Smells Funky

My batch of fermenting beer smells kind of funky sort of like a sour hoppy smell. i didnt notice any smell last time i brewed but this time i can smell it coming out of the airlock. What does beer usually smell like while fermenting? its a pale ale and i added the hops to the boil instead of steeping them in a bag. could the weird smell be the yeast going through the hop sediment? or is my beer contaminated?

t-bag said:

My batch of fermenting beer smells kind of funky sort of like a sour hoppy smell. i didnt notice any smell last time i brewed but this time i can smell it coming out of the airlock. What does beer usually smell like while fermenting? its a pale ale and i added the hops to the boil instead of steeping them in a bag. could the weird smell be the yeast going through the hop sediment? or is my beer contaminated?

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Beer usually smells weird when it's fermenting. The smell is kind of yeasty, but it's hard to describe. You'll be able to identify it in time. You're fine.

t-bag said:

i added the hops to the boil instead of steeping them in a bag.

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You mean t-bagging them

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Just a side note. I've occaisonally gotten some strange smells while t-bagging

You are likely OK. Typically the smells you smell from the airlock are things leaving your beer, not what your beer is going to smell or taste like.

What is your fermenting temperature?

Baldy_Beer_Brewery said:

You are likely OK. Typically the smells you smell from the airlock are things leaving your beer, not what your beer is going to smell or taste like.

What is your fermenting temperature?

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well thats another story see my thermometer broke while i was cooling my wort so i knew it was around 70 but i could have been over or under so i just pitched and it started going in under 24 hours using white labs