The beauty of Nottingham!

[Journeyman]

Almost since I began brewing a couple of years back, Nott has been my goto yeast - flocc is high, att is up there with the better yeasts and it ferments clean and fast at anything from about 10° to 22°!

I was gifted some US-05 so thought I'd do a brew with it - after all for many brewers it seems to be their goto yeast.

It went in the fridge 24/11 and I am pretty sure it's at FG - it's ~1.002 for the past 2 days.

The issue is it still has a healthy-looking 2cm krausen on it and it's 9 days in. I've never had a Nott brew NOT at FG after 6 days, even the high ABV ones. I used enzyme so was thinking maybe the extra time was due to that but with it sitting on FG that doesn't apply.

With Nott, at FG there's clear liquid at the surface, sometimes with a few floaties but you can see beer. It smells good, the sample tastes fine but there's this floating debris...

Is this usual for US-05? To have krausen still at the end of ferment?

I'm presuming the 8 days to FG is normal as I've had discussions here and elsewhere about how long others' brews take - I think sometimes they don't believe me when I say I've never not been at FG by 6 days in.

I've kicked the temp up to 22° to see what the yeast might do but unless I see a change it's getting kegged tomorrow!  (medical issues have curtailed my brewing recently so stocks are down)

[Classic Brewing Co]

30 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

Almost since I began brewing a couple of years back, Nott has been my goto yeast - flocc is high, att is up there with the better yeasts and it ferments clean and fast at anything from about 10° to 22°!

I was gifted some US-05 so thought I'd do a brew with it - after all for many brewers it seems to be their goto yeast.

It went in the fridge 24/11 and I am pretty sure it's at FG - it's ~1.002 for the past 2 days.

The issue is it still has a healthy-looking 2cm krausen on it and it's 9 days in. I've never had a Nott brew NOT at FG after 6 days, even the high ABV ones. I used enzyme so was thinking maybe the extra time was due to that but with it sitting on FG that doesn't apply.

With Nott, at FG there's clear liquid at the surface, sometimes with a few floaties but you can see beer. It smells good, the sample tastes fine but there's this floating debris...

Is this usual for US-05? To have krausen still at the end of ferment?

I'm presuming the 8 days to FG is normal as I've had discussions here and elsewhere about how long others' brews take - I think sometimes they don't believe me when I say I've never not been at FG by 6 days in.

I've kicked the temp up to 22° to see what the yeast might do but unless I see a change it's getting kegged tomorrow!  (medical issues have curtailed my brewing recently so stocks are down)

I use US-05 in a lot of brews & always have a lot of success with it, usually takes up to 24 hours to witness fermentation ( with an airlock ) but also the krausen builds quickly as is quite aggressive, the other thing I like is the tightly packed yeast on the bottom when you are bottling - it hardly disturbs it right down to the last drop.

[Journeyman]

5 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I use US-05 in a lot of brews & always have a lot of success with it, usually takes up to 24 hours to witness fermentation ( with an airlock ) but also the krausen builds quickly as is quite aggressive, the other thing I like is the tightly packed yeast on the bottom when you are bottling - it hardly disturbs it right down to the last drop.

Nott turns up for work earlier than that. and has similar characteristics such as trub.

But Nott krausen is gone by maybe day 5 - and I've never had to wait 8 days for FG. Although I will admit it could have been 7 days - with the 2cm krausen still showing I looked at the sample on day 6 but didn't bother on day 7. It was on day 8 I figured nothing was apparently changing so checked the sample and took a new one.

My puzzle is why the yeast isn't cleaning up after itself.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Journeyman said:

Nott turns up for work earlier than that. and has similar characteristics such as trub.

But Nott krausen is gone by maybe day 5 - and I've never had to wait 8 days for FG. Although I will admit it could have been 7 days - with the 2cm krausen still showing I looked at the sample on day 6 but didn't bother on day 7. It was on day 8 I figured nothing was apparently changing so checked the sample and took a new one.

My puzzle is why the yeast isn't cleaning up after itself.

 

I haven't tried Nottingham yet so I can't comment, With US-05 I find leaving in the FV for 14 days or more cleans it up nicely & I get better head retention. I do mainly Ales, IPA's, Draughts etc.

