Nottingham Dry Yeast Vs Wlp039 Nottingham Ale

[Jim_Levet]

Anybody here done a side by side( :beer: ), or used both of the Nottingham Dry yeast & White Labs Nottingham Ale,WLP039. I am thinking of doing a few ales then some darks on the liquid version. I haven't seen the dried version in Sydney, although I know it must be around somewhere! Any type of feedback would be appreciated.

James

 

[T.D.]

Well, I did this very test recently with a double batch of pale ale. The recipe was a basic pale ale recipe which I thought would showcase the yeast characteristics well (see recipe below). I fermented one 17L lot with a 12g pack of Dry Nottingham and the other 17L lot with liquid Nottingham (WLP039). Both were pitched at the same time, fermented side by side in the exact same conditions, and bottled at the same time too. The beers also finished within 1 SG point of one another, which makes for quite a good comparison of the dry vs liquid Nottingham yeast.

I took both beers to a mate's place the other day for a bbq where there was a commercial brewer and another experienced AG brewer. It was unanimous among us all that the liquid nottingham beer was far better. I never thought the difference would be so obvious! The WLP039 beer seemed a lot fresher and just had much more depth of flavour. The dry yeast beer seemed thin by comparison, and as one of the fellas said had kind of an unusual bready flavour. I always thought Nottingham was a fairly lifeless and even "boring" yeast but I must say the liquid version has much more going on.

I am really starting to wonder if the same trend would exist for the other dry yeasts. Has anyone done a side by side test on US-56 or S-04 and their liquid equivalents? This comparison has really made me consider going back to liquid yeasts again!




Here's the recipe:


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 34.00 L
Boil Size: 39.08 L
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 9.3 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 71.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 kg Joe White Traditional Ale (5.9 EBC) Grain 47.62 %
2.00 kg Joe White Export Pilsner (3.2 EBC) Grain 31.75 %
1.00 kg Joe White Munich, Light (17.7 EBC) Grain 15.87 %
0.30 kg Joe White Wheat Malt (3.5 EBC) Grain 4.76 %
56.00 gm Hallertauer [4.10 %] (50mins 15.4 IBU)
28.00 gm Hallertauer [4.10 %] (20mins 4.9 IBU)
28.00 gm Hallertauer [4.10 %] (10mins 2.9 IBU)
28.00 gm Hallertauer [4.10 %] (5mins 1.6 IBU)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 6.30 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 16.43 L of water at 74.4 C 67.8 C

 

[Tickstar]

Can't speak for the liquid yeast but I used dry Nottingham recently in a blonde. Came out with a definite dusty taste. Ruined what would have been a great beer, but all a learning experience I suppose! Probably be great in darker beers where there's enough oomph in the flavour to cover any dusty taste.

 

[Stuster]

Great experiment. :super:

Very interesting results, with such easily tasted differences between the two batches. Was the liquid yeast still a fairly clean, low ester yeast? Malty?

 

[Screwtop]

Horses (yeast) for courses (beer), Nottingham (dried) for darks, and leave it long enough to clean up the dusty taste. Did you make a starter of the White Labs? What pitching rate for the liquid? What volume of wort did you pitch too? What was the pitching temp? What was the ferm temp?

Sorry to sound like Tony Barber!


Screwy

 

[T.D.]

Great experiment. :super:

Very interesting results, with such easily tasted differences between the two batches. Was the liquid yeast still a fairly clean, low ester yeast? Malty?

Yeah Stu, still had quite a clean profile, with low esters. But it just seemed to have more depth and mouthfeel - almost like its flavour was 3 dimensional as opposed to 2 dimensional, if you get my drift... The WLP beer seemed much more "polished" than the dry yeast beer.

 

[devo]

I guess you could look at it from this point of view....how would you perform after being dehydrated to near death then resuscitated back to life and expect to function normally as if nothings happened?!

