Sulfur smell and yeast not dropping out

I've made the same recipe a few times with great results (Irish red with us04).This batch has a sulfur smell and after ten days and Hitting FG on around the 5th day it still hasn't cleared within reason for 04 yeast. I fermented at 65 actual temp. I mixed 2 yeast slurrys that I believe both to be 04.The only outside chance is one was 05.

What would cause a sulfur smell using 04 yeast fermented at 65 deg?
The slurrys looked and smelled fine.
No visible infections in the fermenter

I was about to cold crash to get it settled out and carbed by Thanksgiving.Now I'm wondering if leaving at ferment temp a few more days will clear the sulfur smell..Any Ideas??

It's funny, I've used 05 and 04 a lot when I got started and am very familiar with both. I kept thinking "that sounds like 05, not 04" and was almost about to post that without reading the rest... Until I got to the part where you said it may have been an 05 slurry.

I'm going to put most of my cards on that table.

I usually run my ales at 64-66f for 4 days then bump up to 68-70f for 3 days as a "d rest" and that has always cleared up sulphur aromas on any yeast I've used that typically produces it. I would say just up to 68-70 for another 2-3 days then cold crash and follow your normal keg/carb sop. I bet it atleast dies down if not goes away entirely

I use 05 almost exclusively and never picked up a single sulfur note...its a clean yeast

I use US-05 and S-04 a lot and, though I admit I don't smell things that others do, I have never detected sulfur from either. I might not notice it though because I do all my fermentations for 2 weeks and never do anything with the beer before then other than open my chamber and shine a flashlight on the Better Bottle to look for krausen.

I would let it warm to room temperature for a couple of days, cold crash and proceed.

I just used US-05 in a Cream Ale and did not get any sulfur smell from it. It is more of a clean neutral yeast.

kh54s10 said:

I use US-05 and S-04 a lot and, though I admit I don't smell things that others do, I have never detected sulfur from either. I might not notice it though because I do all my fermentations for 2 weeks and never do anything with the beer before then other than open my chamber and shine a flashlight on the Better Bottle to look for krausen.

I would let it warm to room temperature for a couple of days, cold crash and proceed.

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It was at 65 for 9 day and at room temp for 2 probably at the same 65 on the floor. Would an extra 3 days at room possibly work out the smell?
It was a double batch and the rushed one I'm drinking now,cold and carbed,has a bit of sulfur smell and the yeast hasn't dropped out completely,tastes a little a funky ...The one in the fermenter REALLY smells like sulfer.They were the exact same yeast as I had 2 jars and mixed them together, evened them out and dumped.I'm thinking the cold and carbed is "hiding" the sulfur a bit...I'm wondering if cold crashing will lock in the sulfur forever

JONNYROTTEN said:

It was at 65 for 9 day and at room temp for 2 probably at the same 65 on the floor. Would an extra 3 days at room possibly work out the smell?
It was a double batch and the rushed one I'm drinking now,cold and carbed,has a bit of sulfur smell and the yeast hasn't dropped out completely,tastes a little a funky ...The one in the fermenter REALLY smells like sulfer.They were the exact same yeast as I had 2 jars and mixed them together, evened them out and dumped.I'm thinking the cold and carbed is "hiding" the sulfur a bit...I'm wondering if cold crashing will lock in the sulfur forever

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Again, I have never gotten sulfur from either strain so I am not sure. But, I would try to raise the temperature into the low 70's for a couple of days. Then cold crash and proceed. However, once the beer is closed up, bottled or kegged the sulfur cannot be gassed off.

I have had the sulphur smell before however I can't remember the yeast strain I used. I did find a way to rid it tho....simple as it may sound it cleared it up within a day. Stir the wort gently with a clean piece of copper pipe. The copper will help remove the sulphur. Not 100% it will work for you but it did for me. Good luck. Cheers

brewcavebrewery said:

I have had the sulphur smell before however I can't remember the yeast strain I used. I did find a way to rid it tho....simple as it may sound it cleared it up within a day. Stir the wort gently with a clean piece of copper pipe. The copper will help remove the sulphur. Not 100% it will work for you but it did for me. Good luck. Cheers

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I saw something about running the beer through a copper tubing...Didn't even dawn on me that contact is contact..I'm going to dunk my IC in the bucket if its fits. If not I'm not sure what to do. I don't have a copper spoon. Its warming in the ferm chamber set to 72 now. will work on it tomorrow and post results.

i have a cider fermenting w/ s-04 and am getting some sulfur smell, but for usually don't get it when brewing ales.

I just use a clean piece of copper I bought at the local hardware store....I do recall a recent batch with sulphur as well and this did the trick for me. Again....let us know how you make out with this.
Cheers

Could you give us a bit more information? Recipe, process, water report, does it taste sour?, did you use a starter, are you at your FG? ... there are a lot of reasons why it could smell sulfury and yeast is only one of them.
For example you could have used a different malt that requires longer boiling to boil of the DMS

So, if it is the yeast, don't worry just let it age out ( high sixties should do).
It might help to agitate the beer (shake or swirl the bucket, give it a GENTLE stir) be careful not to oxidize it tho.
To be honest you might have mixed the yeast. 05 needs to sit a bit longer than 04. 05 can take up to two weeks before the krausen drops.

If the sulfur smell dissipates, and you're almost at FG and the yeast still hasn't dropped out, rack to secondary, don't rack the krausen (captain obvious), lager at 55-60 if necessary.

I read something a couple of weeks ago on the probrewer forum and your post reminded me of it. I'll quote it here it was posted by the user "mmussen" if this helps you all credit goes to him.


Yeast tend to produce H2S during fermentation. Sulfur production tends to be inversely proportional to yeast growth. So if your yeast isn't growing enough (e.g. due to cold fermentation temps, high pitch rates or not oxygenating), you'll get more sulfur compounds.

