Anyone try BRY-97 yet

thaymond said:

It is just about the ugliest start to fermentation ever. The yeast stratified at the bottom, then rose to the top in a diarrhea like clump. Then the whole thing fell apart and is now swirling around in the fermentor like a flushed toilet after a night of heavy drinking after a chili cook-off. Happily, it doesn't smell that way. ;-)

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Dang, guy! You painted a word picture that may have me using some other yeast in the future! ROTFL

Seriously, what temp are you fermenting at? If over 68F it would explain the more vigorous activity.

Puddlethumper said:

Dang, guy! You painted a word picture that may have me using some other yeast in the future! ROTFL

Seriously, what temp are you fermenting at? If over 68F it would explain the more vigorous activity.

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Its at an ambient temp of 60. So give a few degrees higher at 64-66.

thaymond said:

Its at an ambient temp of 60. So give a few degrees higher at 64-66.

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That should be spot-on from the experiences I've had with this strain. Might be like a golf - if the shots were pretty or ugly doesn't show up on the scorecard. The only thing that counts is the final score.

Best of luck!

I've used this yeast a few times, both for a dry stout of around 1.044 SG. Mashed at around 149F and got about 72% ADF. The beers were good. The batch at 68F was only slightly estery, and the 72F batch has a bit more ester and slightly more tart. Both cleared easily.

I have not had good experiences with WLp051 or Wyeast 1272, but the BRY-97 worked very well. It was, as has been mentioned, slow to start. I saw very meager signs of fermentation by about hour 24-36.

Both blonde ales came out clean but did not attenuate as I wanted. It went to 72%. Both are tasty. I'll probably try it again, because the price is right. Its not at all bad for a dry yeast.

Since this thread gave me the strength to stick it out in the yeast's adaptation phase, I think it would be beneficial for me to tell my experience with the yeast.

I rehydrated the yeast early, it was rehydrated in 100F water about 4 hours prior to pitching. It was rehydrated in a sterile jar with sterile water and was left to cool to temp in the basement with sterile aluminum foil.

I pitched the yeast into an aerated carboy, and then shook the whole thing up to incorporate the yeast. The carboy was placed into my 18.5C basement.

I then waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

It wasn't until 45 hours in that the yeast finally showed signs of forming a krausen.

The yeast was pitched into about 15 litres of 1.066 wort.

For what it's worth, that's my experience so far.

alefort said:

Since this thread gave me the strength to stick it out in the yeast's adaptation phase, I think it would be beneficial for me to tell my experience with the yeast.

I rehydrated the yeast early, it was rehydrated in 100F water about 4 hours prior to pitching. It was rehydrated in a sterile jar with sterile water and was left to cool to temp in the basement with sterile aluminum foil.

I pitched the yeast into an aerated carboy, and then shook the whole thing up to incorporate the yeast. The carboy was placed into my 18.5C basement.

I then waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

It wasn't until 45 hours in that the yeast finally showed signs of forming a krausen.

The yeast was pitched into about 15 litres of 1.066 wort.

For what it's worth, that's my experience so far.

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I don't want to have to rain on your parade, and what you have done may still turn out OK. But there are a few problems with your technique that you might want to address next time.

First step would be a visit to Danstar's website to read the full written instructions for use of this yeast:

http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/bry-97-american-west-coast-beer-yeast

The yeast should be rehydrated between 86F - 95F. 100F is too hot and may have killed some of the yeast cells.

The 4 hour delay following rehydration will certainly lead to a significant loss of vitality from the yeast. They were hungry when you woke them up and you gave them nothing to eat. Many of the of the yeast cells died of starvation before they ever got to the wort.

Rehydration should take no more than 30 minutes in most cases. According to the instructions the yeast should remain on the warm water for 15 minutes, then begin to attemperate the yeast slurry to within 10F of the wort temperature then innoculate without delay. Otherwise there will be a loss of viability of the yeast.

You do not need to aerate wort that is going to receive a dry yeast. It won't hurt anything, but most dry yeast manufacturers do not recommend aeration of the wort prior to pitching. (This is exactly the opposite of instructions given with liquid yeast.)

Keep an eye on it and I hope it turns out OK for you.

Cheers!

Puddlethumper,

Thank you very much for the constructive feedback. After reading through all 41 pages of this thread I came to the realization that my process was far from perfect. I've definitely learned a ton, and it will be a small miracle if there are no off flavors from stressing the yeast in this batch.

I had no idea that there is no need to aerate the wort when using dry yeast. I thought yeast needed dissolved O2 for a healthy environment. Do you know why this isn't the case for dry yeast?

