I pitched a pack of Danstar Bry-97 into 5 gallons of Northern Brewer’s SMASH American Session Ale yesterday afternoon. It has now been about 30.5 hours and there is zero fermentation activity in the carboy. No bubbles in the airlock, no krausen, and no change in gravity. The fermentation temperature is right around 68 F.
I know it is possible that sometime over the next 48 hours, fermentation could still begin. But this is my sixth brew, and the only other time it has taken so long for fermentation to start was when I screwed up my second brew by improperly preparing some liquid yeast. But I have never had trouble with dry yeast, and dry yeast has certainly never taken this long to start. I usually use us-05 or s-04.
Assuming fermentation does not start within the next 2 days, what should I do? I have extra packets of US-05 that I can use if need be. If enough time has passed, should I just sprinkle a pack of that in there? Should I even bother rehydrating at this point? Would it be a problem mixing the types of yeast?
Also, the only source of error I can think of was my rehydration of the yeast. I let the yeast sit in the rehydrating water for longer than is advised I think, about an hour total. Could this really make a difference? I added the yeast to the water at around 105 F.
Again, I know I am getting ahead of myself. There is still a chance everything will turn out fine. But from experience, I also know there is a chance it will not, and I would like to be prepared this time if that is the case.
I’ve heard that the BRY-97 can be a slow starter. It’s a shame, too… It also gets a lot of good reviews, so apparently when it does work, it works well. I just bought some to use in my next batch so I’m hoping I didn’t make a bad choice. My personal rule of thumb is that if there’s no signs of fermentation in 36 hours, it’s time to add more yeast. So if you don’t see any activity by tomorrow morning, then it’s time to throw in some US-05, which you know will take off pretty fast. No need to rehydrate. I never rehydrate any of my dry yeast. Just throw it in there. The yeast can handle it just fine, contrary to what all the scientists will tell you.
Hopefully you will indeed see some beginnings of fermentation by the morning, and in that case, no more yeast is needed, just let 'er go. But yeah… keep that US-05 on standby, just in case.
Thanks for the advice dmtaylo2. That is exactly the kind of direction I was looking for.
You said you have yet to use BRY-97 personally, but any idea what could cause a stuck fermentation under these conditions? It was brand new yeast. Are occasional packs of yeast just straight up bad?
Danstar yeasts often suffer from quality issues. I have heard the same kinds of things about Nottingham and Windsor ale yeasts on numerous occasions. Perhaps they just don’t have positive control over environmental controls through the entire shipping journey to USA (made in Austria), and/or they don’t have the quality standards that Americans have come to expect. It’s unfortunate. If these things continue to happen, Danstar/Lallemand will lose “the dry-yeast wars” to superior companies such as Fermentis.
But I can tell you that when it does work, Nottingham ale yeast is pretty awesome. It’s just too unpredictable in quality for me to give it any strong recommendation anymore. I used to promote it wildly. Then I had a couple sluggish ferments with it. So not anymore. But when it does work, it works wonderfully. It’s a shame, really…
always have to check this: are completely sure your lid is sealed, and the airlock o-ring?
I have used BRY-97 for my last 3 hop-forward beers. First pitch (didn’t rehydrate), it is a bit slow to start. Its a good yeast, a bit fruitier than S-05/WLP001/WY1056. Honestly though, after this IIPA, I will probably hang it up. WLP001 or S-05 are more reliable, and less estery.
There was still no fermentation after 36 hours, so I went ahead and pitched a packet of US-05.
What effects, if any, might mixing yeast strains have on the taste of the brew? The last time I had stuck fermentation using liquid yeast I added some S-04 and the beer, which was an ESB, came out very harsh and soapy.
Could mixing yeasts or overpitching cause such off flavors?
Oh and thanks Pietro. From what you and dmtaylo2 have said, seems like sticking to fermentis strains from now on would be the safest thing to do. Having to give up experimenting with different strains and their contributions would be a shame, but not having to always worry about your yeast reliably getting the job done would probably be worth it to me.