Some copper tubing in the kettle is a very effective trick. I know several breweries that do that.

Another thought - particularly since you're saying the US-05 isn't dropping out like it normally does - you may want to add a yeast nutrient or another source of zinc to your wort. That may help the yeast along and help it drop out. I'd also suggest getting oxygen added to the wort somehow ASAP - on a larger scale batch the splashing doesn't add nearly as much O2 as it does in a smaller scale.

Otherwise maybe look at what you may be doing differently then the other breweries around, maybe there's something else going on

I don't really like cross posting from other forums but I think this might help you. It seems like professional brewers have the exact same issues as we do.

brewcavebrewery said:

I just use a clean piece of copper I bought at the local hardware store....I do recall a recent batch with sulphur as well and this did the trick for me. Again....let us know how you make out with this.
Cheers

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Is it instant or does it fade away the smell?

I cleaned a 5x5 piece of copper and stuck it in a paint strainer bag and dunked it for 10 minutes.Now its sitting in the bucket like dry hops. It may have helped a tad but pulling a sample it still stinks a bit and my wife wont taste it. I'll leave it sit with the copper for a few days.At the best I'll drink it and never share it. Still might dump it....something aint right. I'm a little concerned of a bacterial issue messin my stomach up

Edit: It might be in my head but I think this beer might be giving me a headache..its certainly not enjoyable..I'm seeing dumpsville in the near future

Thinking back on past experiences anytime I had a beer that had a sulfur taste it was when it was still green or young. It always cleared up within a week or so in the keg cold conditioning around 36 degrees. It takes time for some beers for the flavors to meld together not only from the malts that were used, but also different yeast strains throw different flavors, odors, etc. I just haven't experienced the sulfur smell or taste with those yeast strains. If the beer is still in the fermentor you can raise the temp to 68 to 70 degrees for a few days. If it's in the keg already or after the D-rest I would keg it and then cold condition it and it will most likely drop out within a few days. Hopefully by Thanksgiving! Good luck!

John

jcav said:

Thinking back on past experiences anytime I had a beer that had a sulfur taste it was when it was still green or young. It always cleared up within a week or so in the keg cold conditioning around 36 degrees. It takes time for some beers for the flavors to meld together not only from the malts that were used, but also different yeast strains throw different flavors, odors, etc. I just haven't experienced the sulfur smell or taste with those yeast strains. If the beer is still in the fermentor you can raise the temp to 68 to 70 degrees for a few days. If it's in the keg already or after the D-rest I would keg it and then cold condition it and it will most likely drop out within a few days. Hopefully by Thanksgiving! Good luck!

John

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I have experienced the same and would suggest the same things

I stirred mine for about 2-3 mins with a 3' piece. But I think it took me a few times....stir it. Then Ina. Few hours do it again....couple hours later did it again. But it did do the trick for me. Hopefully it helps and you don't have to dump it out. Good luck...

Sulfer smell = stressed yeast. Any strain can produce it. You probably just had a wort that was deficient in some nutrient.

Don't worry about it, it will drive off and disappear within a few days. Warming your fermenter a few degrees may help speed it up.

JONNYROTTEN said:

I cleaned a 5x5 piece of copper and stuck it in a paint strainer bag and dunked it for 10 minutes.Now its sitting in the bucket like dry hops. It may have helped a tad but pulling a sample it still stinks a bit and my wife wont taste it. I'll leave it sit with the copper for a few days.At the best I'll drink it and never share it. Still might dump it....something aint right. I'm a little concerned of a bacterial issue messin my stomach up



Edit: It might be in my head but I think this beer might be giving me a headache..its certainly not enjoyable..I'm seeing dumpsville in the near future

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Holy crap man.. Don't dump it! Just give it time. Sulfur is a totally normal yeast byproduct. See my comment above. It's not bacteria.

How many generations have you gone out with this reused US-05?

If you have made enough passages with the strain, it is possible that it could have mutated to produce more sulfur and not flocculate as well.

So after fa few days the sulfur smell is gone from using the copper I suppose but now it has a dirty diaper smell. I been reading up on it and it sounds like anything that smells like fecal matter is a bacterial infection and to dump it. As I think it must have come from the reused yeast I'm tossing all my saved slurry and starting from scratch.

It was an unopened 50 lb bag of Marris Otter being used for the first time. Think there is any chance it could be a bad bag of grain?? It looks normal.

I think this may be the problem?? I also read Mercaptan could be formed from light. This time I used a fluorescent light bulb in the chamber for heat.They don't get as hot and was on longer to maintain heat. I use buckets so I'm not sure how much light gets through but its an idea...

Mercaptan


Mercaptan at low levels produces a sulfur-life aroma. At higher levels it gives a rotten vegetable or drain-like aroma. It is primarily formed by yeast during fermentation but can also be caused by yeast autolysis during beer production (Yeast autolysis is where the cell bursts open and dumps its content into the beer).

Flavour Descriptor: Sewer-like

Common Sources: Poor yeast health, autolysis

How to taste:

Cover the beer with your hand and swirl the glass to release the aroma.


Take short sniffs while holding the beer near your nose.

Both sulfur and mercapton would be consistent with stressed yeast that then died. I think you may have done something with this beer that severely impacted your yeast health. Or maybe by mixing the two strains, they just fought it out and one strain lost, or your slurries were too old.

So its been a month. It lost all the Sulphur and dirty diaper smell. It looks perfectly normal and taste pretty good.
What makes me nervous is right around the time I was drinking the other half of this split batch I got sick with stomach issues I wont get into. So I stopped drinking it. Is there any chance theres something in the beer that would cause a stomach illness? Microscopic type stuff. Again it looks and smells perfectly normal at this point.