2

In case it's relevant, here is the recipe:

Just finished my first batch of beer. It has a very... bad, some might egg (?) smell to it. I'm wondering if there's any point to age it or just toss it and try again.

Thoughts?

1.25 kg of wheat malt
1.25 kg of pilsener malt
Mash at 67°C for 60 min
0.4 oz Hallertau Hops for 60 min
Ferment with Wyeast 3068 weihenstephan

OG 1.052
FG 1.013

suspiciously bad looking and smelling batch

3 Answers 3

7

Sounds like what you're smelling is some sort of sulfur compound. That's pretty common with that particular strain of yeast. It will eventually age out. How long ago did you brew the beer? What temp did it ferment at?

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  • Hi Denny, thank you for the feedback. I brewed the beer 7 days ago at around 23°C.
    – Eytan
    Commented Oct 25, 2014 at 16:42
  • In that case, you're worrying way too soon. I wouldn't even think about that beer for at least another 2 weeks. In addition, the high fermentation temp will exacerbate the aromas you're smelling. Give it some time and you'll likely be fine.
    – Denny Conn
    Commented Oct 26, 2014 at 16:01
  • 1
    Hey Denny, sorry it took so long but wanted to confirm your answer but I had to wait until I conditioned, bottled, and finally tasted. You were right, the final result was quite palatable. Thank you for chiming in with your experience :)
    – Eytan
    Commented Dec 3, 2014 at 22:05
  • Glad it worked out!
    – Denny Conn
    Commented Dec 4, 2014 at 17:01
1

There's a few smells you should worry about, because you're smelling the liquid. For instance, a vinegary smell (suggests acetobacter infection).

There are other smells that you should not worry about, because you're smelling the gas leaving the liquid. For instance, sulphur. Most smells during fermentation are in this category, actually.

Remember, you don't drink your beer from the fermenter. What matters is how your beer tastes from the glass. And with a (very) few exceptions, that has nothing to do with the outgassing from your airlock. What you're smelling is the stuff that doesn't end up in your beer, not the stuff that does.

0

I agree with Denny that it's way too soon to worry about your beer. Also, when it's all said and done, it will be VERY obvious if your beer went bad - not just a smell, taste too. I would also recommend that next time you either brew a bigger batch or ferment in a smaller vessel. When you expose your beer to more air, you're less likely to build the CO2 barrier that protects your fermenting beer from foreign bacteria.

As far as the look of your beer, I think that color is normal. Some of the cloudiness should dissipate with time. Activity in the airlock is also usually a good sign.

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