Apple-flavored beer

Hello,

Started my first homebrew (John bull bitter) 5 days ago and used a hydrometer yesterday to test the gravity which was slightly too high. I had a sip of the beer and it tasted exactly like strongbow cider. My dad described it as tasting of dish water. from smelling the airlock it smells strongly of apples. I understand it had probably not finished fermenting but will it get better after a few days? I've got a pressure barrel I'm going to siphon it into once it's finished and going to add some priming sugar; will this sort it?

thanks,

Luke

This can be caused by a poor fermentation, giving the beer an "off taste" of apples. It will mellow in time but never go away.

Great way to avoid it is proper aeration of the wort before pitching

Here is a great sheet from the BJCP, look at the first line.

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/Beer_faults.pdf

could this be because it's only been fermenting for a couple of days?

Oh yeah, sorry did not see that. Let it sit ont he yeast cake for at least 3 weeks, i prefer 4 weeks for my brews. This allows the yeast to clean up the beer and will complete the fermentation process. What temp are you fermenting at?

I'm finding it difficult to regulate the temperature, it goes from about 20-23/24

The aromas from the airlock are coming from the yeast mostly and do not reflect the finished flavor of your beer. Some ale yeast strains are particularly fruity. A smell like apple flavored sprite is common.

Just note that a majority of the yeast wont make it into the final beer and conditioning will clear up any unwanted flavors.

Its impossible not to worry that something is wrong with your first beer. Its like a newborn child lol. Just keep analyzing and sampling. Experience the phases of the process. Don't however deviate from the standard steps to try and rescue it. It will be fine if you just follow normal proceedure.

Usually, you want to keep it below 74 (or 23/24 ), some variation is okay. i think you should be fine. Leave it alone for at least 2 weeks and check again, both with a hydro reading and a taste test