I love the smell of a freshly-cleaned primary fermenter.
But not just any primary fermenter that's been rinsed and then shown the PBW (I may be deviant, but I still have standards): it depends greatly on what just got cleaned out. A hoppy American ale fermented with 1056? Heaven. A dark lager brewed with WLP833? Seductive. British strains? Meh. Non-Brett Belgians? Not so much.
That scent ... it's beery but clean, with suggestions of a cold oven after the bread is baked, hops and CO2 echoing in the nasal cavity. Sometimes on a brewery tour I'll catch a whiff of it near the conicals or the bright tank and wander off ...
Am I on my own here? Anybody else? Stand up, we're among friends. There's no shame.
And I know a whole lot of you sniff airlocks.
I just cleaned a primary carboy yesterday after two weeks of fermenting a hoppy IPA. I think i understand what you are talking about. That smell that fills the room when you empty the PBS solution from the carboy and right before you rinse it. Yes, I doo understand, my fellow beer geek.
ReplyDeleteI picked a bad week to quit sniffing airlocks...
ReplyDeleteI have a batch of Waldo Lake Amber going in my fermentation chamber (an old chest freezer). That thing gets so full of by-product CO2! Last night I stuck my head in at high krausen and took in a few lungfuls. Glorious.
ReplyDeleteI did sniff the hell out of a giant trash can full of Surly Furious blowoff during a tour...I was in heaven.
ReplyDeleteAirlock sniffer; guilty as charged, and I also like to sniff a clean fermenter. You are not alone.
The three hearted airlock is by far the greatest smelling airlock ever to pass by this set of nostrils.
ReplyDeleteHoo-ah!
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of a beer-soaked yeast cake after transferring from a primary.
That smell is permanently etched into my bottling / primary ferment buckets.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly sniff my fermenters!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I have no fermenters to sniff right now, but that's gonna change this weekend! Can't wait to sniff my SMaSH IPA of Golden Promise, Centennials fermenting with WL001. Gonna smell phenomenal!
I'm an airlock sniffer.
ReplyDeleteI love the fresh smell of fermentation when you first open your fridge that has been closed for a whole week...
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jacob, and I sniff airlocks.
ReplyDeleteMy Dog Loves the Smell of my Carboys full or empty...
ReplyDeleteI ferment my Wits completely open in 6 gallon buckets. Right at the peak of fermentation is a perfect blend of fresh orange zest and banana esters. It is my favorite brewing odor.
ReplyDeleteComing in at a close second is Allagash's barrel room: huge odors of Jim Beam bourbon, oak, vanilla, and hints of whatever beers that are in the barrels. If they can find a way to bottle that aroma into an air freshener or cologne, I will buy a case!
I'm not alone....
ReplyDeleteThe White Labs English Cider yeast throws so much sulfur, it made the room with the fermenter smell like apple-scented farts for two solid weeks. Great cider, though.
ReplyDeleteI don't generaly sniff airlocks, but when I do I prefer IPA's. Keep brewing my friends!
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of fresh fermentation in the morning. It smells like........beer.
ReplyDeleteSmoked brown Ale is one of my favorites
ReplyDelete