Well, I just popped open another bottle of my yummy Christmas Ale... however I can't keep from noticing the nasty sulfury smell, at least for the first few minutes. The beer tastes wonderful, and the smell completely fades after about 5 minutes, giving way to a nice malty and spicy scent. It is a high-gravity version of a Belgian witbier, however with tons of ginger and other spices added during bottling. The only reason I can think of for the sulfury smell is that it took about 2 months to ferment this brew to completion (and I was only expecting it to take about 10 days!). The yeast got off to a bad start I guess. I aerated the heck out of it initially, but not during secondary. I didn't make a starter... I probably should have. I did rack the brew about 3 times during the course of the 2 months, maybe that wasn't enough?
My question is, do you guys have any better idea of what might have caused the sulfur? Was it yeast autolysis? Or is it something else? And would it have been worth my while to use a yeast starter? I used Nottingham ale yeast (dry), which I've always had excellent success with in the past, but for some reason this time, it took forever. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I don't want this fiasco to happen again. (Luckily, the beer tastes wonderful after 5 minutes anyway!)
-- Dave "Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" -- Genesis, 1973-ish