Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:57 am
by ultravista
I brewed a clone of Dog Fish Head's Raison D'etre. A simple malt bill with 8 ounces of raisins, fermented with WLP530. The beer fermented at 70-72F, then dropped to 42F to clear and prepare for kegging. It sat at 72f for about a week and at 42f for three weeks.
Although I cannot get taste any off-flavors, I get a sulfur smell off this month old beer. The beer tastes great but that smell right-off the pour is concerning. It seems to dissipate quick when poured.
Any ideas what may have caused this and is there anything I can do?
Re: Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 9:37 am
by PorkSlapper
With a lager that mostly goes away with time. give it some more time. One of the Veterans will give you better advice, I'm just here for dick jokes and
-Pork
Re: Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 10:54 am
by Afterlab
Did you do any water adjustments? Did you possibly add a lot of Gypsum (CaSO4)?
What type of hops did you use and were they pellets or leaf hops?
Did you use any sort of different cleaning and sanitizing regiment than you normally use?
Is the beer still fairly yeasty?
Re: Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:45 pm
by Stinkfist
So you only fermented this beer for a week? Not sure your OG but not many styles are ready after a week..
Re: Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:52 pm
by ultravista
No, I fermented at 72F for a week then began dropping the temperature gradually to 42 F. It sat on the yeast cake for 3 weeks after 'primary' fermentation ceased.
Re: Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 8:36 pm
by Stinkfist
ultravista wrote:No, I fermented at 72F for a week then began dropping the temperature gradually to 42 F. It sat on the yeast cake for 3 weeks after 'primary' fermentation ceased.
once you start dropping the temperature...the yeast will start to drop out...so you essentially fermented for a week...usually you want to start at a lower temp and start to increase the temp to get the yeast to finish out and clean up any issues...like sulfur...once it has completely finished you can drop the temp...
Re: Sulfur Smell from 1 Month Old Beer
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 4:37 am
by brewinhard
Agreed. A one week ferment for even some lower gravity beers is still too short. This does not provide ample time for the sulfur to blow off during fermentation or to be absorbed by the yeast. A minimum of two weeks is a better bet and even longer for stronger beers like your dogfish clone.
Many raisins are also dried with sulfur dioxide which could lead to an increase in the sulfur notes you are experiencing as well. All the more reason to let the beer ferment longer before dropping the temps.