HELP . . . Sulfur Odor!?!

I started a Belgian Specialty Ale this last Monday using the recipe below. I’ve re-suspended the yeast a couple of times using a home made Lazy Susan table so as not to introduce any oxygen. Just this evening I seem to be getting some faint sulfur/egg odors. Is everything ok? What’s going on? Is there something I need to do in order to prevent a batch of swill or will everything be fine?

Thanks,
Evenstill

Belgian Honey White
Extract with Specialty Grains
Makes 5 Gallons

Ingredients:
• ½ lb Flaked Wheat
• ½ lb White Wheat Malt
• ½ lb Belgian Pilsner
• 6 lbs Liquid Wheat Extract
• 3 lbs Honey
• 1 oz Ahtanum Pellet Hops
• ½ oz crushed Coriander
• ½ oz Bitter Orange Peel
• ½ oz Shredded Fresh Ginger Root
• ½ oz Fresh Lemon Zest
• 4 ½ oz Corn Sugar (priming sugar)
• 1 capsule of BrewVint Yeast Fuel (nutrient)
• Yeast: White Labs, Belgian Wit Ale, WLP400

Directions:
Sanitize everything.

In a 16 – 20 quart stainless stockpot, bring 2 ½ gallons of water to 155°F and turn off heat.

Put the crushed grains (½ lb Flaked Wheat, ½ lb White Wheat Malt, ½ lb Belgian Pilsner) in a grain bag and steep for 15 minutes, agitating the grain bag with a stainless spoon. Remove the grain bag and get all the water out of it then discard.

Return to heat until boiling then turn heat off once again and move the stockpot to a cool burner. Stir in the 6 lbs of Liquid Wheat Extract and 3 lbs of Honey until completely dissolved then heat the mixture until boiling.

Reduce heat to achieve a good roiling boil without it boiling over. Add ½ oz of Ahtanum Hops and set a timer for 60 minutes.

Add the ½ oz crushed Coriander, ½ oz Bitter Orange Peel, ½ oz Shredded Fresh Ginger Root, and ½ oz Fresh Lemon Zest for the last 15 minutes of the boil.

Add the capsule of BrewVint Yeast Fuel for the last 10 minutes of the boil.

Add the last ½ oz of Ahtanum Hops for the last 5 minutes of the boil.

Cool the wort to around 80°F and pour it into a clean 6 ½ gallon glass carboy for primary fermentation.

Add enough cool water to make 5 ¼ gallons.

Check the Original Gravity. It should be around 1.066.

Pitch your yeast (White Labs, Belgian Wit Ale, WLP400).

Aerate thoroughly.

Attach airlock and blow-off tube.

Primary fermentation should slow down after 5-7 days. At this point rack into a clean 5 gallon glass carboy for conditioning (secondary fermentation).

Conditioning should last around 5-7 days. Final gravity should be around 1.016. At this point rack into a clean 5 gallon glass carboy for priming and bottling.

Pour 1-2 cups of water into a small pot and bring to a boil. Stir in 4.5 oz of Corn Sugar until completely dissolved (approximately 1 minute) then remove from heat and let cool to 80°F or cooler.

Pour the cooled sugar water into the bottling carboy and mix gently but thoroughly.

Bottle and age for 3-4 weeks.

Brew Log:
03/17/2008
4:00pm: Initial fermentation started.
Original Gravity: 1.0675
Sugar by weight: 16.46° Plato
I didn’t have ½ oz of lemon zest so I just used ¼ oz.

03/19/2008
10:00pm: I haven’t seen an excessive amount of foam so I removed the blow-off tube and re-suspended the sediment using a home made Lazy Susan table.

03/21/08
9:45am: I re-suspended the sediment using a home made Lazy Susan table. Fermentation is still quite vigorous with bubbles coming faster then 1 every second.
8:00pm: I’m starting to detect a faint sulfur/egg odor.

evenstill said:

8:00pm: I’m starting to detect a faint sulfur/egg odor.

Click to expand...

Give it more time . . . . It'll go away.

And for christ sake stop spinning your yeast, your making them dizzy! It's an Ale yeast, they are supposed to be on bottom. That's where they like to work. Trust me, there is plenty in suspension.

Go to the store, buy beer, sit down, drink craft and relax.

After 7 days take a sample (with something sanitized) and check the gravity. Write it down. In another day, do it again.

When it appears to have stopped, bump this thread if you aren't sure that it's terminal (finished).

Belgian yeasts will often give some pretty funky smells during fermentation, it's just the way they are. And definitely leave the yeast alone! They can find the food, don't worry.

Thanks all. The odor disappeared after another day or two . . . but the fermentation is still quite active. Is this a problem?

I’ve had it in primary for almost 10 days now and there is still 1-2 inches of foam at the top, not very much trub settling to the bottom, and the bubbles are still coming at a rate of 1 every 10-11 seconds.

Should I just leave it in primary until the foam goes away or the bubbles slow down? Would it be better if I go ahead and rack it at the two week mark anyway and if so, should I try to get some of the foam off the top into the secondary?

Thanks,
evenstill

Nothing to worry about. Some beers take longer to ferment out. Leave it in primary until it's done. Racking it to secondary wouldn't do you any good.

Will the krausen sink to the bottom when it's finished? What should I look for other then airlock activity (I'm leery about opening it constantly to check the gravity)?

The krausen will drop when it's pretty much done, I wouldn't do anything with it (even gravity readings) until it does. You also don't need to take daily gravity readings, just check every few days and when it's stabilized (AND at least a week has passed) you can rack to secondary.

I know it's hard, but try to just walk away for at least another four days to a week. The beer isn't finished yet, but will eventually finish up. Don't worry about it- it'll be fine!

Just leave it.

The more threads you read here and the more links you follow from here, the longer you will leave your beer on the yeast in primary.

I am up to three weeks in primary on the yeast cake now, minimum, for any beer no matter what, and my brews are still getting better and better with every batch.

Secondary is for girly-man types. Long primary ferments let the yeast clean up after the big party.

I racked it to secondary on Sunday 04-06-08 and the gravity was 1.0169. So it’s been in secondary for about 2 weeks and I’m still seeing quite a few small bubbles rising within the carboy. Is this normal at this point? Should I:

A) Re-suspend the yeast using my lazy-susan turn table to speed up the conditioning process,

B) Go ahead and bottle it in another week or so even if there’s still some activity within the carboy, or

C) Leave it alone until there are absolutely no signs of activity within the carboy then bottle?

Thanks,
evenstill

Take two more hydrometer readings. Take one tonight and another on Thursday. If the readings are the same then your fermentation is complete and it's safe to bottle. If the readings are not the same, even by just one point, then leave the beer in the fermenter for another week and test it again as I just described. Never, under any circumstances, ever bottle a beer while it's still fermenting. If you're not sure, wait.

04/26/2008
9:30am: Gravity is 1.0131.

05/04/2008
1:15pm: Gravity is 1.011.

Since my gravity changed from 1.031 to 1.011 It’s obviously not complete yet. My question at this point is: since it currently smells and tastes good should I leave it in secondary even though it’s been on this yeast for 4 weeks now, or should I go ahead and transfer to tertiary to finish up?

Check it again in 3 days or so and see if the gravity drops again (I doubt it will, 1.011 is 84% attenuation which is pretty high. If you think it needs more clearing time you could rack the beer, otherwise if you're happy with the clarity I would just bottle it.