Sulfur Smell, HS2 Problem?

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trumpetbeard

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Hi All,

I've been brewing beer for awhile and last weekend I decided to try brewing my first mead. Fermentation took off like crazy, but this morning I woke up to a truly putrid rotten egg smell coming out of the carboy.

I thought it might be "rhino farts" like one expects from some lager yeasts, but after doing some research I fear I may have the dreaded HS2.

I've already "splash racked" the mead 5-6 times, and after an hour the stink is back. What are my options at this point to salvage the mead? I've read that adding yeast nutrient may help (gravity this afternoon was down to 1.070 from 1.100 this afternoon), but between work and school a trip to the LHBS during the week is not possible. Could I wait until the weekend, recheck gravity and add nutrient accordingly? Is this something that will fade with time or will it only get worse?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Recipe, if it helps:

8 pounds clover honey
2 liters white wine concentrate
2 packets Red Start Pasteur Champagne

OG ~1.100-1.110 (sample was poorly mixed)
 
trumpetbeard said:
Hi All,

I've been brewing beer for awhile and last weekend I decided to try brewing my first mead. Fermentation took off like crazy, but this morning I woke up to a truly putrid rotten egg smell coming out of the carboy.

I thought it might be "rhino farts" like one expects from some lager yeasts, but after doing some research I fear I may have the dreaded HS2.

I've already "splash racked" the mead 5-6 times, and after an hour the stink is back. What are my options at this point to salvage the mead? I've read that adding yeast nutrient may help (gravity this afternoon was down to 1.070 from 1.100 this afternoon), but between work and school a trip to the LHBS during the week is not possible. Could I wait until the weekend, recheck gravity and add nutrient accordingly? Is this something that will fade with time or will it only get worse?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Recipe, if it helps:

8 pounds clover honey
2 liters white wine concentrate
2 packets Red Start Pasteur Champagne

OG ~1.100-1.110 (sample was poorly mixed)
Click to expand...
H2S is a classic sign of stressed yeast, some yeasts are worse at producing it/more nutrient hungry than others. I can't say about RSPC, I've only used them (red star yeasts) a couple of times and I'm not a big fan as there's not a great deal of data about them (which I way I go with Lalvin yeasts).

I suggest that you get some sort of nutrients in there, if you've got beer nutrients of some sort they're likely to be better then nothing. Though FermaindK and DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) would be better. I'd splash rack it again, onto the nutrients and then see what happens. There's likely to be dosage info on the packs. Plus there's some excellent info at the Gotmead NewBee Guide.

The quicker you get this done, the less likely there is to be permanent damage/off flavours at the end.
 
Awesome, thanks!

My LBHS carries FermaidK and DAP, so I should be able to pick some up this Friday. Is that too late have an effect? Also, would it be worth it to pitch more yeast with the nutrients?
 

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