Help on banana pineapple fruit juice smell

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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xxxx
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Help on banana pineapple fruit juice smell

Post by xxxx »

Hey everyone,

I've had a lot of trouble discerning the smell that is coming from my fermentation bucket, but i've finally decided that it smells very sweet, similar to a cheap banana pineapple fruit juice you can buy at the store. Im really not sure what that means.

I am making a pumpkin ale, and the only special ingredients are raw pumpkin (which were baked at 350 degrees for 50 mins), clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. I am also using White Labs California yeast. Pumpkin was steeped for 25 minutes at 150 degrees, and spices were added directly to the boil in the last 10 minutes.

I'm pretty careful when it comes to sanitizing, and was very careful to make sure the wort was covered during the cooling process, and transfered and sealed quickly to the fermentation bucket.

Overall, the fermentation seems to be going well, bubbling vigorously in the first three days, and now beginning to slow down. The only reason i have any questions is that my last batch of brew was a belgian white made with orange peels, and it had a very similar smell.. and it had a bacteria contamination and was ruined.

Has anyone had a similar experience with this type of smell? Does it mean i have some sort of contamination? Any help would be great!
BillyBock
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Too Warm?

Post by BillyBock »

You may have fermented too warm. What's the temperature of the room or of the wort during the ferment?
xxxx
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Post by xxxx »

Well, the yeast was added when the wort was approximately 80 degrees. It was a little higher than i would have liked.

However, the fermentation bucket was quickly moved down to the basement, and the temperature there has been between 64-69 degrees for the last fourish days.

I assume that the time the yeast actually spent at 80 degrees was no more that 2-3 hours, before the solution reached room temperature.
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jeff
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As long as it isn't egg smell!

Post by jeff »

Once i pitched at a high temperature and the yeast was pretty excited about it. Problem was that the yeast ended up with a bad case of gas and I had five gallons of undrinkable egg beer; pretty gross. Since then I never pitch over 80F.

I have noticed a fruity floral aroma coming through the airlock with many of my beers that does not seem to linger in the finished beer. I actually wish some of it would remain because it is rather pleasant, but my point is that the smell that comes from fermentation isn't necessarily a true indicator of the finished product.

My guess is that the smell you are experiencing is a combination of hops, CO2, and the other aromatic ingredients you included in your recipe. I wouldn't be alarmed, it will probably turn out great.
Jeff
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fruity yeast

Post by Dutchbrew »

Yea I've read that banana and fruity smells are just bi-products from certain european yeast strains. Best to smell like that than sweaty socks or anti-septic which would me its contaminated beer. I brewed my first weizen last week and had the same fruity smell. I was actually really relieved that it smelled so fruity when i opened the lid off the fermentor and saw it. i thought for sure it was contaminated since it looked way too dark with crusties floating on the top. Tasted right on par for what a weizen should taste like though.
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Dunkel wiess Beer smell

Post by Freon12 »

Dang!
I was hoping to keep my banana Hefe secret safe.
When I ferment Hefe yeast at warm temps. I get my famous Banana Wiess beer.



Steve
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