Sulfur taste/smell!?!

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brewbeerd

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Hey everyone, new all grain brewer here. So I've made three 5 gallon batches so far, all IPA's and every one has a VERY noticeable sulfurish smell/taste. Vital info as follows: Vigorous boil for 75 mins, lid off. Wort chilled to 65 deg in under 20 mins. Pitched 2 packs re-hydrated US-05, fermentation began in about 12 hours each time. Appeared to ferment well, peaking at 68-70 and then running at about 66 the rest of the time. No oxygenation to speak of besides dunking the wort chiller during chilling. Primary 1 wk, secondary 2wks, cold crash 2 days then bottled. The wort smelled and tasted fine in each batch until bottling time. Sanitizing w/ Iostar with good procedure to my knowledge. Kind of at a loss right now. From what I've read I'm thinking leave it longer in the primary or oxygenate more. Any help I can get is appreciated. Thanks!!
 
What do you mean by Oxygenate more?? The only time you should add oxygen to your beer is directly after you've cooled from the boil and are about to pitch your yeast. If you've added oxygen between then and now, then that is definitely a problem.

Edit: Nevermind... I read it over and over and I think I know what you mean. Your saying oxygenate more before pitching the yeast. I go full blast with the little red tanks for about a minute with great results.

What were your Mashing methods?
 
Sounds like stressed yeast from insufficient O2. A good minute-long blast of pure O2 through a stone, or several minutes of air through one just before pitching should make a difference.
 
I'm no brewmeister - I just started brewing this year, but went pretty much straight to AG (BIAB) after one extract and then one partial mash brew. I believe (after a lot of research) that oxygenation is quite an important part of the process. It's good for the yeast to help them get going. I've brewed four AG batches so far, two 2.5gal and two 5gal batches, and oxygenated all using a wine degasser attached to an electric drill. I too have used rehydrated US-05 for my three of my AG's, and so far have experienced noticeable fermentation action within 4-6 hours of pitching, and so far no off/sulfurous odor or tastes in my finished product. I attribute that at least partially to oxygenating the wort adequately.
 
A piece of copper in your carboy can work off the H2S...I've done it before with success.

If kegging you can also scrub out some fart smell by carbing/decarbing.
 
Alright everyone thanks for the input. Will inc oxygenation before pitching. And BME as far as the mash goes I've gone between 148 and 152 deg for 60-75 mins w/ no apparent issues. Continuous sparge at 168 deg. Mash pH has consistently been on the low side at around 4.6 however.
 
Yea I'm gunna agree with the guy above and say water quality. Your process seems pretty sound. You might have a high sulfate count in your water.


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I currently have a batch of pale ale that smells but does not taste sulfury. I use 1 min of pure oxygen before pitching so it is not that. However I am using Nottingham and I have read of this creating that smell.


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A piece of copper in your carboy can work off the H2S...I've done it before with success.

If kegging you can also scrub out some fart smell by carbing/decarbing.


Do you know why that works? I might have to try it. (The copper thing)


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Copper converts H2S to Copper Sulfate. CuSO4 has no odor and is not soluble in beer so it precipitates out into the trub.
 
May have to try this with my Lemonade. My beer gets vigorously stirred while cooling so it gets plenty of oxygen, the process for making my lemonade is different an there is no cooling per say, I forgot that I needed to aerate it a bit first. Will have to see how well it dissipates in the bottles.
 
Copper converts H2S to Copper Sulfate. CuSO4 has no odor and is not soluble in beer so it precipitates out into the trub.

But isnt this the exact reason that fermentors, brite tanks and the like are always NOT copper? I was under the impression that the copper sulfate that was produces was pretty bad for us and that a portion still remains in solution and does not settle with the trub? I could be wrong.

Also...

"Copper is a problem post-fermentation because it catalyzes staling reactions, including the production of hydrogen peroxide and can oxidize the alcohols to aldehydes. Finished beer should not be stored in contact with copper, although serving beer with copper tubing in a jockey box should not be a problem, because of the short contact time immediately before serving." - John Palmer

So does this mean if he added a piece of copper pipe (like some do in the boil) that it will oxidize the beer?
 
A piece of copper in your carboy can work off the H2S...I've done it before with success.

If kegging you can also scrub out some fart smell by carbing/decarbing.

This is also done in winemaking by racking the wine through about 1 foot of copper tubing, the reaction is virtually instantaneous.
 
Copper Sulfate is poisonous, yes. In the infinitesimal amounts we're talking here, I wouldn't worry. Hell you can die from drinking too much water.....

Copper is reactive amd harder to clean and you have to be careful what you clean it with. I think stainless for vessels is always a winner.
 
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