Home Brew Forum

I just finished my second AG. It was in a rush (up at 6 finished at 12.20 so I can head into London this afternoon), so no pics this time. The recipe was loosely based on a Summer Lightning one, expcept I had a kg extra of marris otter that I decided might as well go in too...

6KG Maris Otter
57g Challenger 60 mins
30g East Kent Goldings 15 mins
15g East Kent Goldings after the boils done.

I used Nottingham yeast because I fancied a change from S04, and this beer is for a party in May, so I was aiming for something with more of a lager quality about it.

I got 1.060 SG (this'll be my strongest yet), does anyone know where the Nottingham is likely to take this? I've heard it's pretty damn good at eating through those sugars...

I did realise once it was too late that I probably should have upped the hops, for both the higher gravity (I presume thats how it works in terms of balance?) and because I've just read that Nottingham tends to reduce the hoppiness a bit. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait and see. I am considering dry hopping this in the few days running up to drinking time so have a question- I presume I have to put the hops and containing bag into boiling water for a while to sterilise them, will about 30 seconds or so do it? I presume it wouldn't have to be that long...

J

I've just used Nottingham for the first time in a bitter which had an OG of 1039 and it finished at 1010. Not sure how it copes with an OG of 1060 though.

You don't need to sterilise hops, they are their own sterilant and will not cause any infection - that's why dry hops were used in India Pale Ales to keep the beer from spoiling on a sea journey of several months to the colonies!

Now the Ska_J - we are gonna have to stop this...

My first AG was a Hobgoblin last weekend, as was yours...

My second AG on sat will be a summer lightening clone.....

Weird!!!!!!

Great minds and all that

Nottingham laughs in the face of 1060. (sorry, it will cope well)

I did an IPA last November which started at 1059 and finished at 1009. That had some wheat in it too.

What temperature did you mash at? If you mash low, I reckon Nottingham may well eat below 1010 as it did with mine, so you'll be looking at something like 6.7% ish. That's gonna be some party!

All excellent news!

Bevanjon: Haha, great minds indeed. Hope yours went well!

It does indeed laugh in the face of 1.060, I'm down to 1.020 already (mashed at 66, so I hope it should eat most of its way down towards 1.010). I'm slightly concerned that in my absense the brew has got a bit warm. I know its early days but there is quite a strong fruity taste to it which I think may be due to fermenting too hot. It could just be the taste of such a feisty brew. Not sure though, so I'll wait it out. It might not be a bad thing too, as long as it doesn't turn out too overpowering...

J

I don't think Nottingham is known for producing much in the way of esters even when warmed up a bit. Chances are it's just the fermentation smells. I'd recheck in a week and I bet it's tasting pretty damn fine!

That's exactly what I wanted to hear! I'll keep my fingers crossed. I was a bit spoilt with the hobgoblin clone I did as it seemed to taste delicious after only 3 days (I managed to stop at my 100ml sample though!)