Either Forbidden Fruit stinks or something died...

OMG. I can't even stay down in my basement with 8 gallons of Belgian Wit fermenting with Forbidden Fruit yeast ( Wyeast)! I'm fermenting 70-72F, the beer is hazy/milky. I hope it's supposed to smell like this. Smell some sulpher amongst other aromas. I hope it tastes better than it smells...
Has anyone used this yeast yet?

Lots of yeasts produce sulphur dioxide during fermentation. RDWAHHB

I used that yeast already and didn't have any of the issues you have. It fermented like a normal beer. I'd imagine your sanitation is not the culprit?

I don't think sanitation was a problem. Only thing I did different this batch was use a new 13.2 gallon keggle and false bottom. Used it for mash and boil. Had to mash into buckets then dump back into cleaned keggle. Fermentation began within 6 hours. Krausen is white with a bunch of brown chunks. Seems normal. Beer is quite milky/cloudy/murky. I assume that's normal for a Wit.

Hmmm. I just remembered I did screw up and added Gypsum (calcium sulfate) instead of calcium chloride. Had a brain fart. Added a 1/2 tsp to mash and another 1/2 tsp to the sparge. I just read where too many sulfates could cause these simptoms! I have added gypsum to other beers before without problems.

Houston....We have a problem

Uh oh. How does it look/taste? Is it smelling infected?

YooperBrew said:

Uh oh. How does it look/taste? Is it smelling infected?

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I don't have the courage to taste it yet. I will wait until it's done then give it a go. Hope I live to tell about it!

If we don't hear back, we know it was bad!

Poobah58 said:

Beer is quite milky/cloudy/murky. I assume that's normal for a Wit.

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I figured I'd at least set your mind at rest about this part - yes, that's normal, considering Witbier is supposed to have wheat and oats and other stuff in it that causes it to look cloudy.

Cheers,

Bob

fwiw.. I just did a Hoegaarden with Forbidden Fruit and it smelled pretty nasty.

i recently made an ipa with wlp051 california V ale it had some sulphur to it for the first two weeks of fermentation, but went away and smells like good beer now. let it age a bit

Just looked into my wit made w/ Forbidden Fruit to take a gravity reading, and it stunk like nobody's business. Luckily I remembered this thread! Thanks guys, or I'd be a nervous wreck.

Yeah, don't sweat it. My saison using WLP568 smells like a thousand elephant farts...but I'm not worried since this has happened in a few of my beers (including my wit).

I have to say that the applewein I made using Montrachet yeast was by far the worst smelling...

Benny Blanco said:

I have to say that the applewein I made using Montrachet yeast was by far the worst smelling...

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I have the same Apfelwein next to the Wit and it's smell was pleasant compared to the Forbidden. I'm working up the courage to give it a taste test this weekend...

I'm still alive! Gave it a taste test today and it appears to be OK. I knew it all along...

Good deal, you're a brave soul. If enough yeast is used in these fruit concoctions then nothing else has a chance to eat the sugars. I guess yeasts fart a lot when eating fruit.

Glad to hear it's alright. Next time you'll know...sulfur is normal with many strains. My Munich Helles just finished fermenting with the WLP868 Southern German Lager, and my fridge smelled like very rotten eggs the whole time. Just tasted the hydro sample, though, and it tastes great. Sulfur odor is a byproduct that is normal and nothing to worry about.

And somehow I doubt it was anywhere near as stank as my cider smelled...

UPDATE:
Well I kegged this last weekend after 3 weeks in primary. Carbed it up and gave it a taste test last night and I am impressed. Hard to believe a beer could taste good after smelling like that. The wife even likes it and she's a Corona Light drinker. Should be ready to go in about 3 weeks.

Every time I brew a wheat beer it smells like someone dumped a truckful of bad eggs into an open sewer. Always comes out delicious though!

Digging this thread up just to say that I'm fermenting my Belgian Pale right now with this and it smells gross. Not sulphury though, more like a rubbery smell. Not good, but I'm trying not to worry. When I cut the smack pack open it smelled awesome.

Re-awakening an old thread, but I was very glad to read this.

When my wife and I came home yesterday, she said "I thought that you took the garbage out this morning". Walked into the brew room and figured it out right away.

Looking forward to tasting it, though.