sulfur smell :(

[darkalex]

I am working with WLP029 Kolsch yeast (along with a vial of Lactobacillus delbrueckii) in my current batch, 1.030 berliner weiss. When I shake the fermenter, I am get a sulfur note in the aroma coming out of the airlock. I’ve been agitating the ferment daily and I keep getting that rotten egg smell. Now the ferment is pretty much complete. The temperature is at 69F, was for the duration of fermentation. Should I continue warm conditioning and agitating the fermenter? Will this go away?

Thanks,
Alex

[mabrungard]

That is a typical effect. The sulfur smell will go away with aging.

[dmtaylor]

Sulfur always disappears with age. Usually, it is gone in about 3 weeks. Rarely, it takes many months. But it always ages out.

[AdamWiz]

I have had a Berliner going for about 3 weeks now, and just in the last few days has the sulphur smell gone away. For the first couple weeks it smelled pretty bad. It is my understanding that this is common in Kolsch and some cream ale blends, as well as when using Lacto. I don't think it's anything to worry about.

[ajdelange]

I'll just point out that WLP029 is a particularly stinky strain. It will dissipate. If you can "scrub" the beer with CO2 i.e. put on excess CO2 pressure, let it dissolve, bleed the excess out of the head space and repeate. Or you can just wait.

[SacoDeToro]

WLP029 produces some sulfur during fermentation, typically when you run it on the colder side. This is why I always raise the temp of my hybrids and lagers to the mid 60s for a few days before step cooling things down to lager temps. In the case of your Berliner weisse, I would continue to hold it warm for a few extra days to out-gas excess sulfur. Once that's complete, step cool it and lager it for a week. That should clean things up just fine.

BTW, if you think WLP029 is stinky during primary, try WLP830