I know I know, I've already posted about this...
but how long will it smell the way it does?
when will I know if it's not any good?
should it be chunky and weird colored?
Chris
Your best bet is to stop worrying about it, any way you can. The more you concern yourself, the more likely you'll be to go crack the bucket open again and inspect it. The more often you crack that thing open, the more vectors you may provide for infection.
But to address your questions:
1) By the time the yeast is done doing its thing, off smells should be gone. This could be a matter of days, but more likely it's a matter of weeks.
2) With a LOT of experience, you can begin to tell earlier and earlier in the process if something might be not quite right. But in general, as others have stated, you won't know for certain that it's BAD until it's been fermented 3-4 weeks, bottled, and bottle-conditioned at least 3 weeks, but the longer you can wait the better. Conversely, in general, if it's going to be a good beer, you may know that considerably earlier. But especially while the beer is in primary, it's WAY too early to begin to believe it's a bad beer!
3) Different yeasts do different things. I've seen some that develop just a nice, clean, pretty off-white krausen. I've seen some where the krausen is a lumpy mess with big green splotches in it. The yeast cake at the bottom can be similarly varied - it can be a clean smooth white layer of material, or it can have peaks and valleys, or it can get chunky.
The moral of the story - in just your second batch, you're not going to be able to tell much of anything about your beer before it's done. After your dozenth, probably the same. However, after 10 or 12 times brewing the exact same brew, you might be able to detect certain patterns of activity and notice when something's not fitting that pattern. But for now, walk away from the bucket and don't worry about it! Trust me, I know it's easier said than done - I've done many batches with a friend, where it was easier for me because everything happened at his place. I didn't have the option to go peek at any given time. I've only just begun brewing at my house, and I'm intimately familiar with the temptation to check things too often. It's one of those things we all (hopefully) learn to cope with.
