Disturbing smell/taste

[mrduna01]

So I'm 7 days in to a cream ale batch which used a lager yeast wlp080. It has been giving off that egg smell which I know is normal during fermentation and it taste like it as well. Far as I know this should go away at end of fermentation but my final gravity has been reached and it's still got some funk to it. Germ temp was 68 to 70. How should I proceed?

 

[MeatyPortion]

I'd let it sit a few more days in the primary. The fermentation temp did seem a tad on the high side but it should be ok. Are you going to use a secondary at all or just bottle/keg it?

 

[mrduna01]

Planned to keg it from the primary and maybe cold crash it for a few days first... Just getting my kegerator built and am excited to fill that first keg.

 

[SwampassJ]

WLP says it's a mix of lager and ale yeast. I would let it go for another week then keg and cold condition for a few weeks.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Planned to keg it from the primary and maybe cold crash it for a few days first... Just getting my kegerator built and am excited to fill that first keg.

Congrats on the kegerator.

I think cold crashing would definitely help with the odd flavors and smells from the lager yeast. You might want to let it sit in the keg for a week after cold crashing before you carb it. I'm not trying to imply that anything's wrong with this brew at all but if you're a little worried I'd give it some extra time all around. Maybe 3-5 more days in primary, 3 days of cold crashing, 7 days of aging, and then carb it for another 7 days. That should give the beer enough time to clean itself up.

Generally with lagers (which I've never made) I've seen people aging them for a few months to clean them up. I don't think you'll have to go to that extreme with this ale though.

 

[mrduna01]

Thanks for the advice! I will give it a few more days to see what's happening. There is also upon closer inspection a very very light filmy type stuff on top of the beer that's clear. Left over from the krausen I suppose. We shall see... I haven't had an infected batch yet so hopefully I'll be ok.

 

[Saccharomyces]

The smell you are describing sounds like sulfur from lager yeast. Your best bet is to give it a stir with a sanitized spoon for a few minutes to drive off some CO2, let it sit a few days, then rack it and let it sit for a bit in a carboy (not a keg) prior to bottling or kegging. I know from the School of Hard Knocks (I have a Ph.D. from there, in fact ) you should not bottle or keg the beer until you have gotten the rotten egg odor completely out. Once it's in a closed container it will not go away. Well, in a keg you can at least partially carb the beer, and then let it go flat by keeping the pressure relief valve open. But it's better to just let it sit under an airlock and stir it gently until the smell is gone.

 

[mrduna01]

Yup it's definitely sulphur. Good idea about stirring it around a bit. I will try racking it after a couple more days. Hopefully it will turn out ok.