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sulpher lowdown

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  • sulpher lowdown

    Hey there! Dick here with a question! New to Probrewer;

    What is the real deal about scrubbing SO2 out of wits and heffes?
    I've been looking at various threads on the issue, and I'm not seeing any consistency with the answers. A 5 Bbl batch I crashed had a strong smell, and taste of sulpher. When I transfered it off the yeast, it seemed virtually gone from the flavor. But that smell! Yuck! It's really in the nose. I tried "scrubbing" it out with a stone at 10 psi for 1 hour. It seemed to improve SLIGHTLY! That's not good enough. What do I do now? Can I keep scrubbing without comprimising volitle flavor loss, and for how long? Never mind, "what I do at my brewery is...." One guy says do it for an hour, another guy says do it for three, and another says don't do it or the beer will become flavorless. I would love to see a consensus on this issue from people who know what they are talking about, cause I sure as hell don't.
    Thanks
    BTW, I know the best case scenario is to not let this happen in the first place. I made an error, now I must make the error right

  • #2
    Some yeasts produce a strong sulphur component during fermentation that usually dissapates on its own. So dont crash the temp until its gone. Talk to the yeast vendor for proper advice. I remember bottling a homebrew that stunk of rotten eggs. The homebrew shop told me to wait a couple weeks and it would dissapear, I didnt believe them but low and behold it was gone eventually.
    Big Willey
    "You are what you is." FZ

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    • #3
      I have gotten a sulphur aroma in my hefe after I capped it off and began to crash it. I let it mature for a week and it went away. Drinkin it now on tap at the pub, and it doesn't have a trace.
      Tim Butler

      Empire Brewing Co.
      Syracuse, NY

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      • #4
        sulfur

        Hydrogen sulfide in small amounts is a natural product of your yeast fermentation (metabolism of the amino acids methionine and cysteine). Under normal condition you would not (or only slightly..) notice the sulfur. The scrubbing effect is removing sulfide when bubbles rise during fermentation.
        Now, if there is a stronger notice of sulfur, it could be caused by bacterial infection. Did you checked your beer for infection?
        A increase in fermentation temperature will also cause an increase in theses off flavor. Did you had any noticeable temperature changes in your fermentation?
        Healty yeast converts sulfur in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) molecules.
        And as stated earlier, EXCESSIVE amounts of the mentioned amino acids will cause an increase in this off flavors.

        I hope this helps

        Fred

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        • #5
          Another issue people might overlook is the addition of sulphur in gypsum. Don't use gypsum for calcium addition to brewing water if you have a sulphur problem. Good luck!
          Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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          • #6
            Gypsum

            gitchegumee is right with his post about watching gypsum additions.
            The brewer has to look at his/her original water compositions before adding any water minerals. Following I post the calculation when adding gypsum:

            Ca++ is the most important ion for brewing, it will help with the enzymatic activity in your mash. If you have a calcium rich water to beginn with, that process will be done naturally. I would say that the optimum range of of calcium falls in between 75 -145 ppm.
            The most common water salts which contributes calcium ions are CALCIUM SULFATE (CaSO4) and Calcium Chloride (CaCL2).

            Molecular weight of gypsum:
            Ca++ 40
            SO-- 96
            2 H2O 36
            total is 172

            This tells us that 1 mole gypsum has a weight of 172 grams AND contains 40 grams calcium ions.
            Now, lets say you want to increase the calcium content by 70 mg/L, we have to add:

            (172/40)(70)= 301 mg/L gypsum

            Now, we want to know how much the sulfur will be:

            (96/172)(301) = 168 mg/L

            As we mentioned earlier, this would be to much SO-- but I used it only to demonstrate the calculus and how easy it is to overuse gypsum.

            Fred

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