The smell of fermentation

[TheOsprey]

Hi,

Just bought my first kit, a Youngs BrewBuddy, which comes with a plastic tub FV. Just wondering how much the process of fermenting will smell - I've never brewed before, and my wife hates the smell of beer. She's also currently pregnant, and any 'bad' smell is unlikely to end well, if you catch my drift. I really don't want to brew in our garage as it will be too cold.

Thanks

Nick

 

[terrym]

If you brew in a confined space, like a small room with the window closed, you will notice the fermentation smell which, depending on what you are brewing and the yeast used, can sometimes be quite 'eggy'.
So if you can find a warm place (say 19-21*C) and which is well ventilated you should be OK.
That said I have two brews going at present, one in the garage in a water bath at 19*C and one in my hall which is also at 19*C, and can smell neither.
If you don't want to brew in the house and use the garage instead the cheapest option is to use a water bath to get the right temperature. I use a trug container from Wilko (about �£4) in which I put the FV and part fill it with water which is then heated by a 50w fish tank heater (ebay about �£7). I set up the heater thermostat to keep the bath at 19-20*C by temperature measurement and not relying on the heater setting.

 

[TheOsprey]

Thanks for the help - I'm liking the water bath idea, might give that a go.

Cheers

 

[LarryF]

If that doesn't work throw the chocolate one way and run the other, that's what I did.:thumb:

 

[chuff76]

I've done half a dozen kit brews over the last 12 months, all in the kitchen and honestly - Apart from one or two days at the height of a vigorous ferment I've barely ever noticed more than the faintest aroma and it's never ever been a nasty smell by any means.

 

[Pope]

I've only brewed 4 kits, so I'm by no means an expert. However, I've never noticed any smell for fermenting...I would have thought the lid on the FV would prevent any smells escaping.

 

[Slid]

Women have a more sensitive sense of smell and I live with up to 3 of them.

One (daughter #2) described the aroma of fermentation by likening it to "farts".

The other two find the smell from mashing grains unacceptable. Though, oddly not that from boiling hops. Very strange.:whistle:

 

[JapanBrew]

One of my daughters loves it. She wanted to keep opening the lid during mashing.

 

[baggybill]

Women have a more sensitive sense of smell and I live with up to 3 of them.

One (daughter #2) described the aroma of fermentation by likening it to "farts".

The other two find the smell from mashing grains unacceptable. Though, oddly not that from boiling hops. Very strange.:whistle:

Yeah, I'm banned from the kitchen now as I stink the house out apparently while mashing/boiling. Fermenting I do in the garage and you can always smell there's a brew on... lager takes it to a whole new level (eggs!).

 

[BeerisGOD]

I noticed this Eggy smell from my current youngs IPA . its like a constant Fart smell but one you're proud of admitting to.

 

[munkian]

I think brewing is a very marmite thing in terms of smell - I used to love Cardiff when Brains were brewing but other people I know absolutely hated it.

 

[NorfolkBrew]

I noticed this Eggy smell from my current youngs IPA . its like a constant Fart smell but one you're proud of admitting to.

The sulphur smell can be easily sorted, and is a sign of stressed yeast - either its too hot or there's not enough nutrient (or too much in some cases), too much sugar - there's a number of ways to keep your yeast happy!

To sort it out I have found that stirring the wort gently so as not to introduce oxygen with something made of copper (I use a piece of copper sheeting attached to a spoon handle) (SANITISED!) for about a minute does the trick. What happens is the copper reacts with the sulphur compounds and binds them as copper sulphate which is not aromatic (whereas free sulphur is).

Hope this helps!

 

[Graz]

Up until fairly recently I used to brew in our utility which isn't a big room. It smelt beery when making a kit but that had usually subsided by the morning. After that never really noticed any fermentation smells.

Now I'm using a brew fridge you get a much more concentrated waft of what the yeast is doing. On my Youngs APA brew it started off a bit eggy but then soon turned to a banana smell (West Coast US yeast). Next beer, a Festival Father Hook's, didn't really pong that much other than the normal yeasty sort of smell (presumably an English ale yeast).

 

[dad_of_jon]

I think brewing is a very marmite thing in terms of smell - I used to love Cardiff when Brains were brewing but other people I know absolutely hated it.

I used to work in eos productions in barry, and was stuck on the platform at Cardiff nearest brains waiting for the barry train. it smelt like wheat-a-bix . I often used to think WTF are they doing? - of course almost 30 years later I get it!

 

[munkian]

I used to work in eos productions in barry, and was stuck on the platform at Cardiff nearest brains waiting for the barry train. it smelt like wheat-a-bix . I often used to think WTF are they doing? - of course almost 30 years later I get it!

Same :thumb:

 

[Spapro]

This is my setup in the garage, as terrym described, a water bath with aquarium heater.

Keeps everything out the way of the missus - and gives me a reason to escape the house to my own sanctuary 'to check on my brew love'.

Not sure if you have a tap fitted to the bottom of your bucket, to go the waterbath rout you need a bucket (without tap) and use a syphon to get you beer out of the FV.

Oh, and remember to empty the waterbath first once fermentation is complete before syphoning your beer out of the FV (fermentaion vessel is. bucket). Otherwise as you syphon your beer out of the FV it starts to float in the water bath and tips over, I made this mistake once when first starting out

I cut some foam sign board from work to enclose the water bath, but you dont need that just maybe makes it a bit more efficient. The aquarium heater is popped in the waterbath - not inside the FV as more hygienic and less to clean/sterilise.

Good luck with your brewing and enjoy the journey !

 

[BeerisGOD]

graz.

I'm using west coast too for the youngs IPA. the egg smell is also fading after a week into a sweeter scent. are you not worried about a banana smell?
this yeast looks best around the 23-24c mark (going by krausen and airlock activity) what temp you got Urs at?

 

[Graz]

graz.

I'm using west coast too for the youngs IPA. the egg smell is also fading after a week into a sweeter scent. are you not worried about a banana smell?
this yeast looks best around the 23-24c mark (going by krausen and airlock activity) what temp you got Urs at?

I kept it a 20c +/- 0.5c according to the STC-1000 controlling the brew fridge. Didn't have any concerns over it smelling of bananas, not sure if I should have done, but I'm now drinking that APA and it tastes great so must have been okay.

 

[Fore]

My wife is pretty sensitive to these things and she's said nothing. You can just about catch something during the few days of peak fermentation, but it's never bad.

I mash outside and the odour is not strong enough to carry, but my daughter has said the boil "smells lovely".

 

[BeerisGOD]

thats cool, ive got it down to 22 and think tonight ill try getting it to 20 for the remaining 3 weeks. it seems to be able to tolerate high temps, and tbh with the weather weve been having this makes life a bit easier for me as i only use a belt on a timer.
did you throw the pellets in loose?