Bad Smell

[A-A-ron]

Finished brewing a blond ale on Sat. Still in Krausen and there is a distinct smell coming from the carboy that smalls like eggs...or a fart. Is it in an infection or part of fermentation? I've never smelt anything like it. Used a standard California Ale yeast (WLP051) with a starter and the starter didn't have a smell. Temp is running high at 74 so I dropped it in a bathtub with cool water.

I'm sure its a wait and see situation, but curious if others have had the same experience.

Thanks for input.

 

[Ralphie0523]

The smell is likely sulfur based off the above information. All yeast produce it at some level as a part of fermentation, sounds like it became enough to be detectable for you.

The good news is that it basically is typically not indicative of anything majorly wrong. Yeast are possibly stressed due to some factor, perhaps temperature in this case.

I had a similar experience with the same yeast in a higher gravity ale and just the movement through the bottling wand was enough to dissipate it.

Again, just based off information given that is my best guess. Fixing it in this beer from my experience basically means either bubbling CO2 through a keg or just let a pour sit for a few minutes.

 

[RPh_Guy]

sulfur

More specifically, hydrogen sulfide.
https://modernbrewhouse.com/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide

A little bit of it is normal, but if it's excessive or present in the final beer, then some part of your yeast handling or fermentation process could use improvement.