Anyone try BRY-97 yet

Wrinkletusk said:

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.

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Brew day for me yesterday, and I pitched the slurry from my first top crop at 3pm. It's now 6:30am and krausen formed sometime during the night. Fermenting at 17c/62f.

skw said:

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.

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And from the bottle to the glass. Not fully carbed yet after 1 week, but good enough for a taste test. Loving this yeast so far. Very clean fermentation, dropped clear (not as quick as S-04, but much better than US-05) and while muting the bitterness, it still left plenty of aroma from the late hops. I'll definitely be using this again.

Just bottled up a side by side batch comparing BRY-97 and US-05. Planning on doing a half-lengthy write up after they're bottle carbed and chilled. Some quick notes below.

-Attenuation exactly the same.
-US-05 clearer without gelatin or cold crash. BRY-97 has "crashed" slowly for me in the past after kegging, but I have a warm keezer (10C ~ 50F).
-Hydrometer samples very similar taste, difficult to be fair with the yeast in suspension.

Orthobrewsky said:

"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:

View attachment 232027

I am not amused.

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The beer referenced above was an Irish red which turned out delicious when I tapped it after about 3 weeks. I harvested some of the yeast for a 1.070 IPA which started fermenting quite quickly. I kegged that Saturday, using carbonator caps to carb approximately a quart which wouldn't fit in the keg. Those bottles were already enjoyed and declared to be excellent IPA. The red cleared about as quickly, perhaps a tad faster, than my S-05 beers usually do.

I'm certainly happy with the way the beers turned out, though the lag time was much more than I've ever experienced, even in the many lagers I've started in the mid 40s.

Brew day again on Thursday just passed. 2nd gen top crop slurry pitched at 3pm; small krausen formed by 6:30am Friday. Fermenting at 17c. Pitching from slurry is definitely the way to go if you don't want the lag from a dry/rehydrated pitch.

Just pitched my first BRY-97 batch a couple days ago - 1.087 OG Black IPA - two packets for 5.5 gallons, sprinkled dry. Temps were around 17 celsius in the first 24 hours, and there was already krausen when I woke up about 14 hours after pitch. Due to a glitch with my STC-1000, it reached temps up to 24 celsius the second night of fermentation, but it's running back around 18 now. Judging by the frequency of the fridge kicking on to cool it back down, especially given the ambient temp is about 14, it's been a very active fermentation. We'll find out where it gets us in a few weeks.

Question: is it possible that this is the same yeast as 1332 Northwest Ale? My wacky Chinese online brew shop sells repackaged bulk yeast and recently started carrying retail packets as well. For a year or so now, they've had a dry yeast they identify as 1332, and now they're carrying BRY-97 in retail packets too. Since they sound fairly simiar, it's made me wonder if they're the same yeast and the "1332 Northwest Ale" yeast my brew shop repackages is actually BRY-97 and they're just relabeling it to attract more customers by offering an "expanded" selection. If so, I could save a couple bucks per packet by going with the repackaged bulk yeast versus the retail packs.

Going to brew 6 gallons of pale ale with an OG of 1.059. Do i need to pitch 1 or 2 packs of bry-97?

BRY-97 should be West Coast IPA.
I've used it on a few IPA brews & it was excellent. I did, however, rehydrate before pitching.

Orthobrewsky said:

The beer referenced above was an Irish red which turned out delicious when I tapped it after about 3 weeks. I harvested some of the yeast for a 1.070 IPA which started fermenting quite quickly. I kegged that Saturday, using carbonator caps to carb approximately a quart which wouldn't fit in the keg. Those bottles were already enjoyed and declared to be excellent IPA. The red cleared about as quickly, perhaps a tad faster, than my S-05 beers usually do.

I'm certainly happy with the way the beers turned out, though the lag time was much more than I've ever experienced, even in the many lagers I've started in the mid 40s.

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I ended up entering the Irish Red, in which the BRY-97 took 2.5 days to start, in the Heart of Dixie Open. It placed second and scored 42.5, just half a point behind the wee heavy which went on to win best of show. It was a 1.044 beer.

titansvol said:

Going to brew 6 gallons of pale ale with an OG of 1.059. Do i need to pitch 1 or 2 packs of bry-97?

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You can pitch one packet, but be prepared for a slight (24-48 hour) delay for krausen to form. I would personally pitch two or do a small starter (500 ml) to get things started before pitching.

