Danstar BRY-97 American West Coast Yeast: A Review

I very rarely use dry yeast, but when I saw this new offering from Danstar at the LHBS and read about it's apparently high attenuation and flocculation characteristics, I figured I'd give 'er go. From what I've read of others' experiences with this yeast, it sounds incredibly similar to my go-to American strain, WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast. Yesterday (2/24/13), I brewed 11 gallons of Brulosopher's Dark Brown Ale then split it into two fermenters. On one half I sprinkled the BRY-97 while the other got a 2 L starter of WLP002 (harvested from a starter in 12/2012)- I figured the 002 would serve as a good liquid yeast comparison, plus I've been meaning to make this beer with that yeast anyways. My plan is to update this thread throughout the fermentation process and until the beer is being consumed. Here we go!

Some basic details... mashed at 152F for 65 mins, pitched at 64F, ferment temp 66F.

The WLP002 (Phil) was off to the races just 6 hours after pitching and was going pretty crazy 18 hours in; the BRY-97 (Gary) has yet to show any signs of fermentation. I'm not at all concerned about this, for a couple reasons- first off, I did not rehydrate (I don't really see the point with dry yeasts, cue haters now ), and secondly, this I've read all over the web that this yeast is slow to take off and usually gets going after 36 hours or so.

More to come...

As of this evening, about 30 hours after pitching, I'm still seeing no solid activity in Gary. Again, I'm not concerned, I've read it can take upwards of 36 hours to get going, then it rips. We'll see.

I think you'll like it. I love a good ipa with 002 and I did batch with the bry 97 and it came out great. Fermented on the cooler side (about 62-63) and them warmed it up to 68-69 for the dry hop. Came out nice and bright with lots of hop character. Had a little more of a tart character (fruitiness?) than the 002.

I also noticed a slight lag, I primary in glass carboys and it had a mini Krausen for a day or so before the air lock started bubbling.

@ WDT: I'm looking forward to it! Like I mentioned, I almost never use dry yeasts (maybe 1-2 times/year), so I have neutral expectations.

As of this morning, Gary's airlock is bubbling... very, very slowly- about once every 25 seconds. It's sitting right around 63F. Meanwhile, Phil has slowed down a bit and will probably be completely fermented out by the time Gary really gets going. If things aren't moving along 12 hours from now (whenever I'm home from work), I'll crank up the temp in the chamber a couple degrees to see if the yeasts respond to a warmer environment.

Brulosopher said:

As of this morning, Gary's airlock is bubbling...

Phil has slowed down a bit...

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Seriously?

bja said:

Seriously?

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Don't hate

Brulosopher said:

Don't hate

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No hate. More like WTF? Usually when people name their beers, it's a little more descriptive.

I did an apa Sunday 2/24 with same danstar American west coast ale yeast and have seen no activity yet. Didn't rehydrate either. First experience with dry yeast since mr beer kits 2 years ago was starting to get a little concerned as I had a little too much hb wee heavy while brewing. Need to stop doing that. Any whom ferm temps are between 60-63 on laundry room floor maybe that's making a little less active also

bja said:

No hate. More like WTF? Usually when people name their beers, it's a little more descriptive.

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Those aren't the beer names, just the fermenters.

BRY-97 doesn't really like it at those temps and will take a little longer to get going, as well as finish the job. If it's sluggish, I'd up the temp a bit.

I've used it a fair bit, and it's a good yeast, just lags a bit, ferments clean and fast, and takes forever for the krausen and yeast to drop in the primary. I give it a decent week long crash, and then rack to the keg to cold condition and dry hop. Comes out clearer and cleaner than US05.

It will mute your bitterness, so if you are using it in a beer that needs the bitterness to support/balance a malt backbone, be warned. When it does crash, it takes some of the hops with it.

FATC1TY said:

BRY-97 doesn't really like it at those temps and will take a little longer to get going, as well as finish the job. If it's sluggish, I'd up the temp a bit.

I've used it a fair bit, and it's a good yeast, just lags a bit, ferments clean and fast, and takes forever for the krausen and yeast to drop in the primary. I give it a decent week long crash, and then rack to the keg to cold condition and dry hop. Comes out clearer and cleaner than US05.

It will mute your bitterness, so if you are using it in a beer that needs the bitterness to support/balance a malt backbone, be warned. When it does crash, it takes some of the hops with it.

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It's going a tidbit stronger tonight, but I still plan to warm things up tomorrow morning- I'm thinking 68F?

Things are finally starting to pick up to a normal pace, but first...

***I fully understand that airlock bubbling is viewed as a terrible measure of fermentation; however, it's also the only observable objective measure I could think of to evaluate what's going on in the fermenter***

Now, now... as I mentioned, Gary's airlock is bubbling at a rate of about 1 blurp every 4-5 seconds, still nothing like when I use liquid yeast starters. It was still at 64F and since Phil has slowed down significantly, I raised the temp to 66F in the chamber. I'm hoping this will kick the yeast into high gear.