[ozdevil]

i like Us-05  but  i havent really had what your experiencing @Journeyman

i have tried nott and  its going to be used on a brew this weekend maybe sunday or monday

i like both  i think nott is better yeast then us-05 to my tastes   and i dont mind a Bry-97

[jamiek86]

@Journeyman yes us 05 does have a big creamy krausen that doesn't go away for me too. I usually bang the sides and front and back a few times when start the cold crash to get it all sinking in to settle at bottom.

[Journeyman]

2 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

@Journeyman yes us 05 does have a big creamy krausen that doesn't go away for me too. I usually bang the sides and front and back a few times when start the cold crash to get it all sinking in to settle at bottom.

Thanks, I'll go the bash on the FV.

[jamiek86]

Just now, Journeyman said:

Thanks, I'll go the bash on the FV.

someone told me not too hard because can oxidise the beer before bottle or keg but hasn't happened to me yet but makes sense if too extreme with it.

[Journeyman]

5 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

someone told me not too hard because can oxidise the beer before bottle or keg but hasn't happened to me yet but makes sense if too extreme with it.

I think you'd have to do it so hard you lift the lid and let O2 in for that. In theory that should be pure CO2 above the beer.

But I gave it a try and it started some 'streamers' heading downwards.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Journeyman

[jamiek86]

7 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

I think you'd have to do it so hard you lift the lid and let O2 in for that. In theory that should be pure CO2 above the beer.

But I gave it a try and it started some 'streamers' heading downwards.

yes sometimes I do it a couple of times so not all at once

[Panther Branch Brewing]

I've found US-05 US-05to be "powdery".  For me it has always been easy tondisturb in the bottle. It doesn't count to the bottom of the bottle.

[Aussiekraut]

5 hours ago, Journeyman said:

Almost since I began brewing a couple of years back, Nott has been my goto yeast - flocc is high, att is up there with the better yeasts and it ferments clean and fast at anything from about 10° to 22°!

I was gifted some US-05 so thought I'd do a brew with it - after all for many brewers it seems to be their goto yeast.

It went in the fridge 24/11 and I am pretty sure it's at FG - it's ~1.002 for the past 2 days.

The issue is it still has a healthy-looking 2cm krausen on it and it's 9 days in. I've never had a Nott brew NOT at FG after 6 days, even the high ABV ones. I used enzyme so was thinking maybe the extra time was due to that but with it sitting on FG that doesn't apply.

With Nott, at FG there's clear liquid at the surface, sometimes with a few floaties but you can see beer. It smells good, the sample tastes fine but there's this floating debris...

Is this usual for US-05? To have krausen still at the end of ferment?

I'm presuming the 8 days to FG is normal as I've had discussions here and elsewhere about how long others' brews take - I think sometimes they don't believe me when I say I've never not been at FG by 6 days in.

I've kicked the temp up to 22° to see what the yeast might do but unless I see a change it's getting kegged tomorrow!  (medical issues have curtailed my brewing recently so stocks are down)

Yes, this seems to be normal. I use US-05 almost exclusively for my pales and you often get the layer of yeast left floating on top. I usually give the FV a bit of a knock near the layer or rock it back and forth just before initiating the CC. This seems to break it up and make it sink to the bottom. US-05 ferments clean, and all but is a little slow to start. Where Nottingham already has a 2cm krausen, US-05 is not even showing fluff on the surface. It takes 36 hours to show some decent activity. Notty on the other hand is a beast but I only use it for dark(er) ales for some reason. 

Typically, my beer is ready for cold crashing after 8 days when using US-05. I'd be surprised if your brew wasn't finished. 

 

[Stickers]

i'm with you @Journeymanhaving similar experiences with how slow us-05 is compared to using nottingham. a nottingham batch can be bottled in a week. does its job quickly with no fuss.

i've only used US-05 on two occasions and both were like a slow motion ferment compared to what i get from notty. i know other brewers rave about it, i always figured that because i brew ambient and don't have temperature control i wasn't getting good enough results with US-05.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Have not used US05 or Nottingham for a while now. I also found the krausen took a while to drop for the US05 and the Nottingham is generally a quicker ferment I found as well. However with both yeasts I always found something better to use. For pale ales WY1272 and for IPAs New World Strong. Then I found verdant and I don't think I'll be using anything else again for pale ales or IPA's

[Journeyman]

15 hours ago, Stickers said:

i always figured that because i brew ambient and don't have temperature control i wasn't getting good enough results with US-05.