This has been my go-to dry ale yeast for more than a year now. I've pretty much have always had good luck with it. Except for one of my last batches, which I write off as user error.

I ferment in a temperature controlled freezer which is one of the best investments that I have made in brewing (behind going electric and using RO water). I recently bought a new home which required a fair amount of renovating before we moved in. By the time that I was ready to brew again, it had been 7 months and I was well out of home brew and had the noobie itch. So I whipped up a batch of my favorite Amber Ale, pitched a packet of BRY-97 and let it go. The krausen collapsed after about a week and I got in a hurry and cold crashed it at 7-10 days. I ended up locking in the yeast produced diacetyl into the beer flavor profile.

I normally ferment for three weeks, cold crash, and then keg. This process has always allowed the yeast to clean up after themselves and leave me with clean beer. This particular batch was a fluke, but to me confirms some of the earlier comments in the thread about diacetyl. The lesson for today is to allow "secondary" fermentation time with this yeast, especially I suspect with under-pitching with a single packet of yeast.

pvtschultz said:

You can pitch one packet, but be prepared for a slight (24-48 hour) delay for krausen to form. I would personally pitch two or do a small starter (500 ml) to get things started before pitching.

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Good to know! Only been brewing for about a year and a half and yesterday was my first attempt with BRY-97. Only have space in our apartment for 1 gallon batches and have only used dry yeasts so far. Rehydrated and pitched half a packet.

Brew on Sunday afternoons and nearly every batch with other yeasts have been bubbling up a storm by Monday morning when I check before leaving for work. When this one wasn't showing any life this morning I was getting worried.

Getting ready to use this for the second time. Using a 1.25L starter for my dark Cascadian ale.

catdaddy66 said:

Getting ready to use this for the second time. Using a 1.25L starter for my dark Cascadian ale.

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Holy cow! Less than 48 hours and I've had a ton of blowoff already. Love this yeast!

Used BRY-97 for my first time on Monday. Brewed the Brewers Best Pacific Coast IPA. OG was 1.060 and had to run to the hardware store to purchase a sink adapter to use my wort chiller... anyway, pitched the yeast (did not re-hydrate) into the wort...and no activity 3 days later. Starting to get worried. Temps are between 66-70 and no activity. Going to check gravity tonight, if no signs of fermentation going to pitch some US05

catdaddy66 said:

Getting ready to use this for the second time. Using a 1.25L starter for my dark Cascadian ale.

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My Rye CDA took to BRY-97 with aplomb and ended up a great beer in spite of numerous glitches in the brewing process. Definitely a good yeast for the style.

thegame310 said:

Used BRY-97 for my first time on Monday. Brewed the Brewers Best Pacific Coast IPA. OG was 1.060 and had to run to the hardware store to purchase a sink adapter to use my wort chiller... anyway, pitched the yeast (did not re-hydrate) into the wort...and no activity 3 days later. Starting to get worried. Temps are between 66-70 and no activity. Going to check gravity tonight, if no signs of fermentation going to pitch some US05

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BRY-97 is a slow starter. Not rehydrating with a 1.060 isn't going to do it any favours. Be patient, it will take a while to get going then go directly to turbo mode. Re-pitching from a slurry doesn't have nearly as bad lag.

I have to say, even though the slow start was not my favorite feature of this yeast, it certainly flocculated really well. This was the most clear beer I have brewed yet. Excited to see how it looks after dry hopping.

Zepth said:

BRY-97 is a slow starter. Not rehydrating with a 1.060 isn't going to do it any favours. Be patient, it will take a while to get going then go directly to turbo mode. Re-pitching from a slurry doesn't have nearly as bad lag.

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I think I mentioned it once a number of pages back, but my one BRY-97 brew so far, two packets sprinkled dry on 6 gallons of 1.087 wort, was the fastest starter of any of the 20 or so brews I've done; I had krausen and airlock activity in four hours, where most of my brews (all dry yeast strains, some rehydrated, two pitched from slurry) take roughly 18-24 hours to start showing signs of activity.

Just a data point - although BRY-97 is known to lag longer than many brewing yeasts, it can get going as fast as anything

Zepth said:

BRY-97 is a slow starter. Not rehydrating with a 1.060 isn't going to do it any favours. Be patient, it will take a while to get going then go directly to turbo mode. Re-pitching from a slurry doesn't have nearly as bad lag.

