Huntman Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 Hey guys, I got a Coopers DIY kit for Christmas and I am currently brewing my 3rd batch of Coopers Lager. The first 2 turned out great but I am on day 7 of the 3rd batch and noticed a very strong smell if I lift the lid to take whiff. I first noticed it 2 days ago. My previous 2 brews smelled great and got me very excited. This batch kind of burned the inside of my nose a bit and has me a bit worried. Visually it looks fine but the smell is quite sweet and strong and leaves a bit of a burn. Should I be worried?? I haven't tasted it yet. Going to wait until tomorrow morning and take a SG reading and have a sip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdevil Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 1 minute ago, Huntman said: Hey guys, I got a Coopers DIY kit for Christmas and I am currently brewing my 3rd batch of Coopers Lager. The first 2 turned out great but I am on day 7 of the 3rd batch and noticed a very strong smell if I lift the lid to take whiff. I first noticed it 2 days ago. My previous 2 brews smelled great and got me very excited. This batch kind of burned the inside of my nose a bit and has me a bit worried. Visually it looks fine but the smell is quite sweet and strong and leaves a bit of a burn. Should I be worried?? I haven't tasted it yet. Going to wait until tomorrow morning and take a SG reading and have a sip. you maybe smelling sulfur which is common in most lagers your wort will be fine i dar say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntman Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 Just now, ozdevil said: you maybe smelling sulfur which is common in most lagers your wort will be fine i dar say... Wow!! Thanks @ozdevil You might have set a new world record for fastest response. Would that have sort of a rotten egg smell if it was sulfur? If so, that's not what I'm smelling. Just concerned because the first 2 batches didn't have this strong odor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdevil Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 sulfur = rotton egg yes if the wort was infected i dont think it would be giving of a sweet odur at all I still think your wort will be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntman Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 Thanks for the boost in confidence. I will report back tomorrow with the real test......taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 14 minutes ago, Huntman said: Hey guys, I got a Coopers DIY kit for Christmas and I am currently brewing my 3rd batch of Coopers Lager. The first 2 turned out great but I am on day 7 of the 3rd batch and noticed a very strong smell if I lift the lid to take whiff. I first noticed it 2 days ago. My previous 2 brews smelled great and got me very excited. This batch kind of burned the inside of my nose a bit and has me a bit worried. Visually it looks fine but the smell is quite sweet and strong and leaves a bit of a burn. Should I be worried?? I haven't tasted it yet. Going to wait until tomorrow morning and take a SG reading and have a sip. Attached PDF may be helpful, Cheers. beer-brewing-diagnosis-of-off-flavours-and-smells.pdf 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdevil Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 3 minutes ago, CLASSIC said: Attached PDF may be helpful, Cheers. beer-brewing-diagnosis-of-off-flavours-and-smells.pdf 255.69 kB · 1 download Classic man great find that , that pdf will be a useful aide in my brewery Thanks for posting that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky Micky Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 6 minutes ago, CLASSIC said: Attached PDF may be helpful, Cheers. beer-brewing-diagnosis-of-off-flavours-and-smells.pdf 255.69 kB · 3 downloads Thanks Classic - great stuff mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntman Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 7 minutes ago, CLASSIC said: Attached PDF may be helpful, Cheers. beer-brewing-diagnosis-of-off-flavours-and-smells.pdf 255.69 kB · 2 downloads Great doc @CLASSIC. Saving that one to the archive for sure. All I can smell are the chicken wings I'm cooking now so I'll report back with smell and taste assessment later. I'll get my wife to weigh in as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 4 minutes ago, Huntman said: Great doc @CLASSIC. Saving that one to the archive for sure. All I can smell are the chicken wings I'm cooking now so I'll report back with smell and taste assessment later. I'll get my wife to weigh in as well. All good I looked it up years ago upon discovering different smells, just had it handy, Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Huntman said: if I lift the lid to take whiff Hey G'day @Huntman HMan... I have brewed quite a few All Grain Lagers with the good yeast W34/70 known as Dubbya 34 on this forum : ) and had nil sulphury smells at all... and then with a recent brew had it quite strong... it does seem the domain of the cool lager brew.... so if it is that - then you should be fine.... just do a temp raise to do a DiAcetyl Rest - like take it up from 14deg-->20degrees or so for a few days... before bringing back down. Hmmm guess depends on what your current temp is too? @MitchBastard Mitch you get a few lagery-sulphur smells when doing your cold temp lager brews do you not? And just a quiet tip @Huntman - no big deal - but I would quietly encourage you not to take the lid off your fermenter during the fermentation process. When I do my brews in the Coopers FV (Fermentation Vessel) once the lid is on - it stays on - until the beer is drained - unless late hopping and then I don sterile gloves and clean long sleeve shirt etc.. So keep lid on why - Two big issues: 1. Danger of Infection with wild yeast... off your face/nose/off your hands/arms/sleeves/in the air... from wherever... lid on - nothing can get in there. 