Made the belgian witbier all grain kit this past sunday. it smells awful fermenting in my chest freezer at 65F after 3 days. i haven’t had a beer smell like this but this is the first I have made using belgian yeast and these grains.
Its almost a rotten smell but not quite like rotten eggs… very odd.
Does this sound infected or bad or is this normal for this yeast/style? I used the Wyest Belgian Witbier Yeast 3944.
Don’t worry about it… that’s sulfur LEAVING your beer…
That’s just the yeast farting while doing it’s job. Your beer will be good!
It’s normal for that yeast. I use that for my Wit’s as well.
I will be brewing one in a month and will ferment at 65 F ( Will’s Swill ) as well. Usually, I brew the EXACT SAME beer only when it’s hot in July/ August. Free rise fermentation at 75 F ( Summer Swill ). 10 or so degrees makes a big difference.
TOTALLY different beer with the higher temps. Give it a try and see which beer you like better. 
Good Luck & Enjoy!
Generally my beers will gas out, but for wits and weizens I usually use a little nutrient blend since theres a lot of wheat and I don’t think it has quite the nitrogen that barley malt does.
Well now i feel much better! Sulfur is definately what it kind of smells like. Just never had such a raunchy fermentation.
wyeast yeast nutrients were added at 10 minutes in the boil so im good there.
Thanks sethhobrin and the rest of the thread responders for this info. I was about to panic! This is the 6th beer my buddy and I have brewed and we’ve NEVER smelled anything like this before. My music room (stays at 66°) absolutely stinks right now. This is Day-3 and I used the Fermentis Safbrew T-58 (optimum temp of 59°-75°). I’m really glad this is actually a normal reaction. I’m sure it’s gonna taste MUCH BETTER than it smells right now. I’m just dreading the day I transfer to the secondary and have to clean that fermenting carboy out. DOUBLE YUCK!!!
Welcome to the forum! I’m a big proponent of secondaries with two exceptions.
This you want hazy so no need to place in secondary to clear. Keep it in primary and once done package it up!
