IME, BRY-97 is more temperature-sensitive (with regards to cold fermentation) than other strains of Chico (and the like). While I have fermented Pacman as low as 52F once (56F on several occasions) and US-05, WLP001, and WY1056 have all given me good results in the 58F-60F range, BRY-97 hasn’t enjoyed temperatures below 64F for me. I still slightly prefer it over US-05 because it has been a little more flocculant for me and hasn’t ever given me the peachy “dry yeast” flavor, I consider it a much more delicate yeast than the other similar strains.
BRY 97 is not “Chico.” Chico is BRY 96. The major modern brewery using BRY 97 is Anchor. As I mentioned earlier, both strains came from Ballantine. BRY 96 is kind of unique in the world of domesticated brewing yeast because it is a diploid yeast strain. Most brewing yeast strains are polyploids.
Since reading your posts I’ve noticed there’s all kinds of misinformation on homebrewing forums on the identity of BRY-97. Most homebrewers on the web think its Chico or Pacman.
Anyway, it will be some other batch when I get to experience BRY-97 as I pitched Pacman after 94 hours of no fermentation. The 9 month old Pacman was slow to start in the 2L starter. I decanted the liquid portion of the starter into another vessel 48 hours after pitching 200mL of old slurry, (it was slow to wake up) leaving most of the settled stuff on the bottom. I crashed the decanted liquid and ended up with about 200mL of fresh yeast. I didn’t think it would be enough but it started fermenting the wort in less than 90 minutes. After 90 hours of no fermentation from the dry BRY-97 that was nice.
That’s been my experience as well. It starts very slowly for me, but I prefer the clean flavors over the other dry I used to use, S05. It flocculates better than S05 as well, and makes a clearer beer faster in my experience.
I don’t use it often, but when I have used it it’s done just fine for me.
Lallemand owns the Siebel Institute of Technology. If Lallemand wanted to release “Chico” in its native form, they would have just released BRY 96. Instead, they chose to offer the other Ballantine strain as their clean American strain.
About the only thing that BRY 97 and BRY 96 have in common is that both strains are relatively neutral. BRY 97 is malt forward and highly flocculent. Here’s a photo that I shot of BRY 97 flocs after racking:
I never mind the lag. As long as you pitch the right amount, go with it. Ballantine, wish I could have tried one.
Well after 90 hours I started to mind the lag. I’ll have to wait until next time and try the liquid version in a starter.
Wow 90, I have been at 48. I hardly ever use dry for this reason. Starters just make sense for me. Plus some strains are a PIA.
The irony is I was wanting to pitch Pacman from some 9 year old slurry but it didn’t take off so I went to the LHBS and got the dry BRY-97. Then the Pacman woke up a day after I pitched the two packs of dry yeast so a put it in the fridge not knowing I’d need it.
Seventy-two hours is about the longest lag period reported for this yeast strain until your experience. Fermentation usually starts within 48 hours when two packages are pitched.
I am dredging up an old thread due to another odd BRY-97 behavior. I expect the usual slow start …but usually once it takes off (it took 2 days) it’s a fairly vigorous ferment and fast ~4/5 day finisher in my experience. But I have a Pale Ale that’s been in the fermenter 11 days and the hydrometer is still floating high (~1.024-ish) …and still bubbling away in the blow off jar. 9 days fermenting. Odd.
That is odd. I would suspect something besides the BRY-97. Maybe your thermometer went bad and you didn’t mash at the right temperature? or somehow you have more unfermentable starches than expected.
- formerly alestateyall.
I went thru troubleshooting steps because I thought the same thing. However, it is still bubbling away indicating it’s still fermenting. If I had unfermentables it would be done I’d think. I’ll take another sample tonight or tomorrow and see if the gravity is still (slowly) dropping.
Bubbles mean CO2 release, which does not necessarily equate to fermentation
I agree. …that’s why I’ll continue to take hydrometer samples.
I’ve had a 24 hour startup time with that yeast at 66F but nothing like days. For other reasons, I’m quitting that yeast after three brews. Nothing crisp and won’t clarify after a month or more. The beers are cloyingly sticky tasting with an annoying aftertaste. I brewed a batch twice using BRY97 in one fermenter and SO5 in the other. No comparison. There are lots of good reviews for BRY97 but not from me. I do like Lallemand in general.
That’s an interesting experience. I think that US-05 adds a fruity ‘tone’ that I don’t get from BRY-9 which I find much ‘cleaner’. That’s ok in some beers I guess. I have had good clarity from both.
I just never experienced the LONG ferment like I am this time around. Those bubbles in the airlock are definitely fermentation bubbles.
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97 has freaked me out every time I’ve used it. (3) That was enough for me. Slow as heck to get going and wasn’t what I was looking for.
Well it finally finished at 1.010 ~77% attenuation Weds. I took my second reading today. Weirdest ferment I’ve seen to date.
The hydrometer sample taste like a typical Amer Pale Ale with Cascade. (I can’t eat grapefruit so this is my fix.) I’ll cold crash, fine, and carb it so it’ll be ready for the Homebrew Fest next weekend.
Before I brewed this batch of beer using BRY-97, I was researching on pitch rate and stuff and I stumbled upon this thread. Just wanted to give an extra data point about the yeast performance.
Some vitals:
OG: 1.058 (100% pils)
Size: 19L or 5gal
Pitch temp: ~13 C or ~56 F and free rise to 18 C or 65 F
Amount: 2 packs
I use an iSpindle to track the gravity and temp in Brewfather. I pitched the yeast on 13 May close to midnight. As you can see from the graph (blue line is gravity, teal line is temp), the lag time is ~12h, and is well chugging along after 24h.
So with 2 packs in 19L (5gal), the yeast seems to do well even with a cold pitch.
Hope this is helpful.