Sour smell in beer

I bottled my 3rd batch ever 2 weeks ago. Seemed fine. Much to my chagrin, when I opened a 32oz bottle the brewclub meeting last nite, it had a sour smell to it. Some descirbed it as sulfer, and it seemed to disipate after awhile. I also bottle a few 12 oz bottles for testing, and those have been fine so far. (this is a batch that was over carbed and I aired out the bottles every few days for the last couple of weeks).

My first batch was much worse. But the 2nd batch was just fine.

So while I look for the cause, will that go away over time? If so how long should I wait till I try one?

Maybe that one bottle wasn't sanitized properly, especially if the 12oz bottles were fine but the 32oz bottle smelled sour.

Sounds like it wasn't the whole batch so maybe just that one bottle. If it was the entire batch that is something entirely different.

Twofox said:

My first batch was much worse. But the 2nd batch was just fine.

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How long did fermentation take to start with the first batch and what yeast did you use?

brettg20 said:

How long did fermentation take to start with the first batch and what yeast did you use?

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First batch the yeast never fired so I repitched after about 4 days. That was Nottingham dry yeast on the first batch.

Twofox said:

First batch the yeast never fired so I repitched after about 4 days. That was Nottingham dry yeast on the first batch.

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That's gotta be your problem. I had a strong sour taste/smell on some of my blondes due to the extended lag time before the fermentation started. (24+ hours sometimes). I now use a yeast starter with every blonde (and other lighter beers) and never had that smell/taste since. With a starter, fermentation is well under way within 12 hours. You may want to start using yeast starters to see if this will help....