WLP023 Burton...Holy Sulfur, Batman!

[Upthewazzu]

Pitched an overbuilt starter of WLP023 Burton Ale yeast into 64° wort on Sunday 1/20. Things started out quick, everything was rolling along, then raised temp to 65° after 24 hours. Walked out into my garage this morning (+36 hours) and was smacked in the face with sulfur. I've brewed 100 batches over the last 6 years and nothing has some remotely close to this! Is it normal for this yeast and should I keep the ferment temp low or raise it to burn off some of that smell? Also, any chance this affects the flavor of the beer?

EDIT: Temps are liquid, not ambient.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Welcome to the Burton snatch, a flavour so characteristic of Burton beers that it has its own name, albeit helped by the huge sulphate content of Burton well water. You can't say White Labs didn't warn you : "A background sulfur note is common with this strain".

Having said that, sulphur production is exacerbated by nutritional stress, so you might want to look at your yeast nutrition. It should mostly blow off, but it's a feature not a bug...

 

[Upthewazzu]

Welcome to the Burton snatch, a flavour so characteristic of Burton beers that it has its own name, albeit helped by the huge sulphate content of Burton well water. You can't say White Labs didn't warn you : "A background sulfur note is common with this strain".

Having said that, sulphur production is exacerbated by nutritional stress, so you might want to look at your yeast nutrition. It should mostly blow off, but it's a feature not a bug...

Yeah, I saw that, but wasn't expecting this much of an aromatic punch. It's quite pungent; my wife is NOT going to be happy when she gets home from work, haha. Any advice about ferment temp? I plan on ramping about 1°F per day until I hit 70°F (21°C).

BTW, the krausen is starting to creep up to the top of my fermenter. Mind you, this is a 3.5gal batch in a 6.5gal fermenter

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It's got a reputation for being a bit lively! I've not used it myself (so many yeast, not enough brewing!) but typically in Burton they would pitch <60F and let it free rise, which would take it to 67F or so within 48 hours or less, at which point it gets moved into a Union and maintains that kind of temperature until FG after 2-3 days (for bitter), at which point it's moved to cellar temperature.

Normally you'd drop a degree or two when converting from commercial practice to homebrew scale - so Burton looks quite cool by most standards, although I see WL advise 68-73F. See how you go, but my instinct would be no more than 68.

See also this thread if you've not already.

 

[Upthewazzu]

To follow up on this thread, the blonde ale I made using this yeast turned out superb. There is still a hint of sulfur, but it's mostly relegated to the aroma and not the flavor of the beer. I've off-gassed the keg a few times in hopes of dissipating it even more. It did mute the hops a little bit, and accentuate the malt, but this is a blonde not an IPA so I'm totally on board with that. I'll definitely be using this yeast again, maybe in an amber style next.