smells like cider?

So i finally opened a beer that i bottled a couple of weeks ago. It tastes fine but it smells like cider. What did i do?

Cider-y off flavors develop for a couple of reasons. One is using too much sugar in your beer. Maybe if the smell is "apple-y", not cider-y, it may pass. Young beer sometimes smells a bit like green apples.

From Howtobrew.com:

Cidery
Cidery flavors can have several causes but are often the result of adding too much cane or corn sugar to a recipe. One component of a cidery flavor is acetaldehyde which has a green-apple character. It is a common fermentation byproduct and different yeasts will produce different levels of it depending on the recipe and temperature. Cidery flavors are encouraged by warmer than normal temperatures and can be decreased by lagering.

If it is caused by aceto bacteria, then there is nothing to be done about it. Keep the fruit flies away from the fermentor next time.

The thing is it doesnt taste cidery it only smells cidery.

Tdavisii, two weeks in the bottle, but how long in secondary? at what temps?

I think even lagers improve with a stint in a warm secondary to 'cook away' some off flavors/smells.

Sugar causing cidery tastes is one of those brewing myths that just won't go away. The cause of the cidery taste is generally the result of using old LME. The myth is perpetuated when folks add sugar to the LME and then blame the sugar for the taste. A lot of beers, especially belgians and many barleywines are brewed with sugar and do not exhibit the cider flavors. If you are looking for something to attribute the flavor to you need to look elsewhere.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Bugeaterbrewing said:

Sugar causing cidery tastes is one of those brewing myths that just won't go away. The cause of the cidery taste is generally the result of using old LME. The myth is perpetuated when folks add sugar to the LME and then blame the sugar for the taste. A lot of beers, especially belgians and many barleywines are brewed with sugar and do not exhibit the cider flavors. If you are looking for something to attribute the flavor to you need to look elsewhere.

Click to expand...

I disagree. Those Belgians and barleywines are indeed brewed with sugar, but the sugar makes up a relatively small portion of the fermentables in the beer. Barleywines tend to include some VERY strong flavor components that would overpower a slight cidery flavor. Belgian candy sugars and molasses are used in moderation for their unique flavors, rather than for providing fermentable material. The recipes that lend themselves to complaints of cider flavors tend to use corn sugar as a significant portion (if not the majority) of the fermentables. Any recipe calling for table sugar should generally just be avoided.

Anyway, back to the OP...what was your recipe? Though you only detect the smell of cider, smell and taste are closely linked, so the cause of a cidery smell should be the same as the cause of a similar taste.