Contamination!?

I propagated some yeast from a Chimay bottle the other day. This was my first time harvesting yeast from a commercial beer and also my first time working in any way with a Belgian yeast strain. The starter I created with it smelled great, funky and banana-like, so I brewed a small batch of a Tripel and pitched the starter. Now, after two days in the primary, they yeast is happily bubbling away but the smell coming out of the airlock is terrible. The banana is still there but is way overpowered by an extreme funky/sour smell. Did my batch get contaminated or is this how a Belgian yeast strain smells while it's working?

Some Belgian yeasts will give off a sulfur-ish smell, but I don't know about the Chimay yeast in particular.

This isn't a sulfur smell, it's more like spoiled milk. I'm pretty sure it's contaminated.

Let it ferment out, especially if you're unfamiliar with the yeast. Maybe that's just how it rolls but is still making great beer...

Don't worry about it until it is finished and you taste it. If it tastes like vomit then you have an infection.

I've brewed a lot of Belgians that smelled really sour for a while during fermentation. They always turned out fine in the end.

if it don't smell like ****e, it aint a belgian. don't worry, it'll be great.

dang, i added the "e" so it wouldn't censor me... let's try this:

if it don't smell like $hite, it aint a belgian. don't worry, it'll be great.

much better

bknifefight said:

If it tastes like vomit then you have an infection.

Click to expand...

I love that... It's like you wish you had some other way to know whether it was bad or not... I mean thats a hell of a flavor fault. One hell of a surprise...