Fourth brew: Oatmeal Stout w/ chocolate. Smells like rotten eggs

[badclamz]

I've already read posts on here using the search function about not freaking out if your airlock starts to put out some rather unpleasant sulfur-y smells during heavy airlock activity. Its just a bit disconcerting. This is my first time using sanitizer/water in the airlock as opposed to vodka, but its also my first time using White Labs European WLP011 yeast for my oatmeal stout. Curious if its maybe the beer style or the yeast? My ferment temp is the same as my previous 3 batches (65 F) and is stable. However, the yeast instructions indicated that I should try to keep my first 8-15 hours in the 70-75 range so I kept it at 72 after a pitch temp of 75. It started bubbling aggressively at 10 hours and i moved it to 65 F and after 48 hours my basement smells like rhino farts.

I experimented a bit with the extract kit (Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout) by adding a nominal amount of cocoa powder late in boil. The wort tasted fantastic (and smelled great while brewing) but I dont have enough experience to know if the yeast is kicking off the odors while it churns the DME or candied sugar or cocoa etc. All i know is things smell pretty nasty. But if y'all think its normal then I'm not fretting over it. I'll learn to embrace this smell if the stout rocks!

 

[ModlrMike]

Most likely you're smelling hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which the yeast produce when under stress. Probably from too few nutrients in the wort. I should be OK, although it could take months of lagering to dissipate. I did an apple cider a few years ago that had exactly what you describe. I now add yeast nutrient to every batch of beer or cider I brew.

 

[mcavers]

Yeah, sounds normal enough! But be prepared to give it some time in secondary to let those smells dissipate. Better to delay drinking it by a couple of weeks than be disappointed by the final product...

 

[badclamz]

This beer turned out fantastic! Onto my next batch - Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone!