Is this right?

[head7l]

I brewed a kolsch just shy of 2 weeks ago. It was a great brew day except that the boil was a little more vigorous that I thought and my 5 gallons became about 3.75. Pre-pitch my gravity was 1.068 (I guess I was going for Imperial) and I pitched WLP German Kolsch yeast (2 vials) @ 68 deg.

Fast forward to Tuesday. I opened my bucket and was immediately hit by a sulfur-ey smell with a plastic undertone. I have heard that Kolsch yeasties smell like eggs so I let that go and checked gravity (1.010 btw).

After I was done I tasted it to see what was what and it tasted just how it smelled except it was much more plastic/chemically flavored (fermenter was cleaned and had a nice Star-San bath btw).

So...RDWHAHB and just give it another week or two or do I just cut my losses and free up the fermenter?

 

[JadeMonkeyStang]

I'd say if it's only been 2 weeks then you should definitely RDWHAHB. A lot can change in the next few weeks/months.

 

[Pappers_]

Oh I'd let it go. Seems way to early to give up on it. If you need the fermenter, perhaps get a carboy for a secondary and move it there to let it sit and develop.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Agreed. Don't punt this soon. Sounds like you are using plastic. I would suggest getting a glass carboy if you don't have one and racking into that and let it age for a while and see where it goes.

 

[DrColossus11]

What temp were you fermenting at?

 

[Nurmey]

Most of your "taste" come from the smell of what you are trying. There is no way to drink a sulfury liquid without tasting some of the smell. Wait for the smell to dissipate before making any judgments.

 

[head7l]

Fermentation was @ a steady 66 in the basement.

I am thinking that the hose that I used to get water might be leeching some undesirables in to the water I was using. I did 2 brews this weekend (one with hose and one from kitchen sink) to test out the theory.

I did rack it to secondary and am just going to let it be for a month and see what happens.