Four days in and Gary is fermenting like Phil was 24 hours in. My experience has been incredibly similar to the reviews I read- long lag time, then it takes off. I'm excited to try this beer in a couple weeks.

Edit: It made its way up to about 71F as well... I'm hoping the few days it spent around 64/65F will eliminate any off flavors.

Yesterday morning mine was at 57F so I moved it to a warmer area. Got home from work last night and saw some activity. Now it's at 67F and pumping well. Smells good too

russrob81 said:

Yesterday morning mine was at 57F so I moved it to a warmer area. Got home from work last night and saw some activity. Now it's at 67F and pumping well. Smells good too

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It's like we're partners or something. Cheers!

Keg it yet?

WDT said:

Keg it yet?

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Yes. I kegged it last Friday night, set it to 30 psi for 2 days, lowered it to 12 psi, then left California for New York... I won't be home until next Sunday, at which point it'll be beautifully carb'd.

Brulosopher said:

Yes. I kegged it last Friday night, set it to 30 psi for 2 days, lowered it to 12 psi, then left California for New York... I won't be home until next Sunday, at which point it'll be beautifully carb'd.

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So what's the verdict on the yeast?

WDT said:

So what's the verdict on the yeast?

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It worked, that's for sure. Took my 1.051 Brown down to 1.011 in about a week. It's been kegged and cold conditioning for about a week now, just tasted it yesterday--- very clean, not terribly different than 001, but feels just a tad more dry. I'll update once I start drinking it regularly. At this point... meh, I still prefer other yeasts- WLP090 in particular.

This thread is making me feel a tiny bit better, just used BRY-97 for the first time yesterday on a Marris Otter Motueka SMaSH, and it's the first time I can ever recall not having some signs of starting by the morning after. Right now you wouldn't be able to tell my fermenter from one that didn't have any yeast added...

It's only been about 20 hours since pitching, but again, if it weren't for the posted experiences here, I'd be strongly considering whether or not I should pitch a packet of US-05 I have sitting in backup!

biochemedic said:

This thread is making me feel a tiny bit better, just used BRY-97 for the first time yesterday on a Marris Otter Motueka SMaSH, and it's the first time I can ever recall not having some signs of starting by the morning after. Right now you wouldn't be able to tell my fermenter from one that didn't have any yeast added...

It's only been about 20 hours since pitching, but again, if it weren't for the posted experiences here, I'd be strongly considering whether or not I should pitch a packet of US-05 I have sitting in backup!

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What's weird is it'll take off and finish while you're not looking. I was concerned it'd produce a bad beer, but nope, it worked just fine.

Brulosopher said:

What's weird is it'll take off and finish while you're not looking. I was concerned it'd produce a bad beer, but nope, it worked just fine.

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Just think how much better it would have been if you'd taken 15 minutes or so to hydrate the yeast.

geezerpk said:

Just think how much better it would have been if you'd taken 15 minutes or so to hydrate the yeast.

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Except many of the people I know who have still experienced similar lag times...

OK, so it seems we have a trend going here...I definitely had about the same experience as the others...

I pitched at ~ 12 noon on the 20th, and as I poster earlier, 24 hrs later absolutely nothing was visibly happening. Then ~ midnight last night (~ 36 hrs after pitching) finally was seeing a few faint bubbles on the surface, and some downward movement on the air column leading to the bottom of the blow off tube. By this morning was finally seeing solid signs of fermentation -- ~ 1 bubble/sec from the blow off, and about 1 cm of krausen... Over 36 hrs before any active signs of fermentation were evident...this is definitely unusual compared to my usual experience with other yeasts, both liquid and dry, in my system...

I think part of the issue was that I tend to cool down to the low 60s' and pitch, so I can allow the temp to ramp up on it's own as fermentation progresses (I don't have any direct way to control ferm temps at this point). Generally, with other yeasts it's not a problem, and I still get starts within 24 hrs. With this batch, I pitched at 62*F, and it seems that this is something this particular yeast may not like.

Oh, and I did rehydrate, and even attemperated the yeast to the pitch temp according to the info sheet on the Danstar website... I think this may just be quirky behavior of this particular yeast, and the fact that perhaps it prefers a warmer temp...

It's definitely seeming to be finished...sometime in the past 24 hrs (while I wasn't looking, so to speak) it has completely stopped bubbling, and even seems to be starting to clear...I'll check FG in a day or two....

Brulosopher said:

Four days in and Gary is fermenting like Phil was 24 hours in. My experience has been incredibly similar to the reviews I read- long lag time, then it takes off. I'm excited to try this beer in a couple weeks.

Edit: It made its way up to about 71F as well... I'm hoping the few days it spent around 64/65F will eliminate any off flavors.

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Could the lag time be the result of the yeast wanting higher temps? I bought some today and the guy at my LHBS said to pitch at 30 (86). I thought that was really high, so I checked out the specs of the yeast online and it backed up what my guy was saying. Rehydrate at 30-35 (86-95). Temperature shock will occur for changes of >10, so I guess that means pitch the yeast in the 30 (86) range.

