Wlp300 And Sulphur

[liberty_nz]

Hi,
I have now tried two wheat beers with a lack of success - both have suffered from the same problem, a massive amount of sulphur being vented off during the ferment.
For the first batch, I used wyeast 3068 (made a 1 litre starter, fermented at 20 degrees). It was an absolute sulphur bomb so went down the drain.
The second one is using whitelabs wlp300 (made a 2 litre starter, fermented at 20 degrees) and also has a large amount of sulphur but not as pronounced as the first.
Does anyone experience the same sort of thing with the Weihenstephan wheat yeasts? Is it just a case of yeast stress?
I didn't try lagering the last one but might try with this version but i can't stand sulphur aroma and taste in beer.
Any hints or tips appreciated...
Thanks.

 

[Steve]

Not sure Liberty. Im using 3068 for the first time at the moment with a wheat (still in primary). There are no sulphur smells (or tastes) whatsover. Made a 1.5 litre starter and brewing at 18-20 also.
Cheers
Steve

P.S. Welcome to AHB!

 

[PostModern]

Are you sure it's not just phenols you're getting out of the 300? I fermented a batch at 19 and it was clovey as all hell.

 

[Malnourished]

And did you toss out a batch based on the smell of primary fermentation alone, or am I misreading that?

Sulphur is a pretty normal smell during fermentation, it rarely ends up in the finished product in my experience.

 

[Screwtop]

If you're looking to produce nice banana and clove esters from wheat yeast then it must be stressed a little by underpitching, ferment at 20 - 22. Be sure to use 60% wheat in the grist and no whirlfloc for a hefe style. Weihenstephan is best for a hefe style as it remains in suspension better than other wheat yeast strains. Has great banana and bubblegum aroma also.

 

[liberty_nz]

And did you toss out a batch based on the smell of primary fermentation alone, or am I misreading that?

Sulphur is a pretty normal smell during fermentation, it rarely ends up in the finished product in my experience.

Yep, ditched the first batch purely on smell - I thought it was infected as I haven't had that with any of my other beers!
It is definetly sulphur and not phenols. It's a warm ferment and is producing a good proportion of banana. I will try lagering this one and see if it remedies but I am quite sensitive to sulphur.
I'm not a fan of Marston's or any other Burton IPA's either!

 

[Malnourished]

Yep, ditched the first batch purely on smell - I thought it was infected as I haven't had that with any of my other beers!
It is definetly sulphur and not phenols. It's a warm ferment and is producing a good proportion of banana. I will try lagering this one and see if it remedies but I am quite sensitive to sulphur.
I'm not a fan of Marston's or any other Burton IPA's either!

I've got a weizenbock fermenting with this very yeast right now - smelled the airlock last night and there's definitely sulphur, so you're not alone.

That said, throwing out an entire beer based on a sulphur smell coming out of the airlock is insane!! Never throw out a beer based on the smell of primary fermentation (unless it smells like vinegar, perhaps) - yeast throws off all kinds of crazy stuff. Let it ferment, mature a bit, then maybe think about throwing it out. And like I said, sulphur is pretty normal. RDWHAHB and all that.

 

[liberty_nz]

I've got a weizenbock fermenting with this very yeast right now - smelled the airlock last night and there's definitely sulphur, so you're not alone.

Thanks Mal - good to know that it wasn't a technique thing. Will no longer chuck out after 1-ary frementation.

So with you Weizenbock I am interested to know your starting gravity and if you repitched/reused a previous batch of wlp300 slurry.
I'm looking for further recipe ideas now to make the most of my wlp300

 

[Malnourished]

So with you Weizenbock I am interested to know your starting gravity and if you repitched/reused a previous batch of wlp300 slurry.
I'm looking for further recipe ideas now to make the most of my wlp300

OG was 1.067 or something, and yes I repitched some of the slurry from a previous batch. I think I've been overpitching this yeast because the beers are coming out way too plain, so be wary of that. Grain bill was roughly equal parts pale wheat, dark wheat and Munich with a bit of light DME thrown in.

Other possibilities would include dunkelweizens and roggenbier, or something a bit more wacky like dampfbier.

Edit: and rauchweizen!! How could I forget that??!!