First brew... potentially spoiled

My friends and I are brewing our first batch... it's been about 27 hours since we sealed it up. We are making an IPA from a pre-hopped malt extract. Here's an overview of our procedure:

-We cleaned everything with soap provided by our local homebrew shop, then let everything soak in plastic primary fermentor (about 8 gallons total capacity) for 30 minutes with non-rinsing sanitizing solution.
-We boiled 3 gallons of water to sterilize the water. We put the water into the fermenter, which was submerged in a barrel of ice to help cool it down. We left the top of the fermenter off to help the water cool down to the appropriate temperature.
-We boiled the malt extract in about a gallon of water along with two cups of brown sugar (which was prepared by the local brew shop... was in liquid form) for about 2 minutes while constantly stirring, (while boiling isn't necessary with a pre-hopped extract, we boiled it to sanitize it).
-We pitched the wort into the fermenter with the previously cooled water. Then we added additional pre-boiled water to fill to 23 liters, or about 6 gallons and stirred the solution.
-Once the temperature was about 88F (31C), we added the dry yeast by sprinkling it over the top. The wort was uncovered for about 10-15 minutes as we allowed it to cool to the appropriate temperature. We sealed up the fermenter and placed it on top of a bureau 4 feet off the ground. We then used an air lock filled with water (tap water was accidently used at first).

Observations so far:

-When we checked it this morning/afternoon, it was fervently bubbling (constantly) and the head had reached the top of the container. Some of the head actually went into the air lock at one point. The air lock was spitting out some of its water so we refilled it as needed (this time with pre-boiled water). The color of the beer had clearly changed from the previous night, becoming lighter. Upon entering the room, it was obvious that something was brewing inside by the presence of a slight smell.
-As of now, the head has drastically decreased (to somewhere between 1/2" and 1") and the bubbling has slowed to bursts every 5-8 seconds or so. Everything seems fine except the smell has become much more intense.. and I'm afraid, sour. I'm not sure if I'm prejudiced from browsing this website but I'd describe it as a sour/cider smell, though it's entirely possible that I just don't know what fermenting beer should smell like.

Questions:

-Is it normal for the head to reach the top of the container? (given, the container was only 3/4 filled with wort)
-What should ideally be used in the airlock? Sanitizer and water? "Alcohol"? (is the "alcohol" rubbing alcohol or vodka?
-Could you describe what a good brew might smell like?

Whatever the outcome we're going to go through with the whole process as a learning experience. I simply want to figure out where we stand. There was certainly ample opportunity for bacteria to make its way into the process, but would it still be bubbling if bacteria were present?

Sorry for the long post, and thank you for your replies

You and your friends just made beer!

First off where are you located?

yeah, looks like you had a yeast infection.

And we need your location so we can give you directions to a place that can properly dispose of that for you.

I'm in Montreal if it actually matters

Canada rocks....except the Calgary Flames....

well we might have members in Montreal that would be willing to dispose of that infected beer for you


wtf, atmos pressure?

It did since you are of legal drinking age there. And don't worry it will be fine.

Here is a partial list of smells that have come out of my fermenter: grass, corn, maple, glue, fruits (all of them together and each individually), cotton, wet dog, hot rubber, soap, tea, citrus, honey, and, occasionally, nothing. The smell of a fermentation is hard to define, and depends entirely on the minutia of your fermentation conditions. Fermentation can sometimes hit the ceiling. When in doubt, your beer is not ruined.

Nothing there sounds weird at all. It is fairly common for the krausen (a.k.a., head) to reach the top of the fermenter and get into the airlock. That's why you will see many around here refer to a "blowoff" or "blowoff tube." I use a surfactant in my fermenter, so blowoff usually isn't a problem for me.

I often use regular, unboiled or unsanitized tap water in my airlock. Just as often, I'll use sanitized water, because it's there. Actually, I often start off with a dry airlock because it serves as a convenient cover for the fermenter. Once I get positive pressure of CO2, I add something to the airlock. That something can be ordinary tap water, vodka, or sanitizer solution. I don't really think it makes much difference. I do sanitize the airlock, though.

At this stage, I don't know what a "good brew" would smell like. That will depend on your ingredients, your fermentation conditions, and the whimsy of the beer gods. You're still in the early fermentation stage, so it could smell like anything from ecstacy to ass, and you wouldn't know if that's good or bad. Fermenting stuff often smells a bit sour or sulphury, though. Relax, don't worry, you just have homebrew.


TL

Yeah everything sounds good to me. Let it be for about 10 days and check the gravity if it's down to where it should be then rack it to a clearing tank (maybe dry hop it also). Leave it there for 14 days then bottle/keg it. A week to 3 weeks later it will eb ready to drink (depending on if you're bottling or kegging.)

Check this mess out. Best batch I've made, so far (#1 out of 3 that I've been able to taste). The other two I've made, Brewer's Best IPA Kit and Homebrew Class at Bev-Arts both taste funky. I hope those 2 will taste better with age, but I'm not too confident.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dfcarter/BREWCREW1?authkey=qRf6Ruv0UzU