 

[Adamt]

Devo:

After drinking too much and dehydrating myself (probably not to near death), when I wake up, and resuscitate myself with a big glass of juice, loads of water and a greasy breakfast, I'm usually fine!

:icon_offtopic:

 

[devo]

:lol:

 

[Uncle Fester]

I believe Nottingham is Ross's yeast of choice. Maybe he has some value add to this.

Not sure whether he uses liquid or dry (I suspect dry).

Certainly no shortage of beer styles to choose between at Carbrook though.

Festa.

 

[Ross]

I believe Nottingham is Ross's yeast of choice. Maybe he has some value add to this.

Not sure whether he uses liquid or dry (I suspect dry).

Certainly no shortage of beer styles to choose between at Carbrook though.

Festa.

Hi Festa,

Not my yeast of choice at all. I've been a fairly lone voice in the dustiness it leaves in some brews, especially in light flavoured brews. It also sticks out (to my taste) in apas, which rather surprised me. A lot of brits swear by it though & its used a lot commercially. The recipe of Td's i'd never use it in; but the experiment was to compare the 2 types & for that it was probably a good choice to let the yeast come through. Would be interesting to see how they compare in a brew more suited to the yeast though.
That said, in some beers it works excellently, eg alts, & dark beers. i also have an irish red on tap made with it & that is excellent. I'm about to make Andrew Qld's Aussie ale & notice he uses it for that, but in 2 minds whether to substitute with US-05.

Cheers Ross

 

[warrenlw63]

Nottingham makes a ripper dry stout too. B)

Can't comment beyond that because that's all I've used it for... As Ross said. US-05 for paler beers. No complaints there.

Also many thanks T.D. It's experiments like that making this forum progressive. :beer:

Warren -

 

[The King of Spain]

..., but in 2 minds whether to substitute with US-05.

Cheers Ross

Don't do it Ross. I was tempted to swap to US-05 and am very glad I did not. That brew (Andrews Aussie Ale) is pretty much my standard house ale now.

 

[Ross]

Don't do it Ross. I was tempted to swap to US-05 and am very glad I did not. That brew (Andrews Aussie Ale) is pretty much my standard house ale now.

Ok - Notts it is

+++

I agree Warren - fantastic in a stout.

+++

On checking - I've got 7 beers in kegs using Nottingham at the moment, so can't be all bad B)

Cheers Ross

 

[devo]

I'm going to be trying the Nottingham for the first time in a PA that I cubed a few days ago. I've always used liquid yeast but have been experimenting with some of the dehydrated varieties of late.

 

[troydo]

This is great timing i have an aussie ale planned for nect week and im planning on using nottingham, only cause i had it left in the fridge

 

[KoNG]

and another experienced AG brewer.

Agreed..! :lol:

 

[Linz]

I took both beers to a mate's place the other day for a bbq where there was a commercial brewer and another experienced AG brewer. It was unanimous among us all that the liquid nottingham beer was far better. I never thought the difference would be so obvious! The WLP039 beer seemed a lot fresher and just had much more depth of flavour. The dry yeast beer seemed thin by comparison, and as one of the fellas said had kind of an unusual bready flavour. I always thought Nottingham was a fairly lifeless and even "boring" yeast but I must say the liquid version has much more going on.

What about repitching on to the cake of the dry yeast??

How would that beer turn out compared to the liquid yeast beer??

Did the 'tasters' have prior knowledge about which beer was which??(I'm assuming No)

 

[sluggerdog]

Bugger, I've just bought the Nottingham (DRY) for a series of summer ales (4%) I was plannning in the next week or two.

Maybe i need to rethink this and get the US-56.

 

[therook]

Bugger, I've just bought the Nottingham (DRY) for a series of summer ales (4%) I was plannning in the next week or two.

Maybe i need to rethink this and get the US-56.

Give it a try Slugger, you may find it not that bad. I recently made an aussie ale and it has turned out pretty darn drinkable :beerbang:

rook