egg smell?

[drinkdrankpunk]

Sorry in advance if this has been asked before.
I brewed a pliney clone on the 14th of December. everything went pretty well I think. I transferred to secondary today with all of the dry hops but I just smelled the airlock and it has a pretty bad egg smell. What would cause that smell? is it from adding the hops to the secondary?
This is my first batch in about 2 years and I really want this to come out good to get me back in the game.

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

From How to Brew:
Cause 1: Yeast Strain*Rotten egg odors (hydrogen sulfide) can have two common causes: the yeast strain and bacteria. Many lager yeast strains produce noticeable amounts of hydrogen sulfide during fermentation. The smell and any sulfur taste will dissipate during lagering.*
Cure:*Let the beer condition or lager for a few weeks after primary fermentation.

Cause 2: Bacteria*Bacterial infections can also produce sulfury odors and if you are not brewing a lager beer, then this is a good sign that you have an infection.
Cure:*Let the fermentation complete and then taste it before bottling to see if it is infected. Toss it if it is.

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

just some other info I guess I could have put in first post.

yeast was wyeast 1056
stayed at between 68 and 70F during fermentation
OG was 1.086

hops added to secondary
3oz Columbus
1oz centennial
1oz simcoe

 

[Paradingbull]

More than likely it is from the yeast fermenting. Have noticed it many times. It goes away with a little time. FYI, most on here rarely bother with a secondary and would dry hop right in the primary. Less risk of oxidation or infection, and less effort! Good luck with your beer.

 

[Seismogenic]

Hope you don't mind me hopping in on someone else's troubleshooting thread, but I have a similar question, so!

Yesterday, I tested (and shared) some of the dunkelweizen I brewed on Thanksgiving. My impression - which was also the consensus of my friends who tested it - was that it had a little bit of a stinky sulfur smell, but that it actually tasted pretty good.

Could this be a similar issue of just not enough conditioning time? (Or should I have waited longer than two weeks to bottle it?)
Or...could this have been somehow related to the minor fermenter cap explosion that happened the day after I brewed?

(For the record, 1 gallon batch, WLP300, two weeks in primary at ~70F.)

Thanks!

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

More than likely it is from the yeast fermenting. Have noticed it many times. It goes away with a little time. FYI, most on here rarely bother with a secondary and would dry hop right in the primary. Less risk of oxidation or infection, and less effort! Good luck with your beer.

yeah I don't think I have ever racked to a secondary before when I was brewing, but this one had tons of gunk in it and I kind of felt like I needed to get it off and away from all of that. plus I had to add 5 more oz of hops to it so I racked it. hopefully I will have a keg set up here by the end of the week and I can keg it and see what I got.

 

[unionrdr]

As for seismogenic, two weeks may likely have not been enough for the hydrogen sulfide to dissipate. Also, it could've used more bottle conditioning time lacking sufficient primary clean up time. But in either case, yeast esters from some yeasts produce that rotten egg smell during fermentation that dissipates with time.

 

[Seismogenic]

As for seismogenic, two weeks may likely have not been enough for the hydrogen sulfide to dissipate. Also, it could've used more bottle conditioning time lacking sufficient primary clean up time. But in either case, yeast esters from some yeasts produce that rotten egg smell during fermentation that dissipates with time.

Thanks for the quick answer and tips!

I figured it'd be ok to bottle since FG had been reached, but I definitely hadn't even known to wait longer for hydrogen sulfide to get out of there. Is there a rule of thumb for how long to wait on this, or is it more a matter of giving the beer an occasional sniff to see how things are going?

I have a few more bottles of this first batch left. I'll definitely wait longer on those. Maybe I'll open one every two weeks to see how long it takes for the stink to die down...

 

[unionrdr]

Well, first of all, keep initial fermentation temps down into the yeasts comfort zone, or sweet spot. Then when FG is reached, give it another 3 to 7 days to clean up by-products of fermentation. Then package. By the time they're ready for the fridge, that smell should be gone.

 

[Seismogenic]

My apartment has the happy temperature for that yeast covered, but I definitely only waited three days after reaching FG before bottling. Oops! Next time, I'll be sure to give it a full seven.

The bottles I have left have not been put in the fridge yet, so hopefully that means the smell hasn't been locked in. I'll give them several more weeks before I put them in there.

Thanks again!

 

[unionrdr]

You're welcome. At least a week or two more, then try it.