Major BRY-97 Lag

Pitched a rehydrated pack of Danstar BRY-97 West Coast into a 5 gal 1.052 full boil rye pale ale extract at 68 deg.

Its been 2 1/2 days without any signs of start of fermintation. I've heard stories of slow starts with this yeast but WTF!

I gave it a stir at the 48hr mark and ramped up the temp in my FC from low 60s to mid 60s. Nothing yet.

Should I cut my loses and repitch? Has anyone else had this crazy lag? Any advice/comments welcome.

Well ive never used Bry97 but im currently using MangroveJack West Coast M44 ale yeast and ive been told its similar to BRY-97. This morning i finally have active fermentation and it was OVER 48 hours. its been roughly 50 hours since i pitched. i rehydrated the yeast too.

i know how you feel. i was getting worried yesterday. Give it another day and if there is no sign then maybe add another yeast. i was very close to pitching some US-05 last night.

Oh believe me, I had a pack of S-05 in my hand last night at the 48 hr mark. I called off the dogs, gave it a stir and cracked a brew. Woke up this morning to same sorry story. Doh!

Yep. She's finally off and running. For the record it took every minute of 3 DAYS to get going.

It always takes longer for this yeast to work for me, the only time it took over 48 hours was when i rehydrated it. My theory is that it gets bad temperature shock from going to a coolish fermenter from a warmish rehydrating dish.

I just tried this yeast for the first time. I should have checked the forums first. It took 36 hours before ANY activity from the airlock. It's finally slowly starting to produce some gas. I hope it picks up a bit.

Happened to me as well - after 72 hours I gave up and pitched US-05. Beer came out great - not sure which yeast won out in the end. Haven't bothered with BRY-97 since.


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Had the same thing happen to me. Took at least 36 hours to get going, and then it really took off. Beer came out good, I'd use it again. Now I know just to leave the yeast alone.


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I had this issue with a session CDA couple weeks back. 1.034 - 1.006

took 48hrs or so to get going....super slow but o well I guess. Still worked out ok.

This stuff is weird. It took of last night in a crazy way. It start around 36 hours, but it must have really hit it's stride between 48 and 56 hours. I woke up at 4 AM to the sound of my airlock clicking, gurgling and farting. I've never heard it like that. By 7 AM, it was pretty much done bubbling. Now, we wait.

roccobrews said:

Yep. She's finally off and running. For the record it took every minute of 3 DAYS to get going.

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I like this yeast, but it did take that long to get going for me too.

How are you defining the start of fermentation? If you have a carboy it is easy enough to look in and see if the wort is cloudy with yeast. Lack of bubbles in the airlock does not mean fermentation hasn't started. Most people seem to be happy with no lag phase even though you don't get the optimum from the yeast that way.

Ive used this yeast strain allot with varying time of first air lock activity. I just give it time as itwl will get going eventually. I used this yeast in an amber last week and had signs of air lock within 16 hours. I just brewed my second batch of my gold winning black IPA from the Michigan hombrew cup this past weekend and 24 hours later still no sign of activity. Just need to give it time, it's a stubborn yeast strain for sure.