My BRY-97 vs. US-05 experiment

I have brewed a 10 gal batch of IPA and put it into two 5 gal fermenters. In one of them I pitched BRY-97 in the other one US-05. Both yeast were dehydrated and pitched in a standard way.

US-05 started fermenting two hours after pitching. Bry-97 took 2 days (48 hours!) to show first signs of fermentation. US-05 was done fermenting in 3 days. BRY-97, because of it's late start, took 5 days. FG in both fermenters was almost identical.



After about 4 weeks, before I kegged the beer, I gave it the first taste. Us-05 turned out more fruity and citrusy (from the hops) and BRY-97 more neutral, less citrusy, like the hops were less pronounced.
There was no difference in clarity between the two beers, although Danstar said that BRY-97 was supposed to give more clarity and flocculation.

I primed each keg with 2.5 oz (1/3 cup) of table sugar and dry-hoped it in the keg with 1 oz. of my own home-grown Cascade leaf hops.

US-05 turned out more clear and citrusy. BRY-97 was slightly more cloudy and less citrusy.
US-05 on the left, BRY-97 on the right:


After the IPA I re-used both yeast slurries in a Dry Stout. And here comes the shocker: both US-05 and BRY-97 started at the same time from a slurry, there was no more delay for BRY-97 like in the first pitching of the yeast. To me that means that the delay could have been caused by bad packaging or similar problems (Danstar had similar problems like that with Nottingham in the past).

IMHO, after all, US-05 tasted better in my IPA.
BRY-97 is more neutral, and although it did an OK job in my IPA (not as good as US-05) it would be a good all-around yeast. Unfortunately, I don't think I want to use it anymore because of it's very late start.

I am so glad that you did a side-by-side comparison of these. I have used US-05 most often, but have tried BRY-97 as well. I never used the same styles at the same times, but you just coinfirmed my exact feelings. BRY takes forever to start, and it mutes all of the flavors... It kind of just melds it all together.

Awesome write up and pictures. Thanks a lot Scooby!!

fantastic work, great to know.

I am really glad I found this post. I pitched BRY-97 into a porter I brewed on Saturday afternoon and had no activity still 36 hours later. I will give it another day before real panic sets in.

Also, from what I understand, the high flocculation of the BRY-97 actually does mute hop flavor and aroma. It is apparently common in all highly flocculant strains. Because of this, I may be hesitant to use it in an IPA, even though some say it is basically Pacman yeast (which is what Rogue uses).

Excellent experiment and write-up, thanks for sharing.

What temps did you ferment at?

Scooby_Brew said:

And here comes the shocker: both US-05 and BRY-97 started at the same time, there was no more delay for BRY-97 like in the first pitching of the yeast. To me that means that the delay could have been caused by bad packaging or similar problems (Danstar had similar problems like that with Nottingham in the past).

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I'm still wondering (based on some discussion in the BRY97 mega thread) if it's a pitch rate issue. The package (11g) says to pitch at 1g/L which for a 5g batch would be closer to 19g. That may explain some of the lag time?

Regardless, your results are the same as mine with a 10g amber batch split between US05 and BRY97.

Thanks for posting!

Cool. I also noticed some muting of hop flavors in my last batch with it. I'm wondering if it would possibly be more useful in brown ales or more malt-leaning beers.

I have used BRY-97 twice. The first time I just pitched the yeast in the wort and let it do its thing. 3 days before I saw signs of fermentation.

Last night I rehydrated the yeast and then pitched. I saw visible signs within 4 hours and after 12 hours, I was forced to install a blowoff tube.

YMMV but this appears to be a strain that you'd almost always want to rehydrate.

A bit late in the conversation; wish I'd seen before. My first experience with this WAS hydrated, and I freaked not seeing action, so pitched US-05 at two days.

I'll not use BRY-97 again. US-05 is so good, inexpensive, fast starting, and easy for APAs and IPAs, why bother with any other dry yeast?

RichBenn said:

I'll not use BRY-97 again. US-05 is so good, inexpensive, fast starting, and easy for APAs and IPAs, why bother with any other dry yeast?

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My thoughts exactly.

AZ_IPA said:

I'm still wondering (based on some discussion in the BRY97 mega thread) if it's a pitch rate issue. The package (11g) says to pitch at 1g/L which for a 5g batch would be closer to 19g. That may explain some of the lag time?

Regardless, your results are the same as mine with a 10g amber batch split between US05 and BRY97.

Thanks for posting!

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i used a full packet for a 3.5gal batch of 1.047 wort and experienced ~36hour lagtime

i didn't do a side by side with us-05 but did ferment the other half with 3522 and the bry-97 was crystal clear

Frankensteining this thread: I pitched my first IPA in a long time with my first ever BRY-97.
As expected: slow to start (about 36hrs after pitching) but I admit I pitched too warm to my (and its) liking.
Left it to its own devices at room temp for 24hrs to get primary underway.
Not as vigorous as I feared, but impressive head once it kicked off. Moved the carboy to the basement, to a more relaxed 15°C.
5 days after primary started, it seems to have finished. It definitely reeks of banana (even with the airlock in place, I detect a whiff of it in the cellar), has not flocced yet, and tastes like yeast-with-beer-breath. Dropped from 1061 to 1016. Hops definitely not coming out as I'd expected; yeast is firmly in the way.

Gonna rack to secondary tonight and let it settle before I decide on dry hopping.

Thinking of using this yeast in a dry stout instead of S-05. Any advice/comments?

Sheldon

I recently did an experiment with the 2 yeasts. Pretty much the same conclusion everyone else reached. BRY-97 is good. US-05 just performs better. It depends on fermentation temperatures for me. US-05 can kick off those peachy flavors at low or high temps that I don't like in certain styles. That's when I reach for the BRY-97.

Sounds good, I'm gona try BRY-97.

Thanks.

Sheldon

I tried BRY-97 in an IPA recently, and it produced quite a pronounced whiff of banana esters. Nothing like US-05 at all if you ask me...

forstmeister said:

Also, from what I understand, the high flocculation of the BRY-97 actually does mute hop flavor and aroma. It is apparently common in all highly flocculant strains. Because of this, I may be hesitant to use it in an IPA, even though some say it is basically Pacman yeast (which is what Rogue uses).

Click to expand...

Quoting the ancient but I've heard the exact same thing, and is specifically not recommended for IPA. I've got a pack in the fridge and some Northern Brewer that is screaming California Common Ale. Since I admit I'm still new to this brewing thing (but getting more blinged out) almost everything I do is an experiment to "see how it turns out." Might revive this in a month or so.