2. Disturbing the CO2 blanket that exists generated by the fermenting brew - that lies over the top of the beer... best leave that be. And yeah the Chicken Wings sound v nice haha! Cheers mate and welcome aboard Edited March 19, 2021 by Graubart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntman Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 (edited) Thanks for the comments @Graubart. I am googling "DiAcetyl Rest". I am brewing at a pretty consistent 20 deg C. I appreciate your comments about keeping the lid on. For the most part, I am, and only just lifted the lid a couple times to get a whiff because I was concerned about the colour and cloudiness of the brew. Not really completely taking it off, just lifting one side of the lid. Colour and cloudiness have come down quite a bit in the past couple days but I'll certainly take your advice and keep the lid on at all times. Interesting about the CO2 blanket and wild yeast risk. Thanks again. Edited March 19, 2021 by Huntman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Cheers HMan @Huntman all good - sounds like you are minimising incoming inoculum which is good keeping lid on as much as possible. Are you using the Cooper Lager tin Yeast? That is an Ale Yeast I thought... @Shamus O'Sean Shamus is that right? If an Ale Yeast there is less to no need for the Di-Ac rest - but if it was chortling out the Sulphur Fumes maybe a raise of a couple of degrees - then a slow ramp down if you have temp control is always good but again relevant to Lager Bottom Fermenting Yeasts... Di-Ac rest is more often if fermenting like 10-14 and then you raise say 6 degrees or so to warm up brew and get the yeast to chomp through any possibly Diacetyl type byproducts and turn them into the beer we want. Anyway cobber - one step at a time - you are brewing and that is a beautiful thing! You may not need all the carp I am blithering about above mate and probs not relevant (yet haha) if not doing temp control ; ) And you can brew good beer the way you are doing it and sounds like you have done ok with first cuppla brews anyway hey? So with my cobbers up above I too am hoping that this brew is ok... As an aside - have you tried any Coopers Ales - they seem to be a bit simpler and more straightforward at temps like 20 degC... Plus @Shamus O'Sean Shamus kindly curates a Spreadsheet (microsoft XL) of a vast number of brew ideas with Coopers Kits... SOS you might point the right direction? Also HMan our fellow brewer @pilotsh Pilot has a nice blog/thread with brewing notes from when started and with developments and questions etc that might be of interest.. @pilotsh Pilot can you point the way for Hman please mate if you don't mind? I would suggest too that if you use one of the Coopers Kits - say a Coopers Real Ale Kit - paired with a can of liquid malt e.g. light malt see below... plus a kilo (box from shop) of BE3 (as well as the liquid malt not instead of)... you will end up with a luverly beer Cheers and Good Brewing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Well said Herr Grauberst ! guter Rat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 6 hours ago, Huntman said: This batch kind of burned the inside of my nose a bit and has me a bit worried. Carbon Dioxide 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchBastard Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 @Huntman I wouldn’t be overly concerned about getting a sulphur odor during ferment. Yeast will naturally produce hydrogen sulphide during this time. I often open the ferment chamber on day 3 or 4 and cop a face full of fart gas. I take it as a good sign the ferment is happening as it should. As @Graubart mentioned, The D rest will help clean up most un wanted flavours produced by yeast and I’d argue that warm maturation is one of the most crucial steps in any fermentation, be it ale or lager. sulphur in finished beer, that’s a different story. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntman Posted March 21, 2021 Author Share Posted March 21, 2021 UPDATE - I just tasted the brew and...........................It's delicious!!!! Thanks everyone for all the valuable information and prompt replies. What a great community. Cheers!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdevil Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Huntman said: UPDATE - I just tasted the brew and...........................It's delicious!!!! Thanks everyone for all the valuable information and prompt replies. What a great community. Cheers!! great news , enjoy your brew mate when its ready 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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