I could just be paranoid, but...

This weekend I finally managed to start brewing my orange blossom mead, everything seems to be going smoothly, a good amount of activity on the yeast's part...but is it normal for it to smell a little funky? It's kind of a honey/mold kind of smell.

This is an odd question, yes, but I'm only concerned because this is my third attempt at a mead after a failing at a tej and another orange blossom mead that I attempted this saturday ( rehydrated the yeast at a dangerous temperature, D'OH) so this is the farthest I've ever gotten trying to brew something and really just want some peace of mind about this... I made a point to sanitize all my equipment before I started again. I seek your wisdom yet again...is this funky smell normal? I just really want to be sure that this won't be another wasted effort DX Thanks for your time!

Yeast is a mould/fungi so some of that sort of odour isn't unusual.

The smells to watch for are vinegar (obviously) and hydrogen sulphide/rotten egg. There's a few possible remedies for vinegar/acetobacter if caught early (google is your friend) and H2S/rotten egg is unmistakable...... rapid aeration and nutrients/energiser to remove the pong and stop the yeast being stressed.

With reasonable hygiene regimes and proper nutrition, both issues are infrequent.........