Danstar BRY-97?

[manticle]

Try a fast/forced ferment test. Meanwhile give the fermenter a gentle swirl and bump the temp up to 21 or so. There's a chance it's done - dme will finish higher but best to be sure.
Hydrometer reads 1.000 in tap water?

 

[Milk-lizard84]

That last message I typed had so many spelling mistakes. I did type it at 4:30 this morning though. Thanks for the advise manticle. The fg has been pretty steady over a few days so maybe it has finished. I'm assuming the fast/forced ferment test is done before adding yeast to the main batch?

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Oh and I haven't tested my hydrometer for awhile but I'm pretty sure it reads 1.000 in water.

 

[manticle]

You can do one now.
Can be done prior to see what fermentability the wort has but can also be done on fermenting wort/beer to see if it is stalled or finished.

You can also do it to see if the existing yeast is capable of getting it down further and if a new yeast would be capable of getting it further.

 

[Screwtop]

I have a new theory about why there are so many reported cases of extended lag times. Is it possible that it actually starts fermenting well before it forms a krausen? I came up with this idea because once it does form a krausen it seems to reach FG very quickly. So maybe half the work is done before the krausen? I never take gravity readings until I think it's about done, and my FV lid doesn't seal properly any more so the airlock doesn't bubble unless a batch is in full swing. So I can't tell if it's producing CO2 before the krausen forms.

Someone's on the ball.......... !

Screwy

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Cheers guys for the responses. I did try adding half a pack of s05 to see if that would bump.it down but no luck. Forgot to mention that earlier.

 

[manticle]

If you add dry yeast to a stuck ferment, make an active starter first.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

An update on BRY97 - which has reluctantly become my house APA/AIPA yeast. I say relunctantly, because I do favour US05, even with its little issue of never flocculating without assistance, because I perceive it as more neutral, better showcasing American hops.

However, with some water adjustments to my current IPA, the hoppiness factor from the fermenter is massive! So it might not be BRY97, after all. Taste tests to come/confirm.

I just reused some BRY97 by scraping the nice fresh krausen from the abovementioned IPA, and put it into a fermenter with some high gravity (1.08x) beer. It was off and running in under 24 hours (overnight, so not sure exactly when), with a nice thick krausen on the new beer.

So I'm assuming that slow lags have to do with non-rehydation, but not necessarily indicative of 'no' fermentation, but the visible krausen is usually not apparent within 24 hours unless I rehydrate/use active yeast.

 

[verysupple]

An update on BRY97 - which has reluctantly become my house APA/AIPA yeast. I say relunctantly, because I do favour US05, even with its little issue of never flocculating without assistance, because I perceive it as more neutral, better showcasing American hops.

However, with some water adjustments to my current IPA, the hoppiness factor from the fermenter is massive! So it might not be BRY97, after all. Taste tests to come/confirm.

I just reused some BRY97 by scraping the nice fresh krausen from the abovementioned IPA, and put it into a fermenter with some high gravity (1.08x) beer. It was off and running in under 24 hours (overnight, so not sure exactly when), with a nice thick krausen on the new beer.

So I'm assuming that slow lags have to do with non-rehydation, but not necessarily indicative of 'no' fermentation, but the visible krausen is usually not apparent within 24 hours unless I rehydrate/use active yeast.

Way back before I tried the yeast a few times I thought the same too - that the long lags people were experiencing were maybe from not rehydrating or pitching enough yeast. My own experience, which seems to be the same as many others, is that even if you do rehydrate and pitch a good amount it can still have a long lag. I think your high gravity batch took off quickly because the yeast was already metabolically active. That's the big difference I can see. So maybe Danstar's drying process is somehow different to other yeasts and it takes a while for BRY-97 to take up nutrients, get the matabolism going, and start replicating and fermenting.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Way back before I tried the yeast a few times I thought the same too - that the long lags people were experiencing were maybe from not rehydrating or pitching enough yeast. My own experience, which seems to be the same as many others, is that even if you do rehydrate and pitch a good amount it can still have a long lag. I think your high gravity batch took off quickly because the yeast was already metabolically active. That's the big difference I can see. So maybe Danstar's drying process is somehow different to other yeasts and it takes a while for BRY-97 to take up nutrients, get the matabolism going, and start replicating and fermenting.

You could be right. I reckon the nutrients are designed to be activated slower. I wonder if prolonged shelf life is the reason they do it that way.

I know why BRY-97 that I get less lag if I rehydrate. It's usually less than 24 hours as opposed to 24-48 hours on average if I don't rehydrate (I had it get close to 3 days once).

The big thing is that the active yeast wasn't a massive amount (I could only get so much off, and was concerned about leaving the active fermenter open for long), but enough to take from a 1.052 batch to a 1.08x (I can't remember), without much issue.

 

[DeGarre]

Slow starter indeed, dry-pitched 2 packets into 1074° wort with a larger than usual head space in the FV 15 hours ago. Nothing yet. I have it in the wet room in case it'll go mental later on.

 

[HBHB]

Had a call from the distributors of BRY-97 today and they have asked to hold all outgoing shipments of the current batches until further notice next week.

This has come about as a result of a number of enquiries about prolonged Lag times. The manufacturers are currently testing the relevant batch(s) and will let retailers know the outcome of tests as soon as possible. I understand they're looking into viability of the batches. No other known issues.

Martin

 

[DU99]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[verysupple]

The big thing is that the active yeast wasn't a massive amount (I could only get so much off, and was concerned about leaving the active fermenter open for long), but enough to take from a 1.052 batch to a 1.08x (I can't remember), without much issue.

Yeah, that's the good thing about top cropping, you don't need as much. I can't remember which brewer/yeast guru it was but the quote goes something like, "Are you sending in X billion tired old grannies, or X billion fit, strong soldiers?" I'd go with not so many healthy, strong, active yeast cells over lots of not so healthy and strong cells any day.

 

[Spiesy]

Yep. We've quarantined our stock until the batch we're holding is given the all clear.

Got to say, I'm impressed with the care taken by the distributor to ensure quality product.

 

[DeGarre]

Slow starter indeed, dry-pitched 2 packets into 1074° wort with a larger than usual head space in the FV 15 hours ago. Nothing yet. I have it in the wet room in case it'll go mental later on.

That same evening ie yesterday started thumping along, this morning going very steady but not too aggressively, krausen was there too. Moved to a cooler place now when something like this was avoided:

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I've had massive krausen monsters from this yeast, but always big lags, rehydrate or not. I've never re-used it.

 

[stakka82]

Does anyone else get an exceedingly sweet aroma with this yeast when fermenting APA type beers?

Quite a few times I have thought I've had a diacetyl problem with recent beers but on reflection they have all been fermented with bry and not us-05 (i use both depending on what i have in the fridge). Reading around a bit though and a few brewers report excessive crystal malt sweetness to the aroma on bry 97 fermented apa type beers. To be honest I am not totally confident on my fault picking and this could be it rather than diacetyl?

It's also like the aroma combines with the fruity hop aroma and is multiplied, it's not necessary unpleasant, just different and unintended.

 

[Yob]

Not noticed that stakka, lag, yes, slightly less so @1g/L bit my APA'S all finished dry, I tend to not use any crystals though so dunno if that helps at all or not

 

[DeGarre]

2x11g of this yeast brought my 1074° down to 1013° and 8% abv. Fermented quite cool. 19 or so. The krausen ring came off the FV with a limp wrist - no elbow grease needed.