Just bottled first Beer, have a small?

So I just started brewing. I have helped a friend brew a few all grains, but this is my first beer. I bought a kit from a different friend who no longer wanted to brew, he was discouraged by his first attempt. With the kit he gave me a Brewferm Triple extract kit. I figured this was a good starting point, free. Anyway, suggested SG was 1.01 and mine was around 1.016, possible because my wife likes the house around 78 degrees. I think I had it fermenting around 75-77 degrees, no light, 10 days in primary. When I removed the lid to check gravity it smelled like cider, and stung my nose a little. Slight shocker. Possibly the CO2? I tasted it, apple tasting. No clue as to why. I still bottled it. It will have plenty of time to age. I will be gone to a military school for about 2.5 months, instructions said 6-8 weeks of conditioning.

Just trying to learn from possible mistakes, so if anyone can shed some light it would be appreciated.

I plan on drinking it regardless.

you'll need fermentation temperature control. either a small chest freezer with controller or a swamp cooler. was the SG 1.116?

Personally I would have let that ferment out a little longer. A Tripel is a big beer, big beers=longer ferments. You're right about the CO2 thing. The apple flavor and aroma you describe could be acetaldehyde. It is the chemical precursor for alcohol production by yeast. It tends to be present in beers that are not fully fermented out yet.

Was your hydrometer reading stable for some period of time(days)?

My SP at bottling was 1.016 just check to make sure I was reading it correctly. I am working off memory though. I only checked at the time of bottling, guess I will check slightly more often than that from now on. I blindly followed the extract kits instructions. Said to bottle after 10 days so that's what I did. It also looked like my beer stopped noticeable fermentation after about 6 days. My air lock had completely stopped moving.

I just acquired an old refrigerator today that is just large enough to put a carboy in. I am going to use that from now on for fermentation and aging.

I was worried that fermentation wasn't complete when I bottled it but was not really sure how to correct that. Is the beer going to come out very sweet? Not what I want but as long as it is drinkable I will chalk this one up as a success.

If it stopped bubbling after 6 days you'll prolly be alright. The biggest danger of incomplete fermentation combined with bottling is bottle bombs. Even a big dose of priming sugar will only add 2 points of gravity. If one were to bottle a beer before it was done, say 3 points before final gravity, THEN add priming sugar, you're looking at bottles potentially exploding. At least seriously gushing bottles that will be almost undrinkable (un-pourable).

My procedure is to take a gravity reading when it looks done. Then take another one the day after the next. If it's the same, and the yeast look like they are flocculating out, it's done.