Glossary
DMS
Dimethyl sulphide: a compound tasting of cooked sweetcorn or cooked vegetables, produced from a precursor in malt and driven off by a vigorous open boil.
Also called dimethyl sulphide, dimethyl sulfide, cooked corn, creamed corn.
The full record
DMS has its own catalogue entry with the detail this page summarises — causes, thresholds, related styles and evidence.
DMS — A cooked-vegetable note from a malt precursor that a vigorous open boil should have driven off.
The precursor, S-methylmethionine, is present in all malt and is highest in lightly-kilned pilsner malt. It converts to DMS on heating, and DMS is volatile — so a vigorous, uncovered boil carries it away as vapour.
This is why covering the kettle, boiling too gently, or cooling wort slowly all produce DMS: the compound is still being generated but no longer escaping. It is also why the fault is most associated with pale lagers, which use the malt that carries most precursor.
A low level is accepted, and occasionally expected, in some pale lagers.
Related
- The boil — The step that removes it.
- DMS — The fault record.
- Cold break — Why rapid cooling matters.
More vocabulary
Acetaldehyde · Autolysis · Bottle bomb · Diacetyl · Gushing · Lightstrike · Oxidation · Staling
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.