I logged on just to post about my IPA test I did with US-05 vs BRY-97 and I find this. I brewed 10 gallons of American IPA and put into two fermenters. I rehydrated one packet of US-05 and one of BRY-97, each with 150mL of 90F filtered water. I pitched at 75F and kept in a temperature controlled fridge at 64F. I checked again about 16 hours later and the US-05 had a nice, healthy 2" krausen. No activity on the BRY-97. I checked again 22 hours after pitching and the BRY-97 had a 2" krausen. Waited 1 week for primary to finish. Dry hopped for 2 weeks in secondary. Kegged and carbed for 2 days before tasting.
Results:
The US-05 finishes with more bitternes. It also leave more hop flavor on your tongue. The aroma is clean with a slight hint of esters. The hop presence is definitely stronger than the BRY-97.
The BRY-97 doesn't finish very bitter. Instead it brings out more of the maltiness and C-60 in the recipe. The aroma is very sweet (due to the C-60, I believe) but not very hoppy. The Crystal malt stays on the tongue more than the hops, so it doesn't really taste like an IPA overall.
After tasting the difference, I can 100% say that I'm sticking with US-05. It was a fun experiment to try the West Coast strain, but it just killed my hop aroma and flavor. The beer I made with it was OK, but the US-05 had much more complexity. If I didn't know better, I would swear they are from different batches.
Cheers,
Bruno