# Rotten Egg Fart Smell...



## slowlearner (14/5/08)

Arvo all.
i put down a cascade pale ale kit using brewcrafts #10 blend with saflager yeast on sunday, has been fermenting at approx 18-17 deg since then.....
just went into the room with the carboy in it and it smells like someone dropped the mother of all egg-and-lettuce farts. :blink: 
I'm guessing the brew is stuffed / infected. Could it be cos of the safLAGER yeast in a ale kit? Maybe with cascade being a slow brewing kit (going by their brochure in the kit), the saf yeast is not reacting well?????
will be tossing it in next few days and doing a cooper skit, it's for the brother-in-law, so not overly worried about it, just curious.......
thoughts anyone??????


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## pokolbinguy (14/5/08)

From memory smell is sulphur, I know in winemaking that this smell is not good and I would assume the same with beer. 

What does the krausen (top of the ferment) look like?

Pok


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## petesbrew (14/5/08)

slowlearner said:


> Arvo all.
> i put down a cascade pale ale kit using brewcrafts #10 blend with saflager yeast on sunday, has been fermenting at approx 18-17 deg since then.....
> just went into the room with the carboy in it and it smells like someone dropped the mother of all egg-and-lettuce farts. :blink:
> I'm guessing the brew is stuffed / infected. Could it be cos of the safLAGER yeast in a ale kit? Maybe with cascade being a slow brewing kit (going by their brochure in the kit), the saf yeast is not reacting well?????
> ...


Don't chuck it yet mate. I've had a few that smelt like that and it could just be a characteristic of the lager yeast. Wait for other responses and try it first.


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## AlwayzLoozeCount (14/5/08)

slowlearner said:


> Arvo all.
> i put down a cascade pale ale kit using brewcrafts #10 blend with saflager yeast on sunday, has been fermenting at approx 18-17 deg since then.....
> just went into the room with the carboy in it and it smells like someone dropped the mother of all egg-and-lettuce farts. :blink:
> I'm guessing the brew is stuffed / infected. Could it be cos of the safLAGER yeast in a ale kit? Maybe with cascade being a slow brewing kit (going by their brochure in the kit), the saf yeast is not reacting well?????
> ...



dont chuck it, lager yeast smells like fart while its fermenting, your bottles might have fart smell for up to three months after you bottle them, just hang on they will come good.


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## Dave86 (14/5/08)

Its got nothing to do with the kit itself, I'd say its either an infection or just the lager yeast being fermented too warm. I haven't made many lagers (currently doing my second) but it sounds like the yeast is too warm and is producing a shedload of sulphur. Lager yeast should probably be no warmer than 12 C, especially the S-23 from what I've read. What saflager do you have?

The cascade blurb refers to their yeast, not the kit itself.

Hope that helps

Dave


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## kabooby (14/5/08)

It almost certainly is the sulfur produced from the lager yeast at high temps. Its to late now to drop the temp as the critical part of fermentation is almost past. The sulfur smell should go with time. If you have the ability to lager the beer after fermentation this will help in cleaning up these flavours

Kabooby :icon_cheers:


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## stm (14/5/08)

Rotten egg gas smell is perfectly normal with lager yeasts and will dissipate over time. RDWHAHB!


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## jendres (14/5/08)

stm said:


> Rotten egg gas smell is perfectly normal with lager yeasts and will dissipate over time. RDWHAHB!



+1

The smell will dissipate. Maybe that is why you should lager a lager?


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## Fourstar (14/5/08)

Yes the Sulfur would be from the lager yeast fermented at temperatures too high. 

As stated, you need to lager a lager but it should dissipate as long as the brew hasn't been light stuck heavily as well as this has a sulfur scent aswell too.

Taken From bjcp.org exam guide.

"Lastly, there are several sulfur compounds that can be produced by the yeast. One of these is hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs. Other sulfur compounds exist, but their production is not yet completely understood"


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## sumo (14/5/08)

I know the smell is concerning, given if I eat a dozen pickled onions, eggs, and a quart of milk (i'm lactose intolerant) my fart smells bad, like dead rat bad, but that is the smell you want for your lager with Sflager 23. Indeed the smell makes a great bier!


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## boingk (14/5/08)

+ 162,401 Yeah man, its fine. Once chucked a perfectly good lager batch that smelt fine until I took off the lid for bottling...and my God was I irritated when I remembered it as I was pouring the thing down the crapper! BAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!


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## Kleiny (14/5/08)

no such thing as an ale kit
what makes it an ale or lager is the yeast
top or bottom fermenting respectively

so if you used saflager then it is a lager 
bottle it and keep it below 10C for a couple of months and it will be a great beer

kleiny


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## dmcke109 (14/5/08)

Whatever you do, def do not throw the beer out. Saflager yeasts (and I have been using them for a couple of years now) produce this rotten egg smell. You are brewing at quite a high tempreture for a lager yeast though, in future, to get the best out of the yeast and produce a better, more lager like beer, try brewing at a lower temp (say around 12 deg C).

