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Smells like sulfur

Started by banjobrew, October 31, 2016, 11:35:56 AM

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banjobrew

I really did mess this up. I didn't even let the water sit overnight. I assumed I could just throw it in there and start brewing. I think I was reading from a winemaking website.

Is it worth seeing if this will clear up or just dump it and brew again?
Belfast Homebrewers.

Leann ull

@ Will I don't use the stuff!
@banjo Read from the beer making websites next time I guess, it will be fine has the potential for flaw for chlorinated water, you'll know soon enough, don't throw it out though.

Qs

Do you really need to leave it overnight? I always add before heating the strike and sparge water.

I read this on BYO

QuoteIn easy to use terms, a 1/2-gram Campden tablet can be used to dechlorinate 20 gallons of water. This reaction occurs very rapidly and all you really need to do is dissolve the metabisulfite in your water, let it sit for a minute or two and you are finished with the dechlorination process.

http://byo.com/american-amber-pale-ale/item/472-clearing-chloramine--historical-hopping-mr-wizard

SkiBeagle

Great sticky on HBT by AJDeLange:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=361073
Looks like you can add it a few seconds beforehand *as long as it dissolves*.
It will attack both Chlorine and Chloramine. Leaving it out overnight helps to dissipate Chlorine but it won't dissipate chloramine.

pob

Quote from: SkiBeagle on November 02, 2016, 08:43:06 PM
Looks like you can add it a few seconds beforehand *as long as it dissolves*.

Crush a tablet between two spoons into a powder. Then a good stir & it'll dissolve pretty easily (probably because we're brewing at room-ish temperatures for the water, ~20°C would make it easier to dissolve).

banjobrew

That's what I did, just dissolved it right before brewing. It's been five days now and it still smells and tastes of sulfur. In the interest of brewing in time for xmas I'm going to buck it out and brew again.
Belfast Homebrewers.

Qs

I wouldn't be overly worried about a smell of sulphur anyway. Usually sorts itself out. Give it an extra few days fermentation to clean up.

SkiBeagle

Agreeing with Qs. Way too early to decide if it's bad. Sulphur is normal for some yeasts/recipes. Perhaps post the recipe and a photo?

banjobrew

If only I could post the smell. It smells like sewage. Fair enough if I leave a sample out it loses the smell after a while.
Belfast Homebrewers.

bigvalen

I'm dead curious...How did this work out ? Usually a smell of sulphur is a good thing, as it's blowing sulphur out. But really, at boil time, that's when any free-ish sulphur should be turned to DMS and vaporised off.

Will; follow-up question... I though Irish water never has chloramine added. Would you need a lot of ammonia in the water to react with the added chlorine, to make chloramine?

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk


banjobrew

Quote from: bigvalen on January 04, 2017, 10:00:31 AM
I'm dead curious...How did this work out ? Usually a smell of sulphur is a good thing, as it's blowing sulphur out. But really, at boil time, that's when any free-ish sulphur should be turned to DMS and vaporised off.

Will; follow-up question... I though Irish water never has chloramine added. Would you need a lot of ammonia in the water to react with the added chlorine, to make chloramine?

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

I ended up bucking the batch out. It wasn't the sulfur smell you would expect (even for a lager) it smelled (smelt?) more like sewage. It could've dissapated with time but I doubt it. Defintely due to to much campden tablet.
Belfast Homebrewers.

Pheeel

Sewage suggests a bacterial infection. Clean, clean, clean!!!
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