I am fermenting a pale ale. This is my first time. It is about 42 hours into the fermenting process. My blow off is releasing about 1 bubble a second. The color of the the foam and krausen are looking good. But the smell coming out of the blow off is really strange. It's hard to compare it to anything I have ever smelled. It's like a sulfur/beer/sweet/sour. Is this normal?
Fermentation Smell
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Fermentation smells depend on many variables, from yeast strain to fermentation temperatures to oxygenation. It sounds fine to me, congrats!
Oberon67
Well-Known Member
The sulfur is exactly that, H2S or hydrogen sulfide gas. Production of this rotten-eggy component in your ferment indicates the yeast needs a bit of nitrogen, or so I'm told. A small dose of Fermax yeast nutrient solved the issue in my batch.
The sweet/sour smell is probably acetaldehyde. Some say it smells like green apples, but I don't think there's anything else quite like it. It smells a little pukey to me. The yeast will clean up this component by themselves, given sufficient time.
The 'beer' odor is probably due to the fermentation making... well, you know... beer.
The sweet/sour smell is probably acetaldehyde. Some say it smells like green apples, but I don't think there's anything else quite like it. It smells a little pukey to me. The yeast will clean up this component by themselves, given sufficient time.
The 'beer' odor is probably due to the fermentation making... well, you know... beer.
