Stinky First batch

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Hugh Johnson

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Hi All,

I have jsut brewed my very first batch. A Morgan's Pilsener Kit.

Everything was sterilised, the temperature was right, I left it in the fermenter for 14 days then bottled it. The hydrometer reading was 1.005, so I figured I was OK, and went ahead and bottled as per the instructions.

After waiting 10 days in the bottle I decided to crack one open and have a little taste, just to see how it was all travelling. When i opened the lid a terrible stink came out. It smelt quite like manky, day-old farts.

Apart from that the beer tasted pretty good. I was actually a little impressed with myself, however I just can't bring myself to drink 23 litres with that funk blasting out my nose.

Any ideas, suggestions?
 
Hugh Johnson said:
Hi All,

I have jsut brewed my very first batch. A Morgan's Pilsener Kit.

Everything was sterilised, the temperature was right, I left it in the fermenter for 14 days then bottled it. The hydrometer reading was 1.005, so I figured I was OK, and went ahead and bottled as per the instructions.

After waiting 10 days in the bottle I decided to crack one open and have a little taste, just to see how it was all travelling. When i opened the lid a terrible stink came out. It smelt quite like manky, day-old farts.

Apart from that the beer tasted pretty good. I was actually a little impressed with myself, however I just can't bring myself to drink 23 litres with that funk blasting out my nose.

Any ideas, suggestions?
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO...that's great! It smelled like day old manky farts, and you still drank it? Gotta love the home brew! Seriously tho...I wish I could impart some advice, but I keep thinking about drinking manky fart liquid...:drunk: !
 
Hmm....if it smells that bad, I am not sure whether it is beer. Could be, well....I am not sure what it is if it tastes good......
 
I'm pretty new at this, so I apologize in advance if this is ignorant, but: a pilsner kit? Doesn't a pilsner need to be lagered? My understanding is that lager yeast, if not properly lagered, produces all sorts of sulfur compounds...which will, naturally, smell like farts.

That's just based on what I've read, though -- I've not had the courage to try a lager yet.
 
TheOceaneer said:
I'm pretty new at this, so I apologize in advance if this is ignorant, but: a pilsner kit? Doesn't a pilsner need to be lagered? My understanding is that lager yeast, if not properly lagered, produces all sorts of sulfur compounds...which will, naturally, smell like farts.

That's just based on what I've read, though -- I've not had the courage to try a lager yet.
Click to expand...


Come to think of it, you might be right, many yeasts used in pilsners, and even hefs produce sulfur smells during fermentation.

In fact I found this in How to Brew

Czech Pils Yeast
Classic dry finish with rich maltiness. Good choice for pilsners and bock beers. Sulfur produced during fermentation dissipates with conditioning. Medium flocculation, high attenuation. Primary fermentation at 50°F.
Click to expand...
 
Im not sure about the type of yeast. I think those morgan prehopped kits may just have ale yeast tossed in with it though.

On ocassion I have had green beer which had a bad smell - I would say leave it another 2 weeks in the bottles and it will smell like roses instead of farts :p
 
I actually ran into this same issue with the first batch of Brown Ale that I did with my friend.

It was feremented too cold and we bottled after one week. The result was bottling w/o taking hydrometer readings and the beer was still fermenting in the bottles which made for quite an adventure when opening.

The beer actually tasted good when you didn't pour all head, but the only drawback was that it smelled like 'wet farts'. That was the only way I can describe it.

I'm no expert but it sounds like you bottled prematurely like us.
 
Thanks everyone for all the replies.

I am thinking that I might have bottled it up a tad early and possibly not kept it cool enough. To be honest I didn't read the label on the yeast packet (I know, an elementary mistake, but one I won't be making again) but if it was a lager yeast then it would be better fermented below about 18 degrees Celcius (Yup, I'm an Aussie. We use the metric system)

I live in a fairly warm area and the temp in my brewing shed sat between about 20 at night up to 27 during the day. I am hoping that the stanky fart smell will dissipate over a few more weeks in the bottle. I will also be super careful not to pour too much head when I finally pluck up the courage to give it another taste!
 
DJCalico said:
I actually ran into this same issue with the first batch of Brown Ale that I did with my friend.

It was feremented too cold and we bottled after one week. The result was bottling w/o taking hydrometer readings and the beer was still fermenting in the bottles which made for quite an adventure when opening.

The beer actually tasted good when you didn't pour all head, but the only drawback was that it smelled like 'wet farts'. That was the only way I can describe it.

I'm no expert but it sounds like you bottled prematurely like us.
Click to expand...

His hydrometer reading was 1.005, which is about as done as beer will typically get. I don't think his problem is refermentation.

I am going to go with the lager yeast idea. I bet it will improve with age.

Of course, if I were you, I'd set one of these babies in the sun and see if you can produce a beer that smells and tastes like skunk farts. :)
 
I'm a bit scared to put one out in the sun in case it blows up and kills me or my wife. The cats I am less concerned about, but seeing as we just bought the house I don't really want one of us to get killed by a crappy, farty beer.

A nice single malt scotch, well that's another story.
 

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