Strong scent during secondary

I have an ESB that has been sitting in a secondary for a week now. I opened it up today to check it out, and when I took a hefty whiff, the alcohol seemed very strong, to the point of a small burning sensation in my nose. The og was 1.056 and when I checked it just before I racked it to secondary it was 1.014. According to beersmith, that gives me 5.48% ABV.

My question is, should it burn my nose when I take a whiff (of the beer that is)?

I have only brewed 1 other all grain batch, and it was a Hefe that had only 4.16% ABV. I don't remember it buring when I smelled the Hefe

Thanks in advance.

My guess is that the harshness came from a whiff of carbon dioxide. That'll burn the ol' nostrils.

Yeah, you can get some nasty smells building up in the fermentor with off gassing and all, that have little to do with the final product.

You'd really need to pull a sample out and swirl it in a glass a bit to get an accurate sample of the nose of the beer.

Ok, thanks alot. Just wanted a little peace of mind.

Carbon dioxide, when dissolved in water, results in carbonic acid, which is what gives you soda nose.