Brett B Fermentation smells

I have a strong, strong odor coming from my Dark Winter Saison...dual pitched a starter (or each) of wlp565 and wyeast 5112 (brett b).

24 hrs later, I have strong fermentation...and a strong smell. It is hard to explain...almost a chemical smell, initially, that can take your breath away...not quite plastic (as I've read that brett b gives off)...the smell finishes almost like the way the carbonation tastes in cola...weird, I know.

Anyone else experienced this?

You might be just getting a nose full of CO2 with all the other byproducts mixed in.

Bensiff said:

You might be just getting a nose full of CO2 with all the other byproducts mixed in.

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Kinda what I was thinking...figuring that CO2, in high doses, probably emits a chemical-like smell. This is the most vigorous fermentation I've seen, in the 30+ batches I've brewed...and it is beautiful.

It's not that the CO2 has a smell so much as it combines with the moisture in your nose to form carbonic acid.

-chuck

twigboy2000 said:

It's not that the CO2 has a smell so much as it combines with the moisture in your nose to form carbonic acid.

-chuck

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Thanks for putting into words what I could not. That is exactly what is happening...not so much a smell, as it is a feeling in my nose when I inhale.

Good stuff.

Yeah, if you ever get a solid hit of pure CO2 it burns like hell

krumb said:

I have a strong, strong odor coming from my Dark Winter Saison...dual pitched a starter (or each) of wlp565 and wyeast 5112 (brett b).

24 hrs later, I have strong fermentation...and a strong smell. It is hard to explain...almost a chemical smell, initially, that can take your breath away...not quite plastic (as I've read that brett b gives off)...the smell finishes almost like the way the carbonation tastes in cola...weird, I know.

Anyone else experienced this?

Click to expand...

To answer your initial question. YES! I have been experimenting with a few beers using brett B. I am getting this smell that is almost exactly like you describe. I want to call it plastic, but that is not quite accurate. Maybe somewhere more like a soft plastic (ziplock bags) and leather, maybe like pleather. It is very artificial smelling. It is a dull smell, not sharp or biting, but soft and dull. It's very hard to describe, but I think it's the same thing I am smelling. It is not a smell I enjoy in my beer, and I think i'm going to switch away from brett b, or at least the strains available commercially. I'll stick to using orval dregs for brett b.