This rotten egg smell will disappear when you 'lager' the beer i.e. when you either keg the beer and force carbonate or you bottle it and store for at least 2 weeks (but preferably up to 12 weeks).

Cheers and good luck.......... 



slowlearner said:


> Arvo all.
> i put down a cascade pale ale kit using brewcrafts #10 blend with saflager yeast on sunday, has been fermenting at approx 18-17 deg since then.....
> just went into the room with the carboy in it and it smells like someone dropped the mother of all egg-and-lettuce farts. :blink:
> I'm guessing the brew is stuffed / infected. Could it be cos of the safLAGER yeast in a ale kit? Maybe with cascade being a slow brewing kit (going by their brochure in the kit), the saf yeast is not reacting well?????
> ...


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## slowlearner (14/5/08)

thanx all for responses.
in the process of making a cooling set-up from a shallow tray with water in it, a towel wrapped around it soaking up the water and a water-feature pump circulating the water to the top of the fermenter. hoping to bring temp down a few more deg to better improve the lagers......

from memory was a saflager s-23. haven't kept any info on it for future ref as i normally do as it's not going in my guts like i said earlier.

was thinking of keeping a six pack just to see how it went long term, but after all the advise will grin and bear it with the whole batch......


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## Cocko (14/5/08)

+1 its the lager yeast running a bit warm....


Don't tip it, I will come around and rack it into my secondary and take back to my place for further analysis


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## tazman1967 (15/5/08)

All lager yeast smell like rotten egg gas. 
Kit yeast on a "lager kit" are mostly ale yeasts..if its a true lager yeast well it will be stuffed more than likely...by all the time its been sitting around in storage, on the docks, at the HBS. So..ditch it and go a Saf profile lager yeast.
I ferment primary at 11C in my temp controlled fridge for 2 weeks min. rack off..put into fridge to "lager" for min. 2 weeks....best for 4 weeks. Condition in bottle for at lest 8 weeks..better as time goes on.
When I bottle at 4 weeks lagering..they are clear as..still have the smell, but time removes this.


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## wyatt_girth (15/5/08)

This might ease your troubled mind Link


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## andrewg1978 (15/5/08)

tazman1967 said:


> All lager yeast smell like rotten egg gas.
> Kit yeast on a "lager kit" are mostly ale yeasts..if its a true lager yeast well it will be stuffed more than likely...by all the time its been sitting around in storage, on the docks, at the HBS. So..ditch it and go a Saf profile lager yeast.
> I ferment primary at 11C in my temp controlled fridge for 2 weeks min. rack off..put into fridge to "lager" for min. 2 weeks....best for 4 weeks. Condition in bottle for at lest 8 weeks..better as time goes on.
> When I bottle at 4 weeks lagering..they are clear as..still have the smell, but time removes this.



*Don't just ditch it*, I would sample a little bit first. If it tastes OK let it go its course, but if it tastes off then think about tipping it. Re the above +1, but I keg after 1st fermenation and sit for approx 1 week and is fine to drink I think this replaces the racking step. Can sometimes be a little cloudy but as I said tastes A1.


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## slowlearner (16/5/08)

thanx for the link wyatt-girth; looks like a good source of info all round.....


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## wyatt_girth (16/5/08)

slowlearner said:


> thanx for the link wyatt-girth; looks like a good source of info all round.....




No prob. Tamworth eh? I was born and raised in and around there myself - Tamworth, Kooty, Dungowan. Ah yes, brings a tear to the eye.


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## pmolou (17/5/08)

a bit off topic but i'm fermenting a saison atm and it smells like rotten egg is this normal as its obviously not a lager fermented at 22celcius so far but heard it needs to go up to around 28 to finish fermenting or is this smell just pure saison?


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## Steve (18/5/08)

tazman1967 said:


> All lager yeast smell like rotten egg gas.



Ive only found it with W34/70. S189 certainly doesnt from my experiences with it?
Cheers
Steve


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## stevenk (18/5/08)

great lol thats the yeast im using for my morgans blue mnt lager next lol dont tell me my whole back room will reek of ceedy fart smell ??
ha.


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## slowlearner (4/6/08)

wyatt_girth said:


> No prob. Tamworth eh? I was born and raised in and around there myself - Tamworth, Kooty, Dungowan. Ah yes, brings a tear to the eye.




:icon_offtopic: just 'cos I lives here doesn't means I comes from here. Ah to north of the border once more.......
you're right about the kooty / dungowan bringing a tear to the eye, especially what they do to their kin-folk out that way on those long cold nights......can ya hear the banjoes playing???? :blink:


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