Mash smells like vinegar

[Brewingtillbarried]

I have this same thing going on with my sour corn mash, I let the corn sit in the water/sugar mix untill they went sour and kept it closed, maybe like 5 days later I pitched my turbo yeast and followed the instructions to ferment at a really high temperature "85-88 degrees" and let it ferment for about 3 days and now it smells like a slight vinegar but when I tasted it it tasted like an alcohol but not vinegar so I really do hope this batch won't turn to vinegar but all I can do is hope.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I really do hope this batch won't turn to vinegar but all I can do is hope.

Hey, welcome to HBT!

All you need to do to prevent vinegar formation is use an airlock during and after active fermentation. Vinegar only forms in the presence of oxygen and alcohol.