Hefe Scent

Just took a gander and smell of the airlock from the yeast starter for my Hefe I made yesterday. The smell coming out of the airlock was different from what I expected. There was definitely a banana hint (I know banana esters are part of hefe's), but there was also another scent I can't put my finger on. It almost smells like sulphur, but it's very very light...can't tell if it's the plastic I'm smelling or what. I used White Labs Hefe IV strain. Is anybody really well acquainted with it? Didn't smell like my ale starters. Am I in trouble?

Thanks.

BREW ON

Phenols? smell spicy like clove? Thats supposed to be one of the characteristic of that yeast.

Could be. Maybe I'm over reacting. I brewed a belgian wit once, but never a hefe...If you've seen any of my other posts, I'm brewing for my wedding. This starter is for one of the brews...I don't want it to turn out bad!

what is the temp that your starter is at? Some yeast start producing sulphur compunds at higher temps.

Kai

The starter is at room temp in the low 70's. According to the strain profile, that toward the upper end of it's range. Like I said, I could be over reacting. The smell is really light (as is the banana scent). If it is producing sulphur compounds, though, will that affect the fermentation of the wort when I go to pitch it?

You are smelling sulphur. It'll go away.

Yeah i'm sure I remember reading that the Hefe IV yeast produces sulphur. This will disappear in the bottle.

In the last few months I made 3 hefs and a belgian singular. The hefs all smells sulphury for the first week or so, but quickly went away. The belgian, however, stunk like hell for the whole time it was fermenting. After 1.5 weeks in primary and 1.5 months in secondary, it still smelled sulphury when I bottled it. But now... it's not sulphury at all. That same aroma seems to have morphed into a sweet fruity one. The ale is great. So, to make a long story...end...I'll say, don't worry! It'll be great by the time the wedding comes around.

I used the same yeast in my Hefe and it smelled the same exact way. The banana was a bit overbearing in the smell, but after bottle conditioning it for a while, it's almost not even noticeable. I was worried during fermentation because I picked HefeIV because it claimed less banana than regular Hefe.

I do find that I enjoy drinking my Hefe more with the yeast disturbed rather than a clean pour. It gives it more character.

Your experience is very consistent with the wheat-based beers my friends have brewed while I was around. It is quite disgusting at its peak IMHO. But it does go away after a while. If I were you, I'd leave it in secondary for at least a month to let the sulphurous smells go away... but I'm hardly an expert.

It's the exact same yeast I used in my latest hefe. See my sig for comments.

It'll be fine, though.

if it sits in the 2ndary too long all that nice yeast will settle out. Wheats are traditionally cloudy because there is a tremendous amount of flavor in the yeast. I rack mine to a secondary for 3-5 days just to let the big stuff calm down then I bottle it as fast as I can