1st time brew and paranoia strikes...

Right... from all the home brewing artciles, tutorials and how-tos i have read there has been a supreme emphasis on sterylisation, yet I have also read that homebrew isn't as prone to infection as it's made out to be... anyway, me and a couple of friends fully disinfected all our equipment in a cholrine solution.

My wort has been brewing for 4 days now, and has begun to rapidly bubble and form a head, and started smelling really really bad. As a first time brewer, I have no idea wether this eggy smelly is completely normal or the cause of some basterical infection

My main concern is the small collections of brown stuff on top of the bubbles... is this a sign of infection?

Oooh and FYI im brewing a Coopers Bavarian Lager kit... could it be an effect of the type of yeast used?

Can someone pleeease put me at ease? Muchly appreciated

All normal. Sit back and have a beer. See you in 3-6 weeks. : )

DUDE! you're making beer. that is krausen - perfectly normal cap that thing and quit peeking

Yeah, totally normal. What you're smelling is a sulphur compound that lager yeast gives off. Once it has been in the bottle for a while it will have vanished.

Pheeeew thanks this is one hell of a learning experience, oooh i got a buzz ^^ thanks again!!

It's brown, foamy, scummy, slimmy stuff with chunks in it.

The professional term is Krausen. It's normal, as is the sulphur dioxide (rotten egg) smell of lager yeasts.

By the way, beer can get infected, so taking the lid off isn't a very good idea.

Once you have been brewing for a while you will come love the smell of rotton eggs and the exhaust from cars with no catalytic converter.
Sick? Yes it it. Will people think you are wierd? Yes they will. But above all, you will know how to make your own beer EXACTLY how you love to drink it.

Good luck with the hobby/addiction and get some help, God/Allah/Buddah knows, we all need it.

Oh yeah like the other guys said you have nothing to worry about. Remember the creddo, relax.

Looks great!


You're making lemon meringue beer right?


Hah!






But I jest...
:cross:

david_42 said:

It's brown, foamy, scummy, slimmy stuff with chunks in it.

The professional term is Krausen. It's normal, as is the sulphur dioxide (rotten egg) smell of lager yeasts.

By the way, beer can get infected, so taking the lid off isn't a very good idea.

Click to expand...

Actually, the rotten egg smell is caused by hydrogen sulphide (or sulfide for the spelling challenged), not sulphur dioxide.

You do not want sulphur dioxide in a fermenting wort as it will dissolve, producing sulphurous acid which will kill the yeast.

For information on hydrogen sulphide or H2S, do a Google search, but don't pay too much attention to the results, as the concentration will be extremely low.

-a.