Wyeast 3638 And H2s

[brewerben]

Hi all,

This is my first post, but I've been learning off you guys for quite a while!

On Thursday I pitched a Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat into 2 batches (both all grain), a 25L Hefeweizen and 25L Dunkleweizen, I'd made a 5L starter culture (with some light DME) to get the yeast ready because the yeast was 6 months old and also I wanted to innoculate 50L instead of the recommended 25L.

The culture started to get a bit of a rotten egg (hydrogen sulphide) smell just prior to pitching, and having brewed a few lagers that ended up OK I wasn't too concerned. So far all smells really good from the ferments, but I just wanted to find out if anyone else had experience with Wyeast 3638 and if they had any H2S??? I've never experienced it with an ale yeast before.

Thanks,

Ben

 

[Kai]

It can be a sign that the yeast is a bit stressed and unhealthy, might just be because you had an old pack. Sounds like the ferments are ok though.

 

[brewerben]

It can be a sign that the yeast is a bit stressed and unhealthy, might just be because you had an old pack. Sounds like the ferments are ok though.

Yeah, you're probably right and I did notice a slight hint of it when i smelt the inside of the smack pack after pitching it into the culture

 

[kirem]

It could simply be the starter culture ran out of FAN - Nitrogen and had to break down some other sources to get the nitrogen and produced volatile sulphur compounds, once added to the wort there would be a new source of FAN and the yeast will be happy again. As far as I know, most malt base fermentations rarely need nitrogen supplements. Kai do your LC experiences support this?

 

[Kai]

Aye, though some people might add it to starter worts.