I am assuming that its ok that if that temp drops due to ambient being less than 30... I doubt the ambient temps would take it to less than 22 during high krausen. I've also read that the yeast stays clean at temps that you would normally think would be problematic... like 25 (78).

I would highly advise to not pitch at 86 degrees. Period.

HopZombie99 said:

Could the lag time be the result of the yeast wanting higher temps? I bought some today and the guy at my LHBS said to pitch at 30 (86). I thought that was really high, so I checked out the specs of the yeast online and it backed up what my guy was saying. Rehydrate at 30-35 (86-95). Temperature shock will occur for changes of >10, so I guess that means pitch the yeast in the 30 (86) range.

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I have to agree wholeheartedly with FATC1TY's post above...I would NOT take that to mean that you just pitch at 86*F, but rather that you need to attemperate the rehydrated yeast with colder wort over 5 min intervals, as also suggested in the data PDF from Danstar.

HopZombie99 said:

I am assuming that its OK that if that temp drops due to ambient being less than 30... I doubt the ambient temps would take it to less than 22 during high krausen. I've also read that the yeast stays clean at temps that you would normally think would be problematic... like 25 (78).

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Not only is it OK for ambient to be less than 86*F, but probably would be OK to be much lower...the data sheet suggests it can ferment at as low as 17*C/62*F; in fact, it says it can complete fermentation in as little as 4 days "above" that temp. Now, it also says it's a quick starter, which I suppose is relative, but it's not quick in my book. Regardless, once it does get started, it does indeed finish in about 4 days, even at pitching temps of 62*F, and ferm temps in the mid 60's.

I just kicked the keg I used this yeast on. It was a decent beer, despite the lag. Still, I won't use it again-- too many other yeasts I like more.

Am planning my first batch of a non-kit brew soon, picking my own grains and whatnot, deciding between BRY-97, Safale US-05 and Nottingham. (or should I just use one of the many Windsor packs I've got stockpiled....)

This has inspired me to name my two 1-gallon carboys Bob & Doug

I used this on a Golden Promise/ El Dorado SMaSH I did about a month ago. It took the 24 to 30 hour range to start going slowly, picked up speed around the 36 to 40 hour range. I pitched at 75 degree and fermented at 67 and ranged to 71. Primary for a week. Dry hopped in secondary for 2 weeks. Kegged and carbed at 12psi for 7 days. After the first couple of pints the beer cleared nicely. No off flavours from the yeast. Delicious beer.

Opiate42 said:

Am planning my first batch of a non-kit brew soon, picking my own grains and whatnot, deciding between BRY-97, Safale US-05 and Nottingham. (or should I just use one of the many Windsor packs I've got stockpiled....)

This has inspired me to name my two 1-gallon carboys Bob & Doug

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OMG I laughed so hard at this! You rock!!!


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I'm planning to try BRY-97 soon. So far, US-05 has been working great for me, if BRY-97 is similar but sediments better than that, I'll be more than happy to live with the lag time. I've tried Nottingham once (will try the second time again soon), the sedimentation is great but so far the taste hasn't convinced me yet.

I used this yeast in an American pale ale and it took 60 hours to get any activity.Once it started it really took off though. Not sure I'll use it again though. Don't really like the slow lag time.

I also just used this yeast on an American Ale. I pitched it (rehydrated) more than 2 days ago and STILL have seen no activity. Fermenter is sitting cozy around 68 degrees. Hoping to see something soon...

Just wanted to add to this thread. First time brewing with BRY-97. I had done a bit of research and knew about the lag, so wanted to validate that there is a bit more lag than my other standard dry's (nottingham, belle saison).

Brewed on Sat, rehydrated, pitched into 70F wort.
Fermentation chamber set at 64F since this is an IPA.
First airlock activity seen after work on Monday, so around 6pm, and krausen was about 1" deep.

Put that down at longer than 36hrs and probably shorter than 48hrs before ANY activity. (No airlock, no bubbles in carboy, no krausen, nuthin')

Edit - adding that this thing still bubbling away at 7 days. I am bumping it up a bit, but still easily an inch of krausen last night. So not finishing as fast as most posts suggest. (This is just a 6.5% IPA.)

Since I started this thread nearly 2.5 years ago, I've learned some interesting info.

Following my recent US-05 vs. BRY-97 xBmt, I was told by a person I trust that the latter is these strain as WLP051, which many refer to as the Anchor Liberty strain.

xBmt link: http://brulosophy.com/2015/06/01/safale-us-05-vs-danstar-bry-97-exbeeriment-results/

Even though no one's posted in this thread in almost a year, I just wanted to say thanks for the info on here. I was pretty close to pitching more yeast before learning that the 97 is a slow starter. Cheers guys.

HBT is a great resource.
Welcome aboard!

Old thread I know, I thought 97 was the strain from Ballantine. I'm using it in a split of my Am Brown. Not sure why I bought it, but it is getting used.