High fermentation temperature, off odors from the carboy!

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OldWorld

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My temp strip read 74 degrees and now my beer smells a bit off from the air lock. Fermentation didn't start for about 18 hours...Its the second day in the carboy.

The previous day there was no odor from the air lock. I am guessing that it could also simply be too early in the stages of fermentation to make a sound decision to toss out the batch.

I happen to be a fan of belgian sour ales...so If I do get a tart funky character It won't bother me one bit.

I'm concerned greatly about the alcohol. If I transfer the carboy to the garage the maximum temperature I can probably reach is 48 degrees.

Perhaps I should simply "relax" as Mr Papazian says.
 
Welcome to HBT!
Yes, relax. There is no way around it, fermentation can be both smelly and ugly. Depending on the brew and the yeast many weird smells can come out during fermentation but it has nothing to do with how your beer will taste or finish up.

Now you get my scold: Don't ever, I mean ever, talk about tossing a batch of beer until it is finished, bottled, and aged. If after 6 months in the bottle it tastes like crap, then you can toss it. {scold over} :D
 
+1 on yeast sometimes producing unfavorable odors. I have a kolsch going right now with WLP029 and my brew closet smells like a 1000 farting monkeys.
 
74 is a bit high, but dropping it to 48 will probably stop all fermentation so you may as well leave it where it's at. Putting it in a water bath with a wet t-shirt over it will help drop temps a few degrees.
 
my plan is to get one of those sterlite, or rubbermaid totes for storing christmas garbage, one big enough for two buckets, fill it a third full of water, add two 25 watt submersible fish tank heaters, and leave in the garage....but my garage gets down into the teens, and im not sure 50 watts of heat would be enough come january.
 
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