Why is sulfur smell happening after botteling?

[MusicalBrewer]

So I've brewed the same Orange Honey Wheat two times now. The first go around I split the batch and fermented half with US-05 and half with WB-06. Both tasted and smelled fine out of the fermenter. After 3 weeks in the bottle the US-05 turned out amazing, but the WB-06 had the awful sulfur smell and taste. The sulfur gradually faded, but never totally disappeared (only lasted 5 weeks).

The second time I tried the same grain bill again and used WB-06 again for the entire batch. Again it had an amazing taste just out of the fermenter. I decided I would periodically test the bottles to see if the sulfur showed up again. After just 4 days being bottled the beer tasted amazing--one of the best I've had. After 7 days, however, the sulfur smell showed up and the beer didn't taste nearly as good. It's only been in the bottle 11 days now, and is still sulfur ridden. I know allowing time can help, but I'm trying to sort out why this is happening and if it's normal.

Here's my grain bill and other specifics.

55% white wheat
40% 2-row
5% honey malt

Orange Zest added with 5 minutes left in boil

Used Beersmith calculator to determine amount of yeast to pitch (date on package taken into account). Pitched WB-06 at 75 degrees. No starter. Let sit on top of wort for 30 minutes then vigorously shook fermenter to aerate (per Safbrew instructions).

Fermented 14 days at 62 degrees (temperature controlled fridge). Checked gravity to make sure fermenting was complete prior to cold crash & bottling.

Cold crased (second batch only) for 2 days.

I let the beer bottle condition at 75 degrees for 3 weeks, usually sampling a bottle at 7 days and 21 days to test.

OG was 1.044 (first batch) and 1.045 (second batch), and both FG were 1.009.

From what I've read the sulfur smell can happen in wheat beer, but people usually say the sulfur smell is present in the fermenter. Mine had no sulfur smell or taste until after bottling. And I can't figure out why at 4 days in the bottle it would taste amazing, and at 7 days the sulfur would appear. Any help on what's happening would be appreciated.

 

[rdbrett]

I will be interested in seeing what some say on this. I have an Oktoberfest and have noticed a sulfur aroma in them.

 

[highgravitybacon]

So I've brewed the same Orange Honey Wheat two times now. The first go around I split the batch and fermented half with US-05 and half with WB-06. Both tasted and smelled fine out of the fermenter. After 3 weeks in the bottle the US-05 turned out amazing, but the WB-06 had the awful sulfur smell and taste. The sulfur gradually faded, but never totally disappeared (only lasted 5 weeks).

The second time I tried the same grain bill again and used WB-06 again for the entire batch. Again it had an amazing taste just out of the fermenter. I decided I would periodically test the bottles to see if the sulfur showed up again. After just 4 days being bottled the beer tasted amazing--one of the best I've had. After 7 days, however, the sulfur smell showed up and the beer didn't taste nearly as good. It's only been in the bottle 11 days now, and is still sulfur ridden. I know allowing time can help, but I'm trying to sort out why this is happening and if it's normal.

Here's my grain bill and other specifics.

55% white wheat
40% 2-row
5% honey malt

Orange Zest added with 5 minutes left in boil

Used Beersmith calculator to determine amount of yeast to pitch (date on package taken into account). Pitched WB-06 at 75 degrees. No starter. Let sit on top of wort for 30 minutes then vigorously shook fermenter to aerate (per Safbrew instructions).

Fermented 14 days at 62 degrees (temperature controlled fridge). Checked gravity to make sure fermenting was complete prior to cold crash & bottling.

Cold crased (second batch only) for 2 days.

I let the beer bottle condition at 75 degrees for 3 weeks, usually sampling a bottle at 7 days and 21 days to test.

OG was 1.044 (first batch) and 1.045 (second batch), and both FG were 1.009.

From what I've read the sulfur smell can happen in wheat beer, but people usually say the sulfur smell is present in the fermenter. Mine had no sulfur smell or taste until after bottling. And I can't figure out why at 4 days in the bottle it would taste amazing, and at 7 days the sulfur would appear. Any help on what's happening would be appreciated.

I get this too with wheat beer yeasts like 3068 and wlp380. It _only_ happens after about a week in the bottle. I think it has to do with inadequate conditioning. My next beer will be cold crashed for about a week at 32f then raised to room temp for two days prior to bottling.

It also could be that the little bit of sulfur normally produced by the yeast, which would otherwise escape to the atmosphere during fermentation gets trapped. In which case bottle conditioning will always cause this. Perhaps a week of cold conditioning, treatment with isinglass, then dosing with us-05 or something would alleviate the sulfur since it would do the bulk of bottle fermentation.

 

[MusicalBrewer]

I get this too with wheat beer yeasts like 3068 and wlp380. It _only_ happens after about a week in the bottle. I think it has to do with inadequate conditioning. My next beer will be cold crashed for about a week at 32f then raised to room temp for two days prior to bottling.

It also could be that the little bit of sulfur normally produced by the yeast, which would otherwise escape to the atmosphere during fermentation gets trapped. In which case bottle conditioning will always cause this. Perhaps a week of cold conditioning, treatment with isinglass, then dosing with us-05 or something would alleviate the sulfur since it would do the bulk of bottle fermentation.

Well I'm glad it's not just me who this has happened to.

Something is happening during bottle conditioning--I agree with this. But there are loads people who use WB-06, 3068, and wlp380. If sulfur was an issue with these yeasts during bottle conditioning, then this would be a wide spread problem. Since it doesn't seem to be an issue, I'm guessing that I'm doing something improperly that is causing the sulfur.

Could you explain what you mean by "inadequate conditioning". Is that lack of priming sugar, temperature fluctuation, or....

I like your idea of cold crashing for a week. I'll give that a try with my next batch that I use WB-06 and see if that helps.