Cheers!

alefort said:

I had no idea that there is no need to aerate the wort when using dry yeast. I thought yeast needed dissolved O2 for a healthy environment. Do you know why this isn't the case for dry yeast?

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It is my understanding that the process of making dry yeast somehow equips the yeast cells to do just fine without aeration. And a couple of yeast package instructions I have read say very flatly that there is no need to aerate the wort. I can only assume there is sufficient o2 dissolved in the wort to meet the yeast's requirements.

Take this with a grain of salt as I am not enough of a chemist to properly understand or explain the specifics.

Hope all goes well for you!

Cheers!

I've used this a few times, with variable results.

The 1st time I used a 2000 ml starter on a stir plate and (krausen was coming out of my starter before I pitched) when i did pitch I had active fermentation within an hour
I believe it took a 1.065 down to 1.001 or .002 pretty amazing

2nd time i tried the yeast starter again and it overflowed a second time nocking the aluminum foil lid off of the flask. And I found fruit flys in it so I had to dump it and just pitch a packet dry

It took about 2 days to really get going and finished around 1.024 due to a horribly hot mash 165 degree mash. (Whoops I learned on that one



Primary 1 arrogant bastard clone no3


Primary 2 sublimely self-righteous clone no1

1gal #1 arrogant bAstard with scorpion pepper

1 gal #2 self-righteous w/ *undecided*

I'm finally getting around to brewing with this yeast again. I harvested 2 jars of yeast when I first used it. Since that was 4 months ago, I decided to use both jars in the starter I made this morning just to be sure I had enough viable yeast - btw, saving wort from a previous batch made it super quick getting this starter going.

Anyway, about 12 hours later, the starter is super active and will definitely be ready for my brew day tomorrow. I'll be sure to post an update on how the fermentation goes over the next few days. I suspect I won't have the lag issues that most have experienced when pitching new/fresh packs of this yeast.

some things I like about this yeast- strong hops flavor and aroma in my IPAs, and fermenting "clean"ly at 65-75 degrees.

However, using the packages and then the yeast slurry in several batches shows this yeast so slow to clear that it makes S05 look flocculant. I'm use to clear beer by day 15 or so, and this yeast does not produce that at all for me.

Yooper said:

some things I like about this yeast- strong hops flavor and aroma in my IPAs, and fermenting "clean"ly at 65-75 degrees.

However, using the packages and then the yeast slurry in several batches shows this yeast so slow to clear that it makes S05 look flocculant. I'm use to clear beer by day 15 or so, and this yeast does not produce that at all for me.

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I remember noticing that when I used it before. I don't care much about how long it takes to clear in the fermenter. But I like a yeast that stays nice and compact in the bottle when I pour it.

I used Wyeast 1272 for the first time recently and really liked the way it behaved. If this batch doesn't beat out the 1272 in that category, I might have decided on a 'house' strain for American pales and IPAs.

Well, the starter took off and was finished within 24 hours. I pitched it a little warm (~76°F) and it took off again. Less than 6 hours after pitching, the airlock is rocking and it is at 72°F.

I'm sure the slightly warm temp is helping it move along, but also having tons of fresh yeast from the starter did the job. Either tomorrow or the next day I'll be adding a little sugar. I'm guessing that will ensure a solid attenuation.

So, harvesting this yeast works fine, even after letting it sit in the fridge for 4 months. None of the lag issues I had the first time around.

I just kegged a pale ale I made 10 days ago. OG was 1.050 and final is right on 1.010 or 1.008 hard to read
I calculated 43Ibu's. while tasting warm flat beer can be deceiving I have I say it tasted better going in than out.
Hopefully when it's cold and carbonated up it will taste better.
Fermented between 68-70 degrees.

I like this yeast. I used it in a few dry stouts. Clears well, fermented slowly. It has more yeast character than 1056.

"Quick start and vigorous fermentation, which can be completed in 4 days above 17 °C."---Lallemand


44 hours and all is calm at 17.8 *C:



I am not amused.

I'm at about 36 hours in with nothing as well. Wort temp is 18 deg c.

My second brew with this yeast went very differently than the first. I had no signs of fermentation until 45 hours in last time, from a dry packet.

This time I made a starter with yeast I had harvested 3 months earlier. This time I had active fermentation in 8 hours, and everything was done within 5 days.

What a yeast, it seems so unpredictable.

alefort said:

My second brew with this yeast went very differently than the first. I had no signs of fermentation until 45 hours in last time, from a dry packet.