Mixing yeasts will give you somewhat unpredictable results, but not bad results. Usually one or the other of the two strains will do the bulk of the fermentation. If you are very familiar with both strains, you can probably pick out which one did the most of the work. However the beer still should not turn out nasty or super strange just because you mixed strains. The exception would be if you waited too long to pitch healthy yeast AND had less than adequate sanitation practices, which gave some wild yeast or bacteria a chance to take off in the first couple days so that any additional yeast pitched was not able to overcome it. But as long as your sanitation practices are pretty good and you don’t wait too long, then either the first or second yeast strain that is pitched should take off running pretty quick at day 3 or 4. You just might not know which of the two, or will have to take a guess at the end based on flavor descriptions and attenuation, etc. In this case, if the beer turns out pretty clean and dry with ~80% attenuation, my guess would be that the US-05 took over. If it is a lot more fruity with lower attenuation in the low 70s, then the BRY-97 yeast did in fact eventually take off on day 2 or 3 and thus crowded out the US-05 that was pitched later on. Or I suppose it’s possible you could end up someplace in between, but my guess is that that does not usually happen – usually one strain will “win” and the other will “lose” the fermentation battle.
That’s a shame about the BRY97 yeast. I’ve used it many times before and am a fan of the results. As mentioned lag time is high, but that is usually only when pitching a dry pack. I’ve used this yeast up to 3 generations, but with the price of a buck more, I’d stick with 05.
I pitch all dry yeasts directly to a 65-68 deg wort, I don’t rehydrate any of them. They have all took off so maybe I’m just lucky. I like -05 for certain beers and 97 for others but both seem to do fine for me. Stick with what is working for you for now, but also keep an open mind. Also this forum is great for learning and good advise. Main thing “Hang in there”!
I brewed a bitter on wednesday using nottingham. I had signs of fermentation six hours after pitching it straight into the wort. This morning it was burping every 45 seconds or so and I’m thinking it’s almost done. I’ll take a gravity reading either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve never had a problem with nottingham; maybe I’m just lucky.
I brewed a bitter on wednesday using nottingham. I had signs of fermentation six hours after pitching it straight into the wort. This morning it was burping every 45 seconds or so and I’m thinking it’s almost done. I’ll take a gravity reading either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve never had a problem with nottingham; maybe I’m just lucky.[/quote]
Have only used it in 5-6 brews, but I’ve found it to be a rampaging beast of a yeast as well.
I brewed a bitter on wednesday using nottingham. I had signs of fermentation six hours after pitching it straight into the wort. This morning it was burping every 45 seconds or so and I’m thinking it’s almost done. I’ll take a gravity reading either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve never had a problem with nottingham; maybe I’m just lucky.[/quote]
Have only used it in 5-6 brews, but I’ve found it to be a rampaging beast of a yeast as well.[/quote]
Took a gravity reading on the 16th (a week after pitching the yeast) and it was down to 1.010 from 1.043.
Reviving a old thread: Yet another lagging fermentation with Danstar Bry97.
I brewed IPA Saturday, got the wort down to 80 degrees and rehydrated Bry97 1 cup 80 degree water. Airated the hell out of the wort by agitating bucket and pitched.
It Tuesday and this morning 60 hrs. later and I see no air lock activity. I did not do a intital Gravity reading but figured I was at around 1.060 and have never had a beer not launch quickly I usually use a 1L starter. This is the first time using this dry yeast.
The fermenter is in a 70 degree room. I have a thermometer in there and the temp has been very stable. I decided to wrap a towel around the pail to boost the temp a little.
The only sign anything was happening in air lock was a bit of vodka displacement in the S chamber. One side gravitated higher than the other.
60 hrs is my limit of patience :shock:
So this morning I took a peak in the airlock hole and saw no krausen. I got my hydrometer and took a reading, 1.060 This evening at 7pm will be a full 3 days since pitching.
I noted when I opened the ale pail fermenter that the wort smelled wonderful and yes fragrant beer hoppiness.
Small islands of what looks to be the beginnings of early krausen formation.
I am going to the LHBS today to pick up another 11gram dry BRY97 and pitch that this evening.
I suppose I have fallen victim to “Why is my beer not fermenting” bug.
One positive sign is the what I hope is early krausen formation.
If I repitch do you folks recommend I agitate/airate the wort again? Or just pitch as it is now?
If you see signs of active fermentation, I would not aerate again. Probably wouldn’t hurt, but also probably not necessary. You don’t even need to pitch any more yeast, probably, but again, it wouldn’t hurt.
The only active sign is small ( 30mm ) islands scattered across a sea of wort. I’d estimate maybe 15 of them.
The gravity reading I took this morning suggest it is very near it’s OG.
The smell, however, when I removed the air lock did have a “beer-ish aroma” .
I am going to leave it for another 24 hours before repitching. I hate taking gravity readings, in fact I hate opening the fermenter and risking a infection.
My last IPA that I used a 1L starter had bubbling at 6 hours, blew the air lock and was finished in 3 days.
Thanks for the reply. I will post results of this beer if it ever gets to be beer!
