Keano Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Hi Guys, I'm having a recurring problems with rotten egg smells with my brews. It occurs most often with my Pale or Sparkling brews, nothing fancy just the standard recipes. I know this is not uncommon particularly with lager yeasts and generally dissipates with time in the bottle. However it has now happened on my last 5 brews and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. For my last brew I used US-05 just to check it wasn't the yeast, but it had a strong sulphur smell again after 4-5 days in the fermenter. Same happened with Cerveza before that. I read somewhere that stressed yeast sometimes causes the sulphur smells, could this be it or does anyone have any other suggestions to avoid in the future?? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Keano, this is taken from "How to Brew" by John Palmer. Symptom: It smells like rotten eggs. Cause 1: Yeast Strain Rotten egg odors (hydrogen sulfide) can have two common causes: the yeast strain and bacteria. Many lager yeast strains produce noticeable amounts of hydrogen sulfide during fermentation. The smell and any sulfur taste will dissipate during lagering. Cure: Let the beer condition or lager for a few weeks after primary fermentation. Cause 2: Bacteria Bacterial infections can also produce sulfury odors and if you are not brewing a lager beer, then this is a good sign that you have an infection. Cure: Let the fermentation complete and then taste it before bottling to see if it is infected. Toss it if it is. The most important thing is how it tastes. Do your beers taste OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 Thanks Hairy, yeah the beer tastes ok and I've had a couple in the past that turned out fine after some time in the bottle despite sulphury smells. But seeing as though I only do ales and its becoming more frequent i was wondering if there was any way to avoid. I am very thorough with cleaning so don't think it could be a sanitation issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Sorry Keano, I can't offer much more to help. If your sanitation is good, temperatures are right, using healthy yeast at a sufficient pitching rate, then I'm not sure what it could be. What is your usual OG of your beers and how much yeast do you pitch? Something in the water perhaps? Do you use town water, tank water, bottled water or other? Someone on here more knowledgable than I (which is pretty much everyone) might be able to enlighten us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 Thanks again Hairy My OG is generally between 1035-1055 and I either use the kit yeast or a single pack of US-05 or similar. Temps have been fine, generally pitching around 21 degrees and ferment temp pretty constant in high teens. I generally use a mixture of spring water and tap water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Hi Guys, I'm thinking it could be in the water, too. Water is one of four basic ingredients of beer.[rightful] I would bet that every brewer on this forum has his/her unique beer because of there local water source. I use town water which is from an aquafer and has no additives. It has a high mineral content. Each bottle has a little bit of the Canadian Rockies.[cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 An experiment might be on the cards. For your next brew, try buying some big bottles of water from the supermarket (that you haven't used before) and see if it makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoptimus Maximus Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Keano, this is taken from "How to Brew" by John Palmer. Symptom: It smells like rotten eggs. Cause 2: Bacteria Bacterial infections can also produce sulfury odors and if you are not brewing a lager beer, then this is a good sign that you have an infection. Cure: Let the fermentation complete and then taste it before bottling to see if it is infected. Toss it if it is. The most important thing is how it tastes. Do your beers taste OK? Did you use the same FV for all the brews with a problem? Sounds drastic but perhaps it has scratching and is harboring bacteria. Decades ago when starting out I unknowingly used to vigoursly scrub the FV with JIF to get it clean until I learned even small scratches can harbour persistent bacteria. Perhaps try a new FV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 What temperatures are you brewing at? I reckon I'm with John on this one. You may need to try a new fermenter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Temps have been fine' date=' generally pitching around 21 degrees and ferment temp pretty constant in high teens.[/quote'] Temps seem OK so this wouldn't be the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNZ Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 What are you using to sanitize your equipment? if you are using a sodium metabisulphite based product, try rinsing your FV before adding your brew, or switching to a "no-rinse" sanitizer. Sodium metabisulphite can produce a rotten egg (sulphur) smell in your brew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 What are you using to sanitize your equipment? if you are using a sodium metabisulphite based product' date=' try rinsing your FV before adding your brew, or switching to a "no-rinse" sanitizer. Sodium metabisulphite can produce a rotten egg (sulphur) smell in your brew.[/quote'] Also Sodium Met doesn't eliminate all the nasties. Suggestion to get rid of it (they should never market it for homebrewing imo) and use a cheap brand of Nappisan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 BNZ, thanks for contributing to the forum. You almost snuck by unnoticed. Welcome aboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasond4 Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 You said you have had this problem with your pale and your cerveza,the yeast supplied with these kits has a hybrid strain of both ale and lager yeasts. (Int.is the code on the back of the pack. Just look in the pack and you can see the little pale ones are the lager yeasts and the bigger darker ones the ale strain. So I'm guessing your temperatures have been a little cool for the ale strain and the lager strain has taken off, hence the rotten egg smell. Either way don't worry if it tastes OK a bottling time and there is no white film on top of your brew then all should be well. As for the sparkling ale....the others have spoken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Although you said you were getting the same sulphur smell using US-05. So I'm thinking it must be something other than the yeast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 Thanks for all the replies guys. I think it sounds like water could be the culprit, i tend to switch between bottled mineral water, tap water or a combination of both. Might try some cooled boiled water next. In answer to the other questions: FV - I alternate between 2 FV's and it happens in both so don't think its a scratched issue Temps - Have been pretty good, around 19-20 deg most of the time and pretty stable. Dropped a little lower in winter (around16 deg) which could explain it but happens with both kit yeast or pure ale yeast Sanitizer - I use a no-rinse powder sanitizer, i think it has sodium percarcbonate in it but not sodium met? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoptimus Maximus Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Thanks for all the replies guys. I think it sounds like water could be the culprit, i tend to switch between bottled mineral water, tap water or a combination of both. Might try some cooled boiled water next. Try some Brewery water from the dispenser at the West End Brewery. Beautiful water and it is the same water the brewery uses. We only use that water for everything in the kitchen and brewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien E1 Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Thanks for all the replies guys. I think it sounds like water could be the culprit, i tend to switch between bottled mineral water, tap water or a combination of both. Might try some cooled boiled water next. Try some Brewery water from the dispenser at the West End Brewery. Beautiful water and it is the same water the brewery uses. We only use that water for everything in the kitchen and brewing. Beautiful water in Adelaide? Surely you jest![devil] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoptimus Maximus Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Beautiful water in Adelaide? Surely you jest![devil] Damien, I am not talking about the mains water which I agree is an acquired taste that I have not acquired. The brewery water is one of the best waters I have tasted anywhere - Prefer it to any of the spring waters sold in Adelaide. It is pumped from an aquifer several hundred meters below the West End brewery site and sold through a charity fountain dispenser on site. It was one of the reasons that they originally sited the brewery at Thebarton. Makes top beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I've used mains water for my brewing when living in Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart. Excellent beer was made at all 3 locations.[cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I've used mains water for my brewing when living in Adelaide' date=' Melbourne and Hobart. Excellent beer was made at all 3 locations.[cool'] Yep - Hobart.... sweet nectar from the gods [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Sydney water makes pretty good beer too. I'm not really a big fan of Sydney but the water is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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