I don't think that's it. This was brewed at 19° so should have powered along if it was going to. Took 'kn ages to get going, was never a huge krausen and at day 6 was still around 1.010.

 

13 hours ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

Then I found verdant and I don't think I'll be using anything else again for pale ales or IPA's

I'll have to see where I can get that. I'm due a buy shortly so will try it. What benefits do you see with it? Is it just the results or in the ferment process as well?

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

13 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

 

I'll have to see where I can get that. I'm due a buy shortly so will try it. What benefits do you see with it? Is it just the results or in the ferment process as well?

It's fairly quick. 5 or 6 days tops. But the true benefit is how it just a accentuates the hops. You seriously only need half the hops that you would be using if fermenting with US05 or Nottingham to get the same flavour effect. Leaves a nice body as well. Only downside is flocculation is not so great but I'm not really worried about clarity in a pale ale or IPA. Give it a go mate. I don't think you will be disappointed

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

It's fairly quick. 5 or 6 days tops. But the true benefit is how it just a accentuates the hops. You seriously only need half the hops that you would be using if fermenting with US05 or Nottingham to get the same flavour effect. Leaves a nice body as well. Only downside is flocculation is not so great but I'm not really worried about clarity in a pale ale or IPA. Give it a go mate. I don't think you will be disappointed

Well with all of this talk on Nottingham I shot out to the LHBS for some & 25gm Galaxy for my MJ American Pale Ale/Light Band Dried Malt. I will compare it to US-05.

[BlackSands]

Notty was my 'go to' yeast for a good long while, displacing US-05 which has been on a permanent ban in my 'brwery' for some years now.    Notty is a quick starter, a vigorous fermenter, clean and drops like a ton of bricks when done. US-05 in contrast was often phenolic for me, slow to start and a lously flocculator.  For me it was a disasterous yeast and cost me quite a number of wasted brews.  But now it's all about Kveik Voss, which I've been using exclusively for the last 18 months... and I only ever bought one packet!   

[Classic Brewing Co]

32 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

Notty was my 'go to' yeast for a good long while, displacing US-05 which has been on a permanent ban in my 'brwery' for some years now.    Notty is a quick starter, a vigorous fermenter, clean and drops like a ton of bricks when done. US-05 in contrast was often phenolic for me, slow to start and a lously flocculator.  For me it was a disasterous yeast and cost me quite a number of wasted brews.  But now it's all about Kveik Voss, which I've been using exclusively for the last 18 months... and I only ever bought one packet!   

I personally like US-05 however I am yet to try Kveik Voss, it is readily available & I will next brew as I favour Ales. 

[Red devil 44]

I just pitched Notty for the first time today in my AG Lazy Session IPA.

‘Will be away shortly on fifo duty for 2 weeks, but have the wife trained on adjusting my Inkbird.

‘In the process of ordering a wifi version to make things easier for the lovely bride though. 

[Tricky Micky]

I've found Nottingham incredibly quick to arrive at FG. Had one brew ferment out in under 4 days. I agree with that Nott seems to also drop like a brick to the bottom of the FV and stay there, same in the bottle. Having said that I'm on my 6th or 7th brew using US-05 slurry, so no complaints there either - Free yeast - happy days. I will go to Nott though - liked it a lot.

Also love to give Kveik Voss a go too, @BlackSands has absolutely sold me on the yeast.

[Journeyman]

4 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Also love to give Kveik Voss a go too, @BlackSands has absolutely sold me on the yeast.

With summer coming on I'd like to try it also. After spending so long trying to keep FV's cool it seems a bit odd to be trying to warm one up in winter, but for summer? 30°+ seems a good way to save on power.  

[mrchino73]

Tried Nottingham and US-05 and both worked properly for me!!!!! But now I am making a kveik store.....

Here in Argentina, we are at the same latitude, hence the same hot weather!!!!

So,as I don't want to be caught in the summer without beer.....Kveik!!!!

Regards