This time I made a starter with yeast I had harvested 3 months earlier. This time I had active fermentation in 8 hours, and everything was done within 5 days.

What a yeast, it seems so unpredictable.

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That actually lines up with experiences I've read: re-pitches start quickly, but the dry seems to take a while to wake up. Hopefully that's it and not low viability in the dry packs.

I came home today at the 54 hour mark and had a thin krausen.

As a number of others have posted in this thread, my experience shows that you simply cannot compare the way this yeast works to other yeast strains. Rehydrate the yeast per manufacturer's recommendations and it will get the job done very reliably but with very little fanfare. (I can't comment on harvested yeast as I haven't tried it on this strain.)

IMO, the big mistake many brewers make is that they expect this yeast to behave like all the other strains on the market. It doesn't. It is a very slow and methodical yeast without much apparent activity. If that bothers you then don't use it. If you need to see a lot of activity in your airlock and a big rolling fermentation this yeast isn't for you. There are lots of other strains to choose from.

If you do choose to use it from the dry packets, you need to accept the fact that it does not show a big rolling fermentation. But at the end of 10-14 days your FG will be right where you expected and the beer will be very good.

I made a starter with an expired pack of the BRY-97. Normally it takes a long time to get going. But after I did a starter, it was lighting fast. Maybe within 12 hours it was going briskly. I'd just do a starter with it, or pitch two packs.

Pitched 1 packet dry into 11l of high gravity wort at 23°C, aerated by shaking. Visible activity (white foam on top) after 24hrs.

Just kegged up a batch with my premiere use of this yeast. Hydro sample seemed promising even though I managed to move the autosiphon a bit by accident and go ultra-yeast in the sample.

As far as start times I re-hydrated as per the pack, it took about 3 days to show anything. At that point it was a nice bright white krausen about a half inch high. "Bubbly" looking instead of "thick and creamy." The next day it was a good thing I had that blow off tube. About 3 days later it had died down enough to comfortably put a regular airlock on. Certainly an unusual schedule.

I would love to see more comments on this thread regarding beer quality and compare and contrast beer flavor/aroma/flocculation/clarity to WLP001/1056/US-05 rather than so many comments about visual fermentation characteristics which, lets face it don't have much to do with the end product assuming you pitched a viable batch of yeast and enough cells.

I can tell you after this fermentation is done - it's my first time using BRY-97. It's a split batch, but the other half was pitched with S-04, so I can't compare to other west coast strains.

I used BRY-97 in my Rye IIPA clone. As has been stated before, my experience was that the yeast got off to a very slow start, but after about 3 weeks it seemed to complete its work. I don't think it will ever by my first choice of yeast, but if I did use it again, I would use it in my IPA/IIPA recipes and even then, mostly in beers were clearing is not as much of a concern.

RmikeVT said:

I would love to see more comments on this thread regarding beer quality and compare and contrast beer flavor/aroma/flocculation/clarity to WLP001/1056/US-05 rather than so many comments about visual fermentation characteristics which, lets face it don't have much to do with the end product assuming you pitched a viable batch of yeast and enough cells.

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I'll do it! Been getting tired of a yeast that shall remain nameless, it's let me down once and been non-spectacular a second time. So I was thinking of my next time around making a 10g boil and splitting it between BRY-97 and US-05. Then I can compare to the current strain I've been using for this particular recipe and have a 3 way compare.

Don't hold your breath I have half a keg still going and a 10g batch about to be kegged before even thinking of embarking on this mission. Now that makes me with I hadn't started that 10g. Albatross beer?

skw said:

I can tell you after this fermentation is done - it's my first time using BRY-97. It's a split batch, but the other half was pitched with S-04, so I can't compare to other west coast strains.

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5 days in, I took gravity samples today. Both fermentations are coming to an end as the krausen have dropped. BRY-97 gave a lower gravity reading than S-04 by about 0.5 °P. S-04 has dropped and the gravity sample was crystal clear, BRY-97 still is in suspension. Both taste fine, neither sample had any off flavors that I can tell (looking past the yeast in the BRY-97 sample). BRY-97 does indeed smell like pineapple, as others reported. S-04 was at ambient temperature of 15°C, fermometer read 18°C. BRY-97 fermometer read 21°C. The S-04 fermenter is now in the same room as the BRY-97 one, to let a bit of a temperature increase help the yeast finish its work.

Racked the BRY-97 beer to secondary on top of bourbon soaked oak chips. It left a nice compact yeast cake and looks like the bulk of yeast has dropped. It's been a while since I've used US-05, but it looks to me like BRY-97 flocculates better.

