egg smell coming out of airlock

[feelinhoppy]

Never had this happen. Brewing a European lager and I think I dropped the temp to fast cuuz it wasn't fermenting. So I raised the temp to 63 and it started bubbling so I dropped it back to fifty degrees. Now there's a rotton egg smell and my gf is pissed. I need some help explaining what is goin on.

 

[Yooper]

Never had this happen. Brewing a European lager and I think I dropped the temp to fast cuuz it wasn't fermenting. So I raised the temp to 63 and it started bubbling so I dropped it back to fifty degrees. Now there's a rotton egg smell and my gf is pissed. I need some help explaining what is goin on.

Lager yeast, especially when stressed, can have a definite sulfur smell. By starting at a low temp, raising the temp above optimum fermentation temperature, and then lowering again the yeast probably is stressed. I also have a feeling, since it didn't take off very soon, that it was underpitched. Usually, without a starter and using liquid yeast, 4-5 packages of yeast would not be too much and would be a good amount. Lagers need a lot more yeast to ferment at cool temperatures and start well, and fermenting them too warm can cause off-flavors (and odors, as you've seen!).

 

[SwampassJ]

Some yeasts throw sulfur, some a lot more than others. It'll disappear with some proper lagering post fermentation.

What yeast did you end up using?

 

[TimTrone]

Many lager strains throw a sulfur/fart smell. The kolsch strains are notorious for that as well. It will fade with time. Not much you can do about it at the moment.

 

[spearko520]

blame on the dog. if you don't have a dog, blame it on your girlfriend's cooking. if your girlfriend doesn't cook for you... well - you know what to do.

 

[Fid]

Ahh the Rhino Farts. Try brewing EdWort's apfelwein and you'll get em again. There have been some suggestions on here on how to mask the smell.

Heres a few:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/no-more-rhino-farts-117730/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/rhino-farts-solved-0-75-a-165810/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/stink-silencer-airlock-317181/

As SwampassJ said, some yeast strains just smell sulfury during fermentation. Knowing what you used would likely help narrow down whether its something to be concerned about or if its just normal off gassing.

 

[Fid]

Also, here's a link to a post by Revvy covering the subject of odd smelling odors of fermentation and why you shouldn't worry about it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/stout-smells-paint-thinner-141582/#post1608394

 

[feelinhoppy]

blame on the dog. if you don't have a dog, blame it on your girlfriend's cooking. if your girlfriend doesn't cook for you... well - you know what to do.

Lol, well she thought it was me and gave me the wtf look. She didn't believe it was the fermenter at first till i told her to take a whiff of the airlock. At least I was off the hook for one night