Compost tea smells yeasty and fermented... kind of like a brewery

It’s my first batch of compost tea. I’ve been brewing aerated compost tea for 10 days (2.5 cups of organic worm castings from Root Organics, 4 gallons of distilled water, 1/3 cup of unsulfured molasses and a large 4” diameter air stone with 4w pump). I brewed it a long time because I read it was supposed to smell “earthy” but it just kept smelling sweet. Over the last two days it’s developed a yeasty, fermented smell... much like a brewery. I know some like that smell but not me... So I’d say it stinks but only like a brewery. Should I throw it out or is it good to use? It went from having a light foam on top to a type of fluffy sludge floating on the top. I read that brewing it this long can make it more fungal than bacterial and if it’s fungal it’s better on trees and shrubs than veggies. Thoughts on this?

10 days is incredibly long to brew a tea, especially one with molasses. In general it seems that tea brewing should cap at around 72 hours. My most reliable source tells me that fungal populations peak at about 18 hours brewing. The problem with long tea brews is that aerated water isn't a great habitat for most soil organisms, especially fungi whose hyphal strands are easily ripped by aeration bubbles. Generally you want enough time for the biology from the compost and worm castings to bloom out into the liquid, typically 12-24 hours depending on the temps involved.

If it smelled just sweet that was probably because of the molasses, maybe try reducing that next time. It shouldn't be harmful to apply it if its been aerated the whole time. I would be cautious if it does smell like alcohol though as alcohol isn't good for any soil life

Thank you! I dumped it and I’m going to give it another go with less molasses. I read that adding humic acid and fish emulsion is needed. And that two kinds of compost (e.g. worm castings and regular compost) is the best combo. Do you have a recipe you follow?

Purple non-sulfur bacteria from pond/aquarium water or even worm compost
lactic acid bacteria from yogurt/milk/rice water
chitin eating bacteria from insect frass/selfish
Garden dirt for the existing microbes in it
Worm compost for all the nice microbes in it.
Brew for 36hrs (24-48 hours)