yeah I tried it and was shocked...

after three days of vigorous fermentation I cracked open my bucket to rouse the yeast a bit and yes was surprised to smell great beer. There were good signs that the Krausen had come and gone, and nothing but a hoppy smell was remaining. I of course sanitized a couple shot glasses and sampled a bit, definitely "mostly" fermented and had a great taste and balance and none of those off flavors everyone has talked about (considering my nottingham was pitched at 80* and was fermenting for 2 days @ 78*+). This is my first batch which is an English IPA hopped with magnum for bittering and Kent goldings for everything else. recipe was created by a couple friendly HBT members and than added to by myself and next door neighbor. I'm going to let her sit in primary for another 9 days and than rack to secondary for dry hopping. I think this has the potential to be a good beer to enter into some of the local competitions. Unfortunately I will have to wait another 5 weeks to find out for sure! I'm just happy there are no here!!!!!

Congrats on a good brew. I find that it's pretty hard to mess up beer as long as you sanitize well. Even high temps tend to turn out an all right beer. Of course, keeping temps in the future will give you more consistant great beers.

Yes! The best feeling is the satisfaction of smelling or tasting your brew.