Should i worry about smell?

[Gustavo]

Well I have my cream ale in the secondary. But seems to have built an order a not so pleasnt smell. Should I be worried or am I just another nervous first time brewer

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Check out what the specs for the yeast are first. However, I'd be a little alarmed about them coming from the secondary. I only use secondaries now if I want to reuse the yeast cake a batch is sitting on.

 

[Clementine]

What yeast is that, i think WLP080 uses a blend of lager and ale yeasts. Could this be some of the sulfur left over from the active fermentation of the lager yeast?

Clem

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Yeah I was thinking sulphur too. But secondary thing threw me off. Although, in the beginning I remember taking batches to secondary 7 days in, even if they still had krausen. Now I see the error of my ways but if homeboy's yeast produces a decent amount of sulphur and he went to secondary pretty early, that's likely the answer.

 

[Gustavo]

Yeast was Wyeast 1056 American Ale

 

[Gustavo]

Instructions called to transfer after a week in primary. I was getting about 1or2 bubbles in air lock per min.

 

[pohldogg]

Can you describe the smell better? Fermentation is a pretty messy process and depending on temp, ingredients, or random occurances can make some odd smells. I wouldn't worry about it yet and give it a taste when you bottle/keg. Even if the advice was to worry you'd still let it finish and taste at bottling as opposed to tossing the batch now. Unless it's locker room vomit just stay calm and let it ride.

 

[Gustavo]

Well. I removed the airlock and took a good sniff lol. But smell seems to have faded almost overnite? Smells like beer but a lil super super light skunky. Could it be just beer finishing fermenting. Or is that what unfinished beer smells like

 

[cadarnell]

I've noticed that even just a slight temp change will cause the beer to smell a little different .. maybe thats it ??? .. I'm sure it's fine.

 

[Gustavo]

Temp is steady at 68 in an ice bath ( spare cooler). The cooler seems to keep temp range pretty good. It's in a spare room with min light contact. But I'll take advice and will tast at bottling

 

[Gustavo]

Yea. Like I said it's my first batch and just nervous. And a lil paranoid of doing something wrong. But thank you HBT you guys never let me down. THANX

 

[cadarnell]

thats cool .. haha .. no pun intended ... anyway .. i would have tasted it during the transfer ... I like tasing the beer at different stages ... in the first few weeks, you can taste things you cant smell and vice versa .. taste it soon .. good luck

 

[Clementine]

Side note on your secondary procedures (not getting into THAT argument!) when to transfer is based on progression of fermentation not time or bubbles. Use the hydrometer to determine when to transfer, some fermentations take less than 24hrs others can take weeks and the instructions aren't going to be able to tell you how active your yeast will be. To quote other people on this forum loosely, krausen, Air Lock Bubbles, phases of the moon and horoscopes are not signs of or lack of sign of fermentation.

Back to what caused the smell if you were using 1056 it should not be lager type sulfur, most of the time I'm using 1056 it is for West Coast Styled Pales and IPAs so all I smell is Hops, however it is a clean fermenting yeast so you should not have that much in the way of off smells. Higher temps will yield some more interesting flavors and smells, what was the temp at time of pitching? And first par to of fermenting?

Clem

 

[Hang Glider]

If it is not yet 3 weeks, then it's too young to talk about smell. Fermenting throws off lots of nasty smells.

Yes, we can try to diagnose, but we can't smell it - only go by your descriptions. And as a new brewer, your experience is limited. It is highly unlikely you have any kind of problem at all. That you paid attention to fermenting temps in a water bath are good (better than most!!!), so just sit back, let it do it's thing, and leave it be.

You might ask yourself what would you do anyway? If we all said it was ruined, would you go dump it? So... just wait it out. Proceed as planned. Bottle after 3-4 weeks, leave THAT 3 more weeks, then try one. I'd put a thousand bucks on all your fears laid to rest and a tasty brew at the end of 6 weeks from today....

 

[JLem]

Temp is steady at 68 in an ice bath ( spare cooler). The cooler seems to keep temp range pretty good. It's in a spare room with min light contact. But I'll take advice and will tast at bottling

Plastic bucket or clear carboy? Even minimal light exposure can skunk a beer in a clear container after a while.

 

[Gustavo]

Yes glass carboid. However all my windows are covered try not to turn on light and I keep a wet cloth over carboid. And a towel covering every thing to prevent light exposure

 

[Gustavo]

Ok question while transferring wort. I could not get out all the bibles from the star sand. Would that matter?

 

[pohldogg]

Don't fear the foam. You're just fine leaving the bibles, actually I think it's a plus that makes it a better sanitizer. Starsan kills based on a low pH, and once you add your beer/wort you've diluted out the killing power.

 

[PVH]

I could not get out all the bibles from the star sand.

Sorry - I just love this quote.

 

[Gustavo]

Sorry meant ****ies

 

[Gustavo]

Aawwwww bubbles. Damn you spell check

 

[Shift]

Well. I removed the airlock and took a good sniff lol. But smell seems to have faded almost overnite? Smells like beer but a lil super super light skunky.

One thing popped into my mind, could it be "pure" CO2 u smelled? Since it faded overnight, perhaps it got diluted while/after you opened it.
I remember pulling the lid off the bucket when bottling my first brew, I took a deep breath to smell the beer, nearly knocked me out.
(I belive there is a thread about CO2 knockouts )

 

[JLem]

One thing popped into my mind, could it be "pure" CO2 u smelled? Since it faded overnight, perhaps it got diluted while/after you opened it.
I remember pulling the lid off the bucket when bottling my first brew, I took a deep breath to smell the beer, nearly knocked me out.
(I belive there is a thread about CO2 knockouts )

CO2 is odorless.

 

[JLem]

Yes glass carboid. However all my windows are covered try not to turn on light and I keep a wet cloth over carboid. And a towel covering every thing to prevent light exposure

Sounds like you've got the skunk-light issue covered (pun intended). Maybe just young beer.

I wonder if it might be a hop smell. I've had some hops smell oniony/garlicy.

 

[Shift]

CO2 is odorless.

I'm not going to argue that, but it isn't pleasant to take a decent hit of it. It "burns" and could be concieved as an odor/taste in my opinion.
Perhaps, solventy?

Big whiff of CO2