Question for anyone who's used WLP 400

[bgough]

...the belgian wit yeast.

I poured off the top of my starter to test it for off taste and smells.

Personally, I thought the yeast smelled pretty funky when I pitched it to my starter, but the starter wort smells just as intense as the yeast vial did.

Anyway, the smell is pretty sour and unpleasant. I used Extra light DME in the starter instead of wheat DME and I know that the yeast is way more concentrated in the starter than it will be in 5 gallons, but should it really smell this funky???

 

[bgough]

grow up, we dont need this kind of juvenile behavior here

What???????

 

[bgough]

all the pictures you are posting, I dont want that crap on my computer

Look buddy, I dont know what the hell your talking about. Im just looking for an answer to my question.

 

[snailsongs]

bgough, stop it right now, or I am reporting you to the mods

This guy thinks he's pretty funny. him and maybe some of his friends (or maybe just him and a few different names) have been f'ing around all over this forum, posting dirty pics and hassling people.....he'll be booted out soon enough, don't worry.

to answer your question, that yeast does smell funky, and it will likely smell much funkier after it ferments 5 gallons of wort...I wanted to toss my wit afterwards, but it became good beer. It'll be ok,....I'dsay don't bother smelling it until it's been in the bottle for a couple few weeks...longer if your brewing a high gravity wit like mine was.....

 

[Nugent]

Just ignore this boxcar s***head. He's spamming the whole site.

 

[Pharmguy]

Crazy _hit going on in here today. I thought this whole thread was a joke at first. Anyway, I used the WLP400 and had the same issue. Smell was nasty. Hell, first couple weeks in the bottle it was like an alcoholic bannana let lose in the wort. Turned out to be really good.

 

[jkarp]

Oooh yeah. WLP400 is a nasty beast. GOD BLESS IT! There's nothing better for brewing Wits, trust me. Just keep the fermenter out of nose range.

 

[beerthirty]

Absolutely the stinkiest smell to ever come out of a fermenter. It tends to carry the taste in the beer until it has dropped. Not to worry WLP400 makes very good beer, just let it drop out before tasting again. I will be using this yeast again even though it smells so bad.

 

[Thumper]

Oooh yeah. WLP400 is a nasty beast. GOD BLESS IT! There's nothing better for brewing Wits, trust me. Just keep the fermenter out of nose range.

+ 1 on the above. Stinks, but is a great wit yeast.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Agree with everyone. I actually have a wit fermenting now with WLP400 next to me this instant. The starter smelt really really bad. But I've used this yeast before and it tastes much better than it smells.

 

[HOP-HEAD]

I had a similar issue with the WB-06... smelled absolutely terrible in my last hefe. Though I know wheats are generally safe to drink young, I wasn't satisfied with mine until it was in the bottle a good 8 weeks... but she's friggin' tasty as hell now... at about 10 weeks.

 

[bmckee56]

I have made two brews (Belgian Wit) using the WLP-400 and both were kegged, but turned out fantastic. Smell was similar to what others are reporting, but the end result is all that matters.

Good luck.

Salute!

 

[snailsongs]

I had a similar issue with the WB-06... smelled absolutely terrible in my last hefe. Though I know wheats are generally safe to drink young, I wasn't satisfied with mine until it was in the bottle a good 8 weeks... but she's friggin' tasty as hell now... at about 10 weeks.

This is my experience, too. The two wheats beers I have made so far have taken several (6-8) weeks of conditioning to mature to where I'd call them good beer.

 

[alpo]

I find that the German wheats tend to mature sooner than the Belgian ones. Maybe it's just me, I dunno.

 

[jkarp]

Wow, talk about different tastes. I wouldn't even bother drinking an 8 week old wheat beer. I can tell the flavor fading after 4 weeks easy; particularly with Belgian wits. I strive to get 'em from grain to my belly in under two weeks, tops.

 

[snailsongs]

Wow, talk about different tastes. I wouldn't even bother drinking an 8 week old wheat beer. I can tell the flavor fading after 4 weeks easy; particularly with Belgian wits. I strive to get 'em from grain to my belly in under two weeks, tops.

I was experimenting with stovetop all grain stuff, and using JZ's wit recipe and I overshot my OG by like .020 points to 1.071.....I think this is largely why it took so long to taste like a reasonable representation of a Wit, and fo the baby-vomit smell/taste to fade to a pleasant level.....this beer was also underattenuated and overly sweet....next time I will make sure it is more toned down and closer to proper style......I just want to help the OP understand that the nasty smell is par for the course with this yeast.