Compared to the same wort fermented with S-04 (which was bottled today), it tastes much milder and tamer. Even though S-04 didn't add any discernible fruitiness, it still tasted rougher and stronger than BRY-97. I don't have a direct US-05 control, but I think I remember US-05 being less neutral than BRY-97. Also, it still smells like pineapple. Both finished with > 80% apparent attenuation.

Well, I've used this yeast several times at this point. All from one packet. I've really liked it and will definitely buy it and use it again.

It gave what I consider to be a pretty clean flavor. It fermented dry and fluctuated better than other west coast yeasts I've used.

Fits just about every criteria I look for in a yeast for my American style pale ales and IPAs. It would probably also be good in brown and amber ales, too, but I haven't tried that yet.

Orthobrewsky said:

That actually lines up with experiences I've read: re-pitches start quickly, but the dry seems to take a while to wake up. Hopefully that's it and not low viability in the dry packs.

I came home today at the 54 hour mark and had a thin krausen.

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That beer was an Irish Red and tasted really great when I kegged it just a few days ago, so I saved some yeast and used it for a 1.070 IPA yesterday. Second generation was beginning to form krausen by evening and has been churning away at 63 degrees, threatening blow off today.

Say what you want, this yeast is different from US-05. I'm getting muted hops and a very delicious pineapple aroma. I wouldn't call this yeast neutral, at least not when fermenting at 21C ambient. Gentle is what it would call it.

skw said:

Say what you want, this yeast is different from US-05. I'm getting muted hops and a very delicious pineapple aroma. I wouldn't call this yeast neutral, at least not when fermenting at 21C ambient. Gentle is what it would call it.

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I think you fermented it to high. 21c I think is 70f. Your actual ferm temp was prob 75-78. Danstars website says ferments clean up to 78f Max temp ( too high in my opinion. I Would never ferment that high) Optimum temp is 63- 72.

Taste test says I fermented just right. Since someone mentioned earlier in the thread that this yeast stalled somewhere below 65-68°F, if I remember correctly, I wanted to let it stay on the higher side. And I was curious what "clean up to 78f" really means.

Another batch is fermenting at 17°C ambient right now, just to get a feel for how this yeast behaves at different temperatures.

I've used this yeast quite a lot and like it. It's "happy place" seems to be in the 65-68F range. I liked the descriptive "gentle" used above. This yeast doesn't produce a big rolling fermentation but it is working just fine, even without a lot of show. Almost any American ale is a good fit including cream, amber, IPA and APA.

skw said:

Taste test says I fermented just right. Since someone mentioned earlier in the thread that this yeast stalled somewhere below 65-68°F, if I remember correctly, I wanted to let it stay on the higher side. And I was curious what "clean up to 78f" really means.

Another batch is fermenting at 17°C ambient right now, just to get a feel for how this yeast behaves at different temperatures.

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I find this reassuring.

I rehydrated two packets of BRY-97 for 24L of a lightly hopped pale ale (Australian Little Creatures Bright Ale clone). I probably overpitched a slight bit. I pitched at 21*C.

Airlock pressure was evident within ~8 hours. Airlock bubbling began at ~18 hours. Stick-on thermometer read 21-22*C. When I woke up the following morning the thermometer was reading 26*C (78*F) and fermentation was vigorous so I submerged the fermenter in an ice bath and brought the temp back down to 21-22*C. Bubbling was complete within ~60 hours of pitching.

I suppose I'll find out whether Northern Brewer is correct that BRY-97 produces a clean taste up to 78*F.

I'm on my 5th batch with Bry-97, and all have been from packet and rehydrated as per instructions. 24-48 hour lag on all batches, but on a three week fermentation schedule it doesn't impact me that much. All batches have attenuated to 80-83% (mashed 149-152 depending on batch). I bottle, and the yeast cements itself to the bottom of the bottle after 48+ hours in the fridge, so I get a 95%+ pour from the bottle. I'm very happy with it now that I know what to expect from it.

I'm going to try my first top cropping later today, and plan to use it for a few generations to see what difference it makes. I'll report in when I pitch each subsequent generation.

Bottled my 2nd batch with BRY-97 today. Generous pitch from harvested yeast, fermented at 17°C, raised to 20°C after a week. It has great attenuation (12°P -> 2.0°P) without drying out the beer, no off-flavors that I could tell. Or any other yeast flavor that I would be able to tell through the 30 IBU Amarillo hop burst in this pale ale.

Making a starter with bry-97 now. It will be pitched late tomorrow into my APA.


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