Sulphur Smell From Hefeweizen In Carboy

[brewinginct]

I brewed a hefeweizen three weeks ago following one of the recipes from the most recent BYO. It's been sitting in primary for about 3 weeks. After 1 week it developed this awful sulphur smell, which I read was normal and didn't worry about too much at first.

Now the hefeweizen has been sitting in primary for 3 weeks. The sulphur smell has definitely dissipated, but there's still a slight lingering smell escaping from the airlock.

I read that you don't want to bottle a hefeweizen if you smell sulphur, but I want another opinion.

Should I continue letting this sit in primary at 62 until I don't smell anything at all? Will the smell go away if I bottle now? Should I be smelling sulphur this far into fermentation? Thanks

 

[SKMO]

I have gotten some pretty awful smells at various stages of fermentation from many beers I have made. I've done several Hefe's and never noticed them being particularly worse than anything else.

Lot's depends on the yeast you are using as far as byproducts, smells, and ultimately tastes.

What are you going to do anyway ? Throw it out? Think not, just make sure fermentation is complete and bottle/keg it as you planned. 99% chance it will be fine.

 

[gregpio85]

The sulfur smell may just be from the air locked in your fermenter? Have you taken your hydrometer reading and tasted it?

 

[hinsy]

The sulfur smell may just be from the air locked in your fermenter? Have you taken your hydrometer reading and tasted it?

Agreed, esp if you have a lot of headspace in the carboy. It would take a LONG time to completely purge the carboy of the sulphur-y smell without removing the airlock and actively purging it, especially if fermentation has slowed/stopped (think about it--it's not like you're pushing all the bad smell out with new co2 from the yeast; it's slooooowly diluting it more and more, while pushing some of that diluted air out so it can further dilute it...) Theoretically, in fact, if you never actively purged the airspace of the old stuff, it will ALWAYS have at least SOME of the sulfur-laden air in there. It's like how, theoretically, you can cut something in half ad infinitum.

Take some out and try it/sniff that small sample away from the carboy.

Hope it turns out well!

 

[Phalex]

I used a Belgian yeast that smelled like dog farts for a week or so. Then it changed over to a really fruity smell. That beer is long gone now, but it was delicious!

Just hang in there.

 

[passedpawn]

Normal, it will go away with time. I'm not sure about bottling, though, my my local brewpub made a batch with a stiff sulphur note that went away in a couple of weeks. That was kegged.

What temp did you ferment at? I think that brewpub fermented their hefe very cold, which I thought might have been the cause.

 

[Rev2010]

According to Palmer's site:

Symptom: It smells like rotten eggs.

Cause 1: Yeast Strain Rotten egg odors (hydrogen sulfide) can have two common causes: the yeast strain and bacteria. Many lager yeast strains produce noticeable amounts of hydrogen sulfide during fermentation. The smell and any sulfur taste will dissipate during lagering.
Cure: Let the beer condition or lager for a few weeks after primary fermentation.

Wyeast's page for 3068 yeast says, "Sulfur is commonly produced, but will dissipate with conditioning. "

Sounds like it will go away with bottle conditioning. I've read some others that posted about this with hefe's and said it went away after a few weeks in the bottle. I've read up on it cause mine had a sour smell when I opened the fermenter so I'd done some searching.


Rev.