually tasted both slightly maltier and slightly more bitter. The S04 had a bit more fruity/estheriness to it. Could be slight differences in priming sugar that may have accounted for the malty/sweetness differences though (should be roughly the same). The S04 seemed to have a bit more of the coffeeness come through (I used half a pound of coffee malt in the 5 gallon batch), though both were very mild with it (har, har). The Notty was noticably more clear, both had been cold crashed to 34F for 30hrs prior to bottling.

Both were rather good beers (pre-carbed).

 

[reuliss]

Yes. I hate it if it gets above about 63 degrees. I haven't used it in years, as there are better "cleaner" strains at ale temperatures, and there are better English strains for English beers.



It does make a nice pseudo-lager at about 60 degrees, but that's about it. I used to use it a long time ago, and thought it was great, but my beers had a sort of 'homebrew' flavor that I realized much later was attributable to the nottingham yeast.

Yooper, are you exclusive liquid, or are there some dry strains you still use?

 

[RmikeVT]

For what its worth, I just kegged up an IPA that I split. One with Notty the other with S-05; no other difference. Both went from 1.070 down to 1.011, so 83% attenuation. The notty took off faster, finished and dropped out quicker than s-05, but this is common knowledge.

I could taste a slight difference in the hydro samples, S-05 definitely a bit cleaner and crisper bitterness. Notty tasted a touch maltier and fuller. Jury is still out until they are cold and carbonated.

Ok Folks, so my results are in. While both beers are really good IPA, the one with S-05 in a blind taste are both mine and my wife's preference. The one with S-05 cleaner and has a nice round finish, such that I think the flavors of the hops and bitterness blend well with the flavors of the yeast and have a rounded out smooth finish. The nottingham example finishes with a bit of harshness.

Conclusion:
Both yeasts attenuated equally. The clarity in the glass of finished beer was equal, although the nottingham attenuated and dropped out about a few days ahead of the s-05, but these are known characteristics of each yeast. In the final product the s-05 produced a much rounder pleasant bitterness while the nottingham was a bit more harsh, these were the primary differences of each yeast. The up front hop flavor, beer aroma, clarity were not significantly different, the noticeable difference was the finish. The S-05 had a round, full, clean bitterness while the Nottingham was noticeably sharper and harsher.

 

[jstringer1983]

I think this is a good example of what yeast works best for the style, you mentioned the hop flavors and bitterness were a bit more balanced with the 05, which is what ive loved about it. Its a great clean yeast and puts the stars of the show up front. Im all out of 05 now so im gonna make my blonde ale with the notty, maybe in a zero hop flavored beer ill be able to pick out its qualities

 

[azazel1024]

I'd say your experience mostly follows mine, though I haven't directly compared S05 to Nottingham. I have S04 to Nottingham with kind of similar results. Except that the S04 also is a hint maltier and much less clear. With my mild, 2 weeks in the fermenter, 24hrs cold crash at 36F, followed by bottling. 2 weeks after bottling, 24hrs in the fridge, the Nottingham was clear as glass (dark, 16SRM, but clear as glass). The S04 was very hazy still. Even a bottle in the fridge for 5 days was pretty hazy for the S04.

The Nottingham deffinitely enhanced the Willamette sharpness and the S04 was very rouded off. Too rounded off in my opinion for what I was going for. The Nottingham also enhanced the roastiness and toffee of the Crystal 90L and Coffee malt in the recipe. The S04 came across as bland.

IMHO, the S04 would make a great milk stout or maybe vanilla porter/stout yeast. Also if you were intentionally going for something really malty. The Nottingham deffinitely works better for milds, browns and dry stouts IMHO. At this point, not sure about English IPAs. S04 might be a better yeast for that because of the smoother hoppiness (my mild came in around 40-45IBU (I didn't time the hop additions that closely), but it isn't terrible bitter even though it is 4.5% ABV)).