I did not filter, but I fined with gelatin in the corney keg. So I should just take the kegs out of the fridge, and let them sit at room temp for a week maybe? I could agitate them to try to rouse the gelatin/yeast sludge....
Also, I don't have CO2 outside of my cold storage: will the kegs be OK off the CO2 lines? I don't care if they lose a little pressure but I don't want the lids to fall in and have the beer get contaminated...
That should help. If they are carbonated, the kegs should hold the pressure and re-equalize when you put them back in the kegerator. If anything, after warming the headspace will be under more pressure, not less, unless you have a seriously leaking keg.
So I took the kegs out of the cooler and left them at 65F for 8 days, then put back in the cooler and reconnected to CO2. (The kegs were still pressurized, which was excellent). After4 or 5 days to chill down I sampled it again. The aroma was not so overpowering, but still there, and mildly unpleasant, and a little sulfury as well now. However after 10 minutes in the glass the aroma had largely dissipated and the beer was certainly drinkable, and an added wedge of lemon helped as well... so it's not one to pour down the drain, but also not one I'm planning to send to any comps....!
I took a sample over the weekend to the reputable owner of my LHBS; he's got a New York State Homebrewer of the Year award under his belt from within the last 10 years as well as a raft of medals from NHC and other local comps. He also detected the sulfur, but agreed that after 10 minutes it was largely gone. He suspects an infection, possibly from my yeast storage & transfer (I repitched T-58 from a Belgian Wit, and he also thinks a little bitter orange & coriander flavor got into this Blonde, which may be true but isn't really the cause of the weird aroma).
In any case the guy's big concern was that I'm re-pitching slurry from dry yeast; he emphatically said this is a no-no. I'd never heard that before, but he explained something about dry yeast being not as pure a strain as liquid and so with every re-pitch you get a higher chance of non-pure yeasties propagating weird stuff... I'd never heard this idea that re-pitching dry yeast is bad.... did I miss something or is this guy, whom I otherwise quite respect as a brewer and business owner, off the mark?
red