My Oktoberfest stinks

Yeast & Fermentation
1

Okay, so maybe it’s a little late to start an Oktoberfest, and at this point, I’m looking at a Novemberfest, but I was still looking forward to it.

Anyhow, brewing this beer has been a series of problems.

I bought a 5-gallon extract kit (this one

) back in very early June, but due to a family emergency, didn’t get around to brewing it until a few days ago (almost two full months of the crushed grains just sitting around, getting stale).

Also–and I think this is part of my problem–at some point my little mini-fridge where I keep my brewing supplies tripped its breaker, and I didn’t notice until I opened it up to check on my my hop supplies. Then I found that everything was room temperature (about 75 degrees here in MN), including the yeast that I was going to use for my Oktoberfest (a vial of White Labs WLP820). My best guess is that it spent at least a full week at room temperature, but probably 2 or 3 weeks. I cleaned up the fridge, got it powered up again, and put the yeast back in, and it was refrigerated for another two weeks before I brewed my starter.

I brewed a starter (a little under 1/2 lb. of plain DME in 2 liters of water), and that seemed to go fine. But for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to keep a lager starter at room temperature, so it sat for about 72 hours over the weekend at 75 degrees, getting an hourly (roughly, and only when I was awake) swirl by hand. It smelled a little fruity but otherwise fine, and I figured things would mellow out once I got it in the wort and down to the right temp.

I pitched it at 55-ish degrees on Sunday afternoon and let it sit sealed up but not refrigerated overnight. There was regular airlock activity the next morning, so I tossed it into the lager fridge and brought it down to 55 degrees (from probably about 70-ish) over about 12 hours, and now it’s sitting between 52 and 55 degrees, depending on how long it’s been since the compressor kicked on.

When I checked last night, I thought I caught a whiff of something sulfury, like rotten eggs, but the dog was hanging out with me, so I blamed it on him. Then when I opened up the lager fridge (a chest freezer with an external thermostat), I was greeted with an overpowering blast of sulfury stink, and it’s definitely coming from the airlock.

Also, I don’t recall–and I don’t think I did–but I may have tossed a vial of ClarityFerm in when I pitched the yeast. I had a few vials left over from an attempt to brew a beer for a gluten-intolerant friend 6 months ago, so I’ve been putting them in random beers (doesn’t seem to affect the flavor at all), but I want to say I decided against it for this batch, since lagers come out nice and clear, anyway. But neither of the two that I know got the ClarityFerm have this funky smell.

I haven’t opened up the bucket, because I figure if it’s infected, there’s nothing I can do now, and if it’s not infected, opening up the bucket just risks letting the bugs get in. So I have no clue if things are going along like normal in the bucket, or if there’s a dead rat floating in the beer.

Is this stench normal for an Oktoberfest? I’ve never made an Oktoberfest before, but this is my fifth or sixth lager, and none of them–nor any of the 100+ ales I’ve brewed–have ever smelled this bad. I’ve brewed a few ciders, and they can start out kind of stinky, but in that case, I just stir in some yeast nutrient, and the problem is solved. Should I do that here? Or anything else? Or should I just rely on my innate laziness, and just leave it alone for three months, and if it sucks then, I can be sad about it at that time?

2

Some lager yeasts smell pretty bad, but the beer ends up good.

3

Fine to do your lager starter at room temp.

Yes, Lager yeasts put off sulfur smell during fermentation. Totally normal.

Temps should not effect your brew supplies - I would say, no big deal.

Fermentation Temps seem a little high to me. I cool as low as I can (55 is pretty good) but I set my temp. controller at about 49/50 and leave it there for almost 3 weeks, before bringing it up to mid 60’s fo a couple days at the end.

You need to get it down to about 50 as soon as you can after chilling and leave it there for about 3 weeks. (assuming you are using a lager yeast)

4

Hmm… Overall, that’s pretty promising, but I have one question/statement:

The yeast says that it’s optimal temperature is 52-58, so I just set the thermostat to the middle of the range and hoped for the best.

In the winter, I just leave it out in the garage, where the temperature fluctuates between 45 and 50, and things have gone swimmingly, so far, but I’ve been happy to just ignore thingsfor a few months.

I’ve always tired to follow the yeast’s optimal temperatures, but I’ve never had much of a problem, so long as I kept it under the optimal range (over has lead to banana bread ale, or worse). Should I ignore the optimal range in this case, or…?

5

Sulfur smell is normal. Ride it out and see what happens. I’m sure it will be fine. It may be a little estery from the higher fermentation temperature, but longer lagering time would help with that. I’m sure you’ll still turn out good beer. Lagers are awesome! Shame they require so much more patience…

6

[quote=“Braufessor”]Fine to do your lager starter at room temp.

Yes, Lager yeasts put off sulfur smell during fermentation. Totally normal.

Temps should not effect your brew supplies - I would say, no big deal.

Fermentation Temps seem a little high to me. I cool as low as I can (55 is pretty good) but I set my temp. controller at about 49/50 and leave it there for almost 3 weeks, before bringing it up to mid 60’s fo a couple days at the end.

You need to get it down to about 50 as soon as you can after chilling and leave it there for about 3 weeks. (assuming you are using a lager yeast)[/quote]

I completely agree with all of these statements.

7

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but when I was learning to brew, it always helped me to know what the outcome of a particular situation was.

I finally kegged the Oktoberfest (it’s a Februarifest now), after a lengthy lagering period in my brew fridge (at about 35 degrees).

Results: It tastes and smells sweet, malty, and a little biscuity–exactly like what you would expect from a good Oktoberfest. It’s a beautiful, deep, clear, rich amber color. I’m extremely pleased with the way it turned out.

8

[quote=“NinjaBob”]Sorry to resurrect this thread, but when I was learning to brew, it always helped me to know what the outcome of a particular situation was.

I finally kegged the Oktoberfest (it’s a Februarifest now), after a lengthy lagering period in my brew fridge (at about 35 degrees).

Results: It tastes and smells sweet, malty, and a little biscuity–exactly like what you would expect from a good Oktoberfest. It’s a beautiful, deep, clear, rich amber color. I’m extremely pleased with the way it turned out.[/quote]

Great to hear! I brewed an Ofest in 2011 that came out fantastic. It was my first lager but I was patient and was rewarded for it. I skipped brewing one last year and am sad I did. I have full intention of brewing a 2013 version in a few months.

9

Good for you, NinjaBob, glad to hear it turned out. One thing I’ve learned is that with sulfur, it will ALWAYS disappear with age. It is simply a matter of low long you need to wait. Usually it is totally gone in about 3 weeks, maybe 4. But I did make a beer once where it lasted for many months. Eventually I gave up on it and didn’t taste it again for a whole year. After a year, the sulfur was totally gone, and man was that ever a great beer. Now I don’t worry about sulfur at all anymore. I don’t worry much about diacetyl either. Almost the same story. 3-4 weeks, and it’s usually gone. But in that case, if it doesn’t disappear after a month, it probably never will, as it needs live, active yeast at warm temperatures to eat it. The sulfur, though, I don’t know… must be a chemical reaction or something, because over time, it is just plain gone, regardless of whether there’s any live yeast in it.