wlp300 sulfur bomb

[Fat_Bastard]

I recently brewed a hefe using wlp300 for the first time,2liter starter,fermented at 71 degrees trying to get some banana flavor and aroma.
It finished at 1.010 and I kegged it after 8 days.I get little to no banana or clove, just fairly neutral flavor but the sulfur odor is bad.I have tried purging back through the liquid side with co2 several times to no avail.it's been almost 3 weeks in the keg and the odor is still there.
whats the secret to using this yeast?besides the sulfur, i'm disappointed with lack of any banana or clove from it.

 

[RmikeVT]

Jamil Zainasheff reports the secret is 62*.

Did you make a starter?
Was 71 ambient or Ferm temp?

I have had good experiences with WLP300. I was a sulfur bomb when fermenting, but I didn't taste that in the beer. I think 71 might have been a bit high.

 

[jwalker1140]

There's a video on the Northern Brewer website with a guy from either Wyeast or WL and he said esters and phenols (i.e., banana and clove flavors) are driven more by pitching rate than fermentation temp. A lower pitching rate gives more, a higher pitching rate gives less.

That's consistent with my experience as using 1 vial w/o a starter gives me more banana/clove than the one time I made a 1-liter starter. Your experience seems to support this too.

Next time you may want to wait until the sulfur odor goes away before packaging. This may take 2-3 weeks but it will go away, at least by my experience. I've heard that the sulfur odor may never go away once the beer has been packaged.

 

[llama_boy]

I recently did a side by side compare of WLP300 and WLP351. Used a 50/50 wheat/barley bill with a bit of Cara Munich added. Fermented at 68*. The only smell coming from the chamber was banana. The final result was a banana popsicle from the WLP300 and a mild hefe from the WLP351 with a slight tartness.

These were brewed based on some recent information I collected from a professional brewing symposium. I went with a high pH mash using calk to "liven up" the Weissbier, a longer boil to add some phenols (clove), and reduced the O2 to 1/2 with a light pitch of yeast. The brewer insisted that stressing the yeast offers delicious results for this style. I can only agree.. FWIW the brewer starts fermentation into a 68* knockout and lets it rise to 72*. I missed this in my notes and also only performed a 90min boil compared to the 120-150min he suggested. I assume this is why my clove character is subdued. If you happen to ever be in Denver check out the Wiessbier at Prost and you will discover nirvana in the form of a banana/clove popsicle. The brewer has won GABF silver 2x and gold 1x in this style.

 

[rmaloney86]

There's a video on the Northern Brewer website with a guy from either Wyeast or WL and he said esters and phenols (i.e., banana and clove flavors) are driven more by pitching rate than fermentation temp. A lower pitching rate gives more, a higher pitching rate gives less.

That's consistent with my experience as using 1 vial w/o a starter gives me more banana/clove than the one time I made a 1-liter starter. Your experience seems to support this too.

Next time you may want to wait until the sulfur odor goes away before packaging. This may take 2-3 weeks but it will go away, at least by my experience. I've heard that the sulfur odor may never go away once the beer has been packaged.

This I believe is spot on, it is true also that a higher fermentation temp lends to more banana esters and lower temps leave more of a clove. Pitch rate the more important part. What are you using for fermentation control? If you did a starter and you are relying on ambient temperatures, as quickly furious as WLP300 ferments its likely that that temperature shot up several degrees.

 

[spenghali]

I agree with the pitching rate being to high, a 2L starter is grossly over pitching for a hef. I usually make a PINT starter (~1/2 L) when making this style.

 

[Fat_Bastard]

thanks for the input! I use a thermowell in conjunction with a 2 stage controller, fermwrap and fridge.
I think next time I will try under pitching and start at 68 and ramp up to 72.I will also do a 3 week primary and periodically try to degas it.

 

[TexanRudeboy]

Bottled AHS Bavarian Hefe a week and a half ago using WLP300 on a 1 1/2 L starter. Had it steady at 66-68 degrees. Threw a ton of sulphur smell out of the blow off during the fervent fermentation stage, but it was non existent after the krausen fell. Bottled after 13 days in primary. FG said it was ready after 8, but I wanted to see the krausen fall first. I bottled a few days after it fell. Still doesn't taste ready, only in the bottles a little over a week, but no sulphur. Definitely some banana and bubblegum, but not picking up much clove. I have a hard time detecting spice notes in beer though. My first brew BTW.

Don't know if or how it helps, but this is my experience.

 

[rmaloney86]

Skip to 15:30 Great info! 13 million cells per milliliter for more clove, 6 million cells per milliliter for more banana. I think that equals out to close to 125 billion yeast cells for a standard 5.5 gallon into the fermenter for banana. and 270ish for more clove.

 

[jwalker1140]

Skip to 15:30 Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEkwp_2Yezo Great info! 13 million cells per milliliter for more clove, 6 million cells per milliliter for more banana. I think that equals out to close to 125 billion yeast cells for a standard 5.5 gallon into the fermenter for banana. and 270ish for more clove.

Yup, that's the video. Great info.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Skip to 15:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEkwp_2Yezo Great info! 13 million cells per milliliter for more clove, 6 million cells per milliliter for more banana. I think that equals out to close to 125 billion yeast cells for a standard 5.5 gallon into the fermenter for banana. and 270ish for more clove.

"We recommend pitching high and pitching cold. Grain of salt: we sell yeast."

LMAO..that's one smart dude. I learned a ton from that video thanks!

 

[Deneb]

I am glad that I found this thread but wish I had seen it a few days earlier. That is the nice thing about an avocation such as this. Always something to learn. I just started my 3rd decoction rye yesterday and today the whole house smells less than pleasant. Although the third one I have brewed it is the first that I pitched a 1200 ml starter of WLP351. I have noted the banana esters in the past while pitching a single tube. I will have to keep that in mind for my next one. I had planned on extra time fermenting and conditioning anyway. Trying to time filling all of my kegs for a visit from my brothers in several weeks.


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