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I started culturing yeast from a La Fin Du Monde bottle about 3 days ago. I have since stepped it up to a 2L container about half full of wort. I have been very careful about sanitizing everything and the yeast are growing like crazy. Right now there is a fair amount of sediment at the bottom and always a bunch of krausen along the top of the wort.

My question is about the smell. I have read that a foul smell is bad, and it doesn't smell foul, but it does smell like a glass of La Fin Du Monde that has been mixed with some cider... definitely a far more cidery smell than that of a bottle conditioned beer.

Is this an "off" smell for culturing yeast, or is this on par? I have never done this before, so I just want to make sure that a slight to medium cidery smell was not an indication of a contaminated culture.

The wort mixture I am using is 1/2 cup Extra-light DME, to 1 quart of water, boiled for about 5 minutes.

Thanks!

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    Just a suggestion, you should probably state your question closer to "Is a cider like smell a bad sign in a yeast culture?", your title doesn't indicate what you're asking. Please do update with results, as I'm curious.
    – Mlusby
    Mar 9, 2011 at 14:07
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    I pitched a 2L starter into my primary last night on my first batch ever! The krausen was so big it popped my top off, so I quickly re-sterilized put it back on, and developed a blow off valve system similar to what I have seen on some carboys. Let's hope it turns out okay, I will fill you in on if the beer comes close to La Fin Du Monde's flavor.
    – Carson
    Mar 10, 2011 at 4:37
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    Is it bottled yet? If so, how did it turn out?
    – Jeff Roe
    Apr 7, 2011 at 16:00
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    I bottled last week (April 12th). I will let you guys know how it turns out in a couple more weeks!
    – Carson
    Apr 19, 2011 at 13:45
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    Yo Carson let us know how it went!!
    – colin.t.welch
    Jul 9, 2011 at 4:47

2 Answers 2

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I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but as far as I know, Unibruoe filters out their primary yeast strain and uses a separate one for bottle conditioning. So even if you did have some non-contaminated yeast, it's most likely not the stuff you are looking for.

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sorry I have been MIA.

The beer turned out great - it had an extremely similar flavor profile to La Fin Du Monde, and since I used corriander and sweet orange peel, tasted similar to a La Fin Du Monde mixed with an Allagash white in my opinion.

So, the smell given off when I was culturing must have just been a normal smell given off by the yeast.

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