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Yeah, I checked it on Friday as I still didn't have activity in the air lock, opened the lid and it was going crazy!

thegame310 said:

Yeah, I checked it on Friday as I still didn't have activity in the air lock, opened the lid and it was going crazy!

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You can get some idea of kraeusen by darkening the room and setting a flashlight on the lid shining down. You can see the kraeusen thru the side of the bucket.

Seems to be a slow starter to me.

I just used this for an imperial stout and it seems to be a slow starter. rehydrated 2 packets and pitched into 70 degree 1.088 wort. 62-64 degree basement. No signs of fermentation after 12 hours, a few bubbles from the blow-off tube at 24 and 36 hrs. I'm now 48 hours in I have 1/2 inch of krausen.

I brewed a Barleywine of the same gravity 2 weeks ago and used 2 packs of rehydrated Nottingham in slightly cooler temperatures(56-58). After 24 hours I had a 6" krausen. After 48 my blow-off tube was full.

I planned to use s-04 for this stout, but my lhbs was out and I had this in my fridge so I figured I'd try it. Hoping the fermentation picks up and it turns out ok

mgregg said:

Seems to be a slow starter to me.

I just used this for an imperial stout and it seems to be a slow starter. rehydrated 2 packets and pitched into 70 degree 1.088 wort. 62-64 degree basement. No signs of fermentation after 12 hours, a few bubbles from the blow-off tube at 24 and 36 hrs. I'm now 48 hours in I have 1/2 inch of krausen.

I brewed a Barleywine of the same gravity 2 weeks ago and used 2 packs of rehydrated Nottingham in slightly cooler temperatures(56-58). After 24 hours I had a 6" krausen. After 48 my blow-off tube was full.

I planned to use s-04 for this stout, but my lhbs was out and I had this in my fridge so I figured I'd try it. Hoping the fermentation picks up and it turns out ok

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Just curious, did you read any of the 47 pages of this thread?

Yes, this yeast starts slow. No, it doesn't produce a huge krausen. Yes, it will ferment out cleanly with good attenuation. And it will probably be done before you know it.

Initial pitch was a little slow (20hrs), but well within my "not worried" range. This was with a 1yo expired packet also. Cleaned up in 4 days

The second pitch on the cake took off in 4hrs, and was done in 2.5days.

Beer looks great, nice and clear - hoping to get to try it on Sunday (should be fully carbed by them). Curious to put it against US05 as a dry option...

I just used this for a DIPA. I did a 2L starter for a 5gal batch of about 1.072SG. I racked to secondary for dry hopping last night. There was a LOT of yeast, yeast cake was a good 1" deep and reasonably compacted. After adding the starter, I had airlock activity within about 5 hours, and krausen blowing through the airlock after 24 (5gal of beer in a 7gal brew bucket). And man does this stuff smell amazing.

signpost said:

Just curious, did you read any of the 47 pages of this thread?

Yes, this yeast starts slow. No, it doesn't produce a huge krausen. Yes, it will ferment out cleanly with good attenuation. And it will probably be done before you know it.

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I did read some of the 47 pages of this thread. I was expecting it to be a slow starter, but since several recent posts were asking questions about it I thought that my recent experience with it might be helpful to them.

As for the Krausen, 72 hours after pitching my blowoff tube was full and this thing was going crazy. Just as much action as my barleywine with nottingham, it just took longer to reach that level of activity.I have not taken a gravity reading since pitching, but I'm 7 days in and fermentation activity is still enough that I can't pull the blow-off tube and put in an airlock yet. I am definitely no longer worried about reaching my f.g.

i used it on an Imperial Red i did a few months ago. I like it a lot. it is the only yeast i have had to clean up a blowoff mess. was forced to use a blowoff tube as a result of the crazy action. i will revisit it in the future.

I used it in a SMaSH. Maris Otter and Amarillo hops. I did not find it to be unusually slow or anything else. But then again I don't worry about when a beer starts fermenting unless it is a few days. This has never happened. The longest I have seen was just a bit over 18 hours. This was a very good beer.

I will definitely be using this yeast again.

kh54s10 said:

I used it in a SMaSH. Maris Otter and Amarillo hops. I did not find it to be unusually slow or anything else. But then again I don't worry about when a beer starts fermenting unless it is a few days. This has never happened. The longest I have seen was just a bit over 18 hours. This was a very good beer.

I will definitely be using this yeast again.

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Any noteworthy character from the yeast specifically?

kh54s10 said:

I used it in a SMaSH. Maris Otter and Amarillo hops. I did not find it to be unusually slow or anything else. But then again I don't worry about when a beer starts fermenting unless it is a few days. This has never happened. The longest I have seen was just a bit over 18 hours. This was a very good beer.

I will definitely be using this yeast again.

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Auger said:

Any noteworthy character from the yeast specifically?

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I would say the Amarillo hops made most of the impact. I really liked this one. I think looking up the hop characteristics would give you a better idea than my description.

What the yeast contributed, I cannot say for sure. Using a new hop and a new yeast at the same time makes it nearly impossible to say what contributes what to the character.

I am trying to ferment a blonde so far I am 18 hours in and no visible signs yet. I noticed the water temp is coming up more than I would expect if nothing is happening. I pitched two pkgs that were hydrated in to 68 degree wort. I also gave it a minute of Oxygen. I suspect it is working but like others have said it does not show off.

Well we have bubbles now at 26 hours. But us-o4 or 05 would be going gang busters this is just a slow put put. I look forward to the next week.

It will be fine. I don't mind the lag time, as long as the results are delicious. Which in the case of BRY-97, they are.

I am not worried so much as interested as I am looking for a alternative to us-05 with its habits to throw weird flavors. I am using a water bath for fermentation but 12.5 hours a day I am at work. So I need a yeast that has a bigger tempature range. Currently I am at 65 degrees. It acts like today is the big day that it does most of its work .

Well the yeast seems to be a low profile worker, not much to say. It has slowed a little now and the tempature change is not as great. I will put the airlock on tomorrow.

Airlock is on and things look nice and calm.

My blonde finished at 10.12 it started at 10.53 . This yeast is a lot better on flocking out. Had a large yeast cake that find part of itself repitched. I am keging this one should have a flavor check tomorrow!

The beer was clean in flavor, That is a relief for me as I have had nothing but problems trying to keep temps where they should be for different yeast. The same beer was repitched. with some of the same yeast. I think I might say goodbye to US-05.

Just finishing up my spring break (I'm a teacher) and I'm happy to report I got 3 batches brewed in the week that I was off. And 2 of those batches are with BRY-97 rehydrated and pitched around 60°F or so. The first one took about 60 hours for the airlock activity to get going, and it was up to around 70°F by then. The second batch got going in about 36 hours and was right around 62°F at that point. So, I'm not exactly sure what other variables might contribute to the difference in lag time.

They were both single hop pale ales, so this should be a good chance for comparison between two different fermentations. The first batch has been fermenting on our main floor at right around 70°F throughout, and the second batch has been in the basement right around 60°F. It got a little warmer than that during the peak of fermentation activity, but not a lot warmer. There were only some small adjustments in the grain bill (due to what I had on hand), and the hop schedules were virtually identical (changed slightly to keep the IBUs about the same).

Anyway, I'll try to remember to report back on any differences I notice in the final product that might be attributable to fermenting with this yeast at different temps.

Sign post what is the basics of then recipe hops and grains ect. so far I am one day into drinking my first bry97 recipe and I find that the hops might be subdued. I am a new brewer with only 5 all-grains and a dozen extracts so far. My taste buds SUCK. Mine was a simple blonde of lb maris otter and 5 lb veinna with 6ounce cry10 and 6 ounce honey malt. 2 packs of bey 97 rehydrated with oxygen for a minute.

Here is one of the recipes I did:

2-row - 8 lbs. 8 oz.
Munich - 1 lb. 8 oz.
Crystal 20L - 14 oz.

all Legacy (AA 10.2%)
0.8 oz. - 60 minutes
1 oz. - 10 minutes
2.5 oz. - 0 minutes

2.5 oz. - dry hop

OG - 1.052
Predicted FG - 1.012
ABV approx 6%
SRM - 7
IBU - 34

I didn't have enough Munich to do both batches with the same malt bill, so I did a little crystal 80L in the other one. Also, the other one is Calypso hops with a higher alpha acid content, so the bittering addition is smaller and I moved the 10 minute addition